If you are passionate about video games and you love arcade games, you are on the right page for you. Probably, the youngest video gamers of this world don’t always appreciate the value of a pure arcade video game, one of those popular games that everyone wanted to try back in the 80s. It was a pretty interesting time for the gaming industry that was just emerging during the years of that decade.
The Funny Arcade Games In The 80s
Having a video game to play was more or less big luck. It meant first and foremost that you had a computer to play that video game and not everyone could afford to buy a computer in the early 80s. So, when a classmate or friend had a computer and a video game, all his/her friends wanted to try it. It was also a way to spend time together and socialize.
Today’s youngest game players use to play online multiplayer games without meeting the other game players in person nor seeing them. It’s a way less funny approach to video gaming. Take for example the thousands of online gamblers that every day play live games at acad-games.com. They play live games but they have no way to see each other. In turn, online gamblers can see the other gamblers’ scores and test themselves with the world’s biggest pro gamblers of all time. Let’s say that it’s a different way to have fun with gaming products.
Tron – The Game And The Film
In the universe of arcade games, Tron represents one of the biggest successes ever. It first appeared in 1982, produced and distributed by Bally Midway and it was a coin-operated video game with 4 sub-games. The game was mainly inspired by the fiction film “Tron“, released in the same year by the Walt Disney Productions.
The film was written and directed by Steven Lisberger and it consisted of the story of a computer programmer who gets transported into the world of software. The film was surely a not-to-be-missed success in those years where the first computers began to appear in middle-class families in the US.
The Gameplay Of Tron
As we told you above, the game Tron consisted of 4 sub-games each based on the events and characters of the film. That’s also why many young passionate people watched the film first and played the game then.
The player of the game controls Tron, the protagonist, using an 8-way joystick with a trigger button on the stick to fire, that is a typical joystick of that time. The goal is to gain score level up to the 12th stage of the game by completing all the sub-games.
The game starts with 4 quadrants corresponding to the 4 sub-games and the player has to pick one to get the game started. The sub-games are unknown until the players deblock them.
The 4 Sub-Games Of Tron
Once you are on the main window of the game, you can pick one of the 4 quadrants/sub-games. However, if you fail and lose a life, you are taken back to this initial window where you can select your quadrant. The 4 sub-games of Tron are:
- I/O Tower
Your goal is to take Tron to the flashing circle of an Input/Output tower within a fixed time. At the same time, you have to make sure you don’t destroy Grid Bugs. This sub-game or quadrant is based on the same scene in the film, the only difference is that Grid Bugs were barely mentioned in the film while they are a significant presence in the game.
- Light Cycles
The player has to guide Tron’s light cycle to an arena where there are 1 or more yellow enemies. Here the goal is forcing the enemy’s light cycle into walls and jet trails while avoiding to touch them. This scene in the film has the colors reversed, though.
- Battle Tanks
The goal is to guide Tron’s battle tank through a maze while destroying the enemies’ tanks. You have to hit each enemy’s tank 3 times. This sub-game isn’t inspired by any scene of the film, though.
- MCP Cone
The goal with this sub-game is to break the MCP cone through a rotating shield wall. Once you are done, you have to enter the cone avoiding any contact with the shield blocks. This sub-game corresponds to the final scene of the film, where Tron fights against the MCP. There’s a difference, though, because the nature of the MCP’s shield varies from the film to the game.
As you can see, Tron presented several new features if compared to most arcade games of its time, which is an explanation for its great success in the history of video games.