Tron (Disney Interactive)
What Is It?
This Xbox Live Arcade game is based on the 1982 movie of the same name. In the movie Jeff Bridges gets sucked into a video game and has to fight it out with a bunch of virtual baddies. Regardless of how cheesy the plot actually is, Tron is a classic science fiction movie with solid acting and some great special effects (which ushered in a whole generation of computer-generated effects). This game attempts to recreate the best "levels" featured in the movie, including a fantastic light cycle racing game, battle tanks and the Input/Output Tower. Basically this is just a mini-game collection, which means that you'll probably get bored of the small selections of games quicker than it would take you to actually watch the movies. The games themselves aren't very long, but they are a challenge and you'll probably have to go back through them several times before you hit the high scores. But even then, this is one of those games that was somewhat entertaining back in 1982, but not so much 26 years later. This Xbox Live Arcade version does attempt to give you a few reasons to keep playing (leader boards, achievement points), but it's not enough to warrant the price of the download. Tron is a novelty that may bring back some memories, but it's not one of those games that has held up particularly well.
Does It Still Hold Up?
Remember a few seconds ago when I said that "Tron is a novelty that may bring back some memories, but [is] not one of those games that has held up particularly well?" Well, that hasn't changed. I still say that this game is so old that it will turn off most Xbox 360 owners. Even fans of the original 1982 game will be surprised by how ancient this game feels. To be fair, it is fun to play that light cycle mini-game, but that's not enough of a reason to spend your $5.
Is It Worth The Money?
At five dollars it's not that Tron isn't too expensive, it's the fact that it's just not fun. If you were in a real arcade you could toss in a quarter and find out for yourself that this game isn't fun, but Microsoft is trying to get you to spend more than a quarter to find out how dated Tron is. Download the demo and check out what it has to offer, if you still like it after the demo then be happy, because once you've bought this game and played it for more than five minutes you'll be regretting your decision. Save your $5 and go check out that special edition DVD that came out a few years ago.
This Week in GameTap
Every week I plan on taking a look at the classic games being uploaded on the
GameTap service. Regardless of whether it's part of their free or premium service,
GameTap offers a wide variety of old school games that is worth checking out. Here are the most recent games uploaded to their server, keep in mind that all of these games are free to play unless otherwise stated:
Black Tiger (Arcade) -
While not as well known as Magic Sword or The Knights of the Round, Black Tiger is one of Capcom's best 2D arcade games. In a lot of ways Black Tiger feels like a sequel to Ghosts 'N Goblins, only with more of an emphasis on fantasy and dragons. The good news is that Black Tiger holds up better than the original Ghosts 'N Goblins, which is to say that there's no reason you shouldn't go through this fantastic action game. Black Tiger was one of my favorite games on the recent PSP Capcom Classics Collection Remixed, and now you can see how much fun it is for free. It may be the only free game added this week to GameTap, but at least it's a good one!
Page 2 of 2