Discs of Tron is the second arcade video game based on the 1982 Disney film Tron. The first Tron game includes four small games, while Discs of Tron is one game that is inspired by the disc battles from the movie. The game takes place in an arena that is similar to the one shown in a jai alai-style sequence from the film.
In 2008, a version of the game for the Xbox 360 was released through Xbox Live Arcade by Backbone Entertainment. This version was published by Disney Interactive Studios.
Gameplay
The game Discs of Tron is inspired by scenes from the Tron movie. It combines fast-paced combat between characters like Flynn and Crom with disc battles between Tron and Sark. Players control Tron in a one-on-one fight against Sark, viewed from a fixed 3D perspective behind Tron. The controls are similar to the original Tron arcade game: a joystick moves Tron, a trigger button throws discs, and a thumb button is used for defense. A rotary dial helps aim a targeting reticle around the arena walls. In later levels, players can also turn the dial up or down to adjust aiming direction.
Each match happens in a closed arena built on platforms made of round, overlapping disks, like the jai alai scene in the movie. Tron and Sark try to defeat each other by hitting their opponent directly or making them fall off their platform. Both can throw up to three discs at once. If not destroyed, discs return to the player (destroyed discs come back after being hit). Tron can block Sark’s discs by hitting them with his own or using a limited number of deflectors. Sark can also attack with fast missiles, chaser orbs, and "super chasers" (a orb with two orbiting discs), which cannot be blocked.
In later levels, platforms move up and down, requiring players to aim vertically. Tron and Sark can bounce discs off the ceiling (like the energy ball in the jai alai scene) to hit the opponent’s platform. If successful, the platform flashes and disappears, slowing the character or causing them to fall and lose the match. The platform returns after about ten seconds. Some levels include a moving wall of blocks between Tron and Sark, which must be destroyed to create openings for attacks.
The game has twelve levels. As the game progresses, Sark becomes more aggressive. After completing level twelve, the game repeats levels six through twelve until the player loses all lives.
Development
The idea for the game first appeared as the fifth small game in the original Tron, but it was removed because there was not enough time to include it. Later, the idea was used again in Discs of Tron, which had more advanced equipment.
Release
This game came out just before the video game crash of 1983. In 2004, it was included as part of the Game Boy Advance game Tron 2.0. Disney Interactive Studios released an updated version of the game on the Xbox Live Arcade service for the Xbox 360 in February 2008.
Reception
In 1996, Next Generation ranked the arcade version of the game as number 87 on their list of "Top 100 Games of All Time." They noted that the game was among the first to try creating a 3D environment. They said the fast and complex gameplay works well because the controls are easy to use. They also said the computer-controlled enemies were advanced for that time, but they pointed out that a head-to-head multiplayer mode, which many expected, was not included.
The Xbox Live Arcade version of the game received "unfavorable" reviews from Metacritic, a website that collects reviews. Official Xbox Magazine gave it a positive review, but the UK edition of the same magazine gave it a negative review, almost a year before the game was released worldwide.
Competition
Twin Galaxies reports that David Bagenski from Syracuse, New York, United States, achieved a world record score of 418,200 points on June 28, 1986, at the 1986 Video Game Masters Tournament.