Discs of Tron

Tron. I remember the movie fondly from my youth, mainly because of the amazing (for the time) special effects and the game related theme. I’ve not watched the movie since as there’s no doubt my rose tinted spectacles would be shattered in an instant.

This little trip back down memory lane brings us onto one of the weeks Xbox Live Arcade releases, a port of the original arcade game Discs of Tron, released back in 1983.

The game is based in an isometric view of the arena, the player character Tron is closest and the opponent Sark is at the far end, both players are perched on disc shaped platforms. The aim is simple, throw discs at Sark whilst avoiding any thrown back in return, and defeat him by either knocking him off the platform or hitting him twice.

The left joystick controls player movement and the right controls an aiming reticle shown on the arena walls. The aiming controls however feel a bit hit and miss and are not sensitive enough for precision aiming and you will frequently find the need to correct your aim. Up-to three discs can be thrown at a time which can be ricocheted off the arena walls rather than being thrown in a straight line allowing you to create an attack spread which is more likely to catch Sark off guard.

There’s not much more to the game really. It’s a fairly straightforward affair with the arenas getting more complex as you advance and it kind of reminds me of futuristic game of squash but with deadly consequences. The trial version of the game looks OK but sounds pretty dire with only the occasional splash of music or sound effect.

I can imagine that this game would have ridden on the crest of a wave of the films popularity but once you take the film out of the equation there isn't a huge amount here that will appeal to the modern gamer.

The trial game lets you try out the first couple of single player arenas whilst the full version offers enhanced graphics and multiplayer for 400 MS points.