Tron 2.0: Killer App

The Good
For a GBA title, TRON 2.0 does a great job of showing off what the system can do. The game offers full voice-overs in the cut scenes, multiple perspectives of play (an isometric adventure mode for TRON and Mercury, first person mode for the tanks and Recognizers), a nice update of the Light Cycle races, multi-player modes, and the first time either Midway's TRON or Discs of TRON have been playable on a home system.

TRON and Mercury are well animated (not surprising for a Disney game), and there is enough to do in this mode from finding chips to solving mini-game puzzles. The storyline and overall look of the worlds are well done, and feels right at home in the TRON universe.

Also of note is how well the first person mode is done for the vehicles. The scaling and rotation give a good sense of movement without becoming confusing.

Each mode is fun to play and controls well. The story keeps the game going along well enough without making things boring. TRON and MErcury's quest each have enough going for them to justify playing through both.

As mentioned above, having the two classic arcade games from the 1980's is a real treat. Best of all, these are playable from the start, and even without TRON's unique control scheme, they still play well.

The Bad
Of course, there are a few things that could have been improved. The music is average. Not bad, just not memorable. The isometric perspective generally works well, but it can be hard at times to properly judge a distance or a direction. And with some areas, one hit deaths can and will happen.

The ending for TRON's story is a bit anti-climatic. It's a bit of a let down to have come so far only to get such a ho-hum ending that reveals so little as to who is behind trying to take down ENCOM.

As for the arcade games, as good as the emulation is, there is a lot of flicker if the game is played on Gamecube's Game Boy Advance Player. I had really hoped that this game would have looked pristine on a larger screen. Discs of TRON loses some of its luster as it doesn't have the voice-overs from the arcade.

The Bottom Line
It's good to see TRON continue its life on the game grid where it belongs. The game is very impressive from a technical standpoint, and in reality, gamers get three great TRON titles in this package. Disney/Buena Vista has been pulling off some really great handheld titles lately.

The gameplay is diverse and interesting, and I really like the fact that the game pays such a respectful homage to the cult film. All it needed was a few solar sailer levels and a Wendy Carlos score, and it would have been perfect (but they did capture TRON's behind the back disc grab).

This is a good title, worthy of recommendation. Wile everything is starting to evolve towards the DS for Nintendo, TRON 2.0: Killer App is still a game worth noticing. It's a shame that the idea for this story wasn't expanded and carried over to the big systems.

Perhaps one day, but for now, this is a great on the go title that will keep gamers busy for a few hours.