written by David Steffen
Even after watching the original Tron movie, and playing the Tron 2.0 game, you’re still not satisfied and you just want more and more?
Tron (Arcade Game)
The same year the original Tron movie was released, a coin operated arcade game was released with the same title. It consisted of 4 mini-games based on the film:
Light Cycles: A top-down view of the famous light cycle game, where the player drives a motorcycle-like vehicle that leaves a solid wall behind it. The object is to make all of your opponents crash into walls.
MCP Cone: A simulation of the final battle of the movie against the MCP, trying to get past its protective plates to the MCP core.
Battle Tanks: Driving a tank, and destroying enemy tanks in a maze level.
I/O Tower: A simulation of the scene in the movie, trying to get into the I/O Tower.
I was too young to play this when it first came out, but I did play it in an arcade in the late 80s, and I thought it was fun. If you want to play it and you happen to have an Xbox 360, then you’re in luck, as you can download a demo for free or buy a full version at Xbox Marketplace.
Discs of Tron
The Tron arcade game was originally supposed to include 5 mini-games, but the fifth wasn’t included in time for the game’s release. The fifth game was released separately in 1983, titled “Discs of Tron”. In the game you face off against Sark playing a game shown in the movie, where two opponents on platforms made of concentric rings and throw energy pellets at each other, trying to destroy your opponent’s platform.
Again, I was too young to play this when it came out, and I didn’t see this in an arcade later. If you want to play this one, it is also available for download on Xbox Marketplace.
Tron:Â Ghost in the Machine
Tron also inspired a 6 part comic book series, released between 2006 and 2008. It is a direct sequel to the Tron 2.0 game. It takes place 6 months after the events of the game, following the same protagonist, Jet Bradley, who is still trying to get over the trauma he experience, after having been zapped into the game world.
I was unaware of this comic until I was looking up material for this article, but now I am looking forward to picking up a copy for myself. You can buy individual issues at Amazon or you can order the collection that combines the 6 issues into one volume.
Tron:Â Evolution
And with the release of the Tron Legacy movie next month, there’s a cross-console game tie-in. The game is released on December 7th, the movie on December 17th, so you can sort of get a sneak peak. It occurs before the events of the movie and provides some of the basis for the events of the movie. I have mixed feelings about this–the same thing was tried for the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movie. On the one hand, it was kind of neat to see some characters and hints of events before they’re revealed in the movie, but it came off as more of a marketing gimmick than actual value added.
You can’t get the game quite yet, but you can check out the official site. Once the game’s available, you should have no trouble whatsoever finding it.
Kingdom Hearts 2 level:Â Space Paranoids
You may have seen my review of Kingdom Hearts back in January. The second game was pretty much more of the same, but with more worlds to explore. One of the worlds was “Space Paranoids”, a Tron world. This was probably my favorite world of the game, especially since Sora and his friends Donald Duck and Goofy get dressed up in Tron fashion, which was pretty neat. Tron the character was available as a temporary companion to join the group as a fighter, and it was also fun to see the incarnations of the Heartless enemies.
You should be able to find the game used in a variety of places, and you can check out the game’s official website.
Southpark episode:Â You Have 0 Friends
This is one of my favorite episodes of Southpark, released earlier this year as part of season 14. Stan’s friends start a Facebook account for Stan as a surprise. Stan doesn’t want an account, because he doesn’t want to get “sucked in”, but one by one, his friends and relatives guilt trip him into adding them, as they take his lack of Facebook interaction as a sign that he isn’t a good friend. Before he knows it, he has a million friends, and the demands just get more and more. Finally he decides to just delete his account, but Facebook won’t let him do it, zapping him into the system Tron-style. Inside the system, he’s captured by guards similar to those in the movie, and everyone’s facebook account is dressed in Tron fashion. This episode was just awesome.
You can watch the whole episode for free on the Southpark Studios.
