Tron Review

By Kristan Reed Published 28 January, 2008

The future, 25 years ago.

Version tested: Xbox 360

The thing about arcade gaming that people often forget is that you were totally at the whim of your local arcade operator. If they decided, for whatever reason, not to buy in a particular cabinet, then that was that. You never got to play with it. And such was the case with Tron, a game that my befreckled early '80s self was never exposed directly to. This makes reviewing Tron on Xbox Live Arcade in 2008 trickier than it might be, but I suppose it also means I'm less blinded by the inevitable ingrained nostalgia that easily deflects critics from fairly re-evaluating these relics.

Released in the middle of 1982 to general acclaim, Tron was, lest we forget, based on the futuristic Disney movie of the same name, and was available to show off for arcade operators in a particularly lavish cabinet, complete with stylish fluorescent back-lights that aped the look of the movie. It was also a stylish, atmospheric-looking game, and one which evidently had a mystique and an allure about it which helped it to stand out from the crowd. Such simple trickery to tempt gamers into parting with their loose change was all part of the experience, but shorn of such opulence, Tron in 2008 is left to impress us on its gameplay charms alone. And, sadly, those charms ill-befit the term.

Hubbub

'Tron' Screenshot 1

Hello, I am a 1982 arcade game. Look at my colours! All on screen at ONCE!

The best thing you can say about Tron is that it was fairly ambitious, in that it offered four distinctly different levels, which was something of a novelty. The start sees you based in some kind of hub, which is effectively a level-select screen where you can tackle any of the four mini-games in the order of your choosing. The one I usually pick first is the MCP Cone, which is basically a spinning multicoloured wall which you have to quickly shoot through as it rotates, and try to squeeze through the gap you've created before it regenerates.

Of course, standard-issue one-hit death means it's easy to snag a stray pixel and die (horribly), and if you happen to suffer such misfortune, it's back to the hub for you m'laddie. Because you're playing as an actual man, rather than, say, a spaceship, the game deems it necessary for you to rotate the firing direction of your arm. This may have worked with the arcade version's proprietary rotary control, but on a humble Xbox 360 pad it feels horrible, and lining up your firing arm correctly is pretty hit and miss. Fortunately it's a fairly forgiveable level, so the annoyance factor doesn't kick in.

Far more exciting and interesting is the Light Cycle level. Essentially like the Snake game we all had on our Nokia mobile phone handsets about ten years ago, the idea is to wriggle around a top-down playing field without crashing, while also trying to trap your opponent into doing just that. You can accelerate if you like, but at the risk of crashing - especially on later levels where you face progressively more opponents and you're all busily twisting and turning at once.

Elsewhere, there's also the I/O Tower to negotiate, which is similar in control and objective to the MCP Cone. Once again, you direct a man with his arm pointing up in the air, rotate the angle of his fire and try to clear a path of 'Grid Bugs', which buzz around like naughty insects drunk on misplaced authority. Once you clear them, you have to dash to a flashing circle to enter the Input/Output tower before the time runs out. All very simple, and not especially engaging.

Tanks for the memories

'Tron' Screenshot 2

Oh, the blue guy's so dead.

And then, the one I always leave to last is the sodding Battle Tanks level. Set in a simple top-down maze, the idea is to destroy the level's tanks before they zap you. Only problem is, the rotational control, again, is an absolute git, and trying to fashion a scenario where you can deal with them is hindered no end by the slow, unresponsive and counter-intuitive way it's been translated to the 360 pad. It is, to my mind, absolutely no fun at all.

As per sodding usual, a completely pointless online mode has been tacked onto the side of Tron, where you can either compete for the best score in the laggiest of lag-fests, or do some 'co-op'. Like all of these attempts to bolt on online multiplayer to old arcade games, it simply doesn't work, and I wish they'd stop wasting everyone's time with it. Just give us the game, give us an online leaderboard, and leave the rest alone. Thank you. At least there's been no attempt to mess around with the graphics. Offline, it's a faithful conversion, except that the controls don't quite translate. Hrm.

In the harsh light of early 2008, it's not difficult to reach the conclusion that Tron doesn't really warrant a place in the often salubrious confines of the Xbox Live Arcade. It deserved to be left dying in the gutter, begging for loose change, and is in no way a glorious representation of a fondly remembered era of classic arcade gaming. It's a clunky, somewhat charming period piece that's interesting for five minutes if you have childhood associations with it, but, for everyone else, it isn't even worth going beyond the free trial version. Trust me on this.

3 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Gl3n #1 4 years ago

    Gotta hate the amount of real estate taken up by the cabinet frame thing

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #2 4 years ago

    If you liked Tron originally, as sane people did, be aware that this is a crappy conversion almost as bad as the recent attempts at Tempest and Asteroids. The gamma settings are fixed so low that you can't see half the screen detail, and there's no way of adjusting the rotational sensitivity either - which is utterly vital in a Tron port, since after the first couple of levels the game is all about precise fine-tuned aiming (particularly the Tanks and MCP Cone levels).

    And for CHRIST'S SAKE shut up about "one-hit deaths", grandad. How many times would you expect to be shot by a tank, captured by 5ft-high electric robot spiders or crash your motorbike into a solid wall and not be dead?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #3 4 years ago

    The game is absolutely atrocious. I didn't know what to do in most of the levels because I wasn't able to read the dark-blue text on black background.

  • TheDudesRug #4 4 years ago

    How pointless. Study achaeology if you want to dig up relics.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #5 4 years ago

    Oh, and the blue guy in the second pic isn't about to be dead at all...

  • t8yman #6 4 years ago

    that review nailed it. In fact 3 is generous, the game has no redeeming features other than its notalgia value, which is soon pissed on by simply trying to play it for 5 minutes.

    I plugged many a 10p into this cabinet in the '80s, and now I have no idea why. the controls are truly awful.

  • systems #7 4 years ago

    It was 20p in my arcade, so we only played it when we had a lot of cash to hand. I never got anywhere with it. Tried to enjoy it, but didn't. I feel no need to ever play it again.

  • Slim #8 4 years ago

    Great game, but the controls screw it up.

    Is it just me, or is that a jappa in the light bikes screenshot?

  • JedEvangelion #9 4 years ago

    Switch to the alternative controls, where you point the Right stick in the direction you want to fire. Still not perfect but much better.
    Edited by 1 at 28/01/08 @ 09:20

  • Res #10 4 years ago

    Play Armagetron instead.

  • DaM #11 4 years ago

    Nothing wrong with the game, fairly faithful conversion, controls are awful though, make it unplayable. Will try the alternatives! They should bundle retro stuff together, in comparison to todays output, it's not really worth it. Expecially when it is readily available for free.

  • mingster #12 4 years ago

    The arcade game DISCS OF TRON is a million times better.
    Bring that out instead.

    /remembers the awesome game cabinet for that.

  • symbiote #13 4 years ago

    Dear Microsoft and Nintendo,

    Fuck you and your decades old shovelware.

    Yours,

    21st century gamer.

  • Eighthours #14 4 years ago

    but I suppose it also means I'm less blinded by the inevitable ingrained nostalgia that easily deflects critics from fairly re-evaluating these relics.

    You mean like giving Ms Pacman 8/10 but giving the far superior new Pacman:CE only 7/10, Mr Reed? ;)

  • DAN.E.B #15 4 years ago

    Screw this !REZ on wednesday WOOOOOO!!!!!!!

  • Royal Fool #16 4 years ago

    This makes Root Beer Tapper look good.

  • jonsaan #17 4 years ago

    'It deserved to be left dying in the gutter, begging for loose change'

    GLOL

  • MikeN #18 4 years ago

    Another vote for a xbla conversion of Armagatron. An online 4 player Tron light cycle game would absolutely rock. End of Line.

  • barnard666 #19 4 years ago

    I dont mind them releaseing crap like this, If I was a big fan of it I'd buy it, I am not though, it's shit! but there are probably a few games that I'd eat up if they were reissued (commando, mercs, ikari warriors (with two sticks at last) - wait all three of those are essentially the same game) anyway no doubt most people would call those a pile of crap.

    I am sure at least one person out there is very happy about tron...maybe we'll get the foreigner game next.

  • DaM #20 4 years ago

    Tron was a shit coin-op, even back then.
    It was innovative with the 4 different game types.
    It introduced the "Snake" game.
    It had a big fancy stick!

  • octo #21 4 years ago

    With all due respect, the best thing about the original arcade game was the cabinet itself. A real beauty. The control method, if I remember, was hilarious though.

    I would have preferred a conversion of tron deadly discs from the intellivision. I lost ALOT of time to that game. Or alternatively someone could have just remade the actual game of space paranoids flyn was playing in his arcade. Surely that wouldn't have taken too much time now really.

  • LOLLERS #22 4 years ago

    "Oh, and the blue guy in the second pic isn't about to be dead at all... "

    He is because the controls are so bad that he'll probably end up crashing into his own trail before he gets down that gap. I'm impressed the yellow guy has managed to draw a rudimentary cock and balls though.

  • bloodflowers #23 4 years ago

    I love old games, I was around back then and I like seeing them ported to XBLA, preferably without enhancements (unless they're optional). Tapper, Scramble, Galaga, Pac Man, etc - all old games, you can still have a quick go on them now and enjoy it.

    I don't understand bringing Tron to XBLA though. Strange, clunky game even then. It deserves to be remembered, not revisited.

  • Darren #24 4 years ago

    Oh god, EG have OVERrated an XBLA game... AGAIN! ;) LOL

  • SteveB #25 4 years ago

    The only thing I remember about this game was that the arcade cabinet had a massive joystick which was quite impressive at the time.

  • jochta #26 4 years ago

    3/10 is overly generous.

  • swede #27 4 years ago

    I think MS are doing this just to wind Minter up, how about Night Driver next? Or maybe Pong?

  • mingster #28 4 years ago

    i agree if this sells more than space giraffe then there is no justice in this world

  • Kami #29 4 years ago

    The best memory I have of Tron is the whole segment in Kingdom Hearts 2. Which was bloody awesome.

    Amazing crap like this gets on VC. But where the fuck is Dizzy?! Or are classic puzzle adventures too much for the brains of todays retard gamer?

  • Feanor #30 4 years ago

    The Tron bit in KH2 was great, except for the rather creepy hug at the end.

  • Miths #31 4 years ago

    I would much have preferred a modern, fancy looking light cycles game, rather than this glimpse at the unbelievably primitive looking games we entertained ourselves with in the 80s (personally I spent a lot more time with my C64 than in the arcades though).

    I just did a quick search for a very entertaining and fairly neat looking 3D light cycle game I played several years back - I think this may have been it: [link url=http://www. caiman.us/scripts/fw/f389.html
    ]http://www. caiman.us/scripts/fw/f389.html
    [/link]
    Though it may have been an earlier version as I recall it being somewhere around 2001.
    Give me something like that with a graphical boost and I would happily pay 800 points for it. Playing snake in 3D in (optional) first person perspective was a blast :).

  • anephric #32 4 years ago

    As has been said, the original Tron coin-op was quickly shoved out by Midway to make some money (which it did, very successfully). Discs of Tron is far more accomplished, even if it does just concentrate on just one game from the film. It's amazing to compare the two and think they were only a year apart, and that Discs was supposed to be part of the first game.

  • coach_mcguirk #33 4 years ago

    Retro arcade game that needs updating for XBLA :

    Warlords.

    4 player online. 400 points. Would be a winner.