Tron (video game)
| Company type | Video game |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Founder | Bill Adams (lead programmer), Earl Vickers (composer) |
| Products | Tron arcade game |
| Parent | Bally Midway |
Tron is a 1982 arcade video game created and released by Bally Midway. It consists of four distinct subgames, each drawing inspiration from the Tron film produced by Walt Disney Productions earlier that year. The development team included lead programmer Bill Adams and composer Earl Vickers. The game attained commercial success, selling around 10,000 arcade cabinets and receiving the "Coin-Operated Game of the Year" accolade from Electronic Games magazine.
Following the arcade release, several licensed Tron titles for home systems were launched, primarily based on the movie rather than replicating the arcade gameplay. Its arcade follow-up, Discs of Tron (1983), did not achieve comparable commercial impact.
Gameplay
The game Tron is composed of four subgames that mirror scenes and characters from the motion picture. Players maneuver Tron using an eight-directional joystick, a trigger button that fires or slows the light cycle, and a rotary dial to aim. The objective is to accumulate points and advance through twelve stages named after programming languages: RPG, COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN, SNOBOL, PL1, PASCAL, ALGOL, ASSEMBLY, OS, JCL, and USER. The game allows two players to alternate turns.
Each stage begins on a "Game Grid" screen segmented into four quadrants, each linked to a different subgame which becomes accessible only upon selection. If a player fails a subgame, they return to this grid with the icon of the failed game displayed; if no choice is made before a countdown ends, a subgame is selected at random. Successfully completing a subgame removes it from the available options until the next level starts.
The subgames are as follows:
- I/O Tower
Players must guide Tron to the flashing Input/Output Tower circle within a set time while evading or eliminating Grid Bugs—enemies briefly referenced in the film. Collecting bits that sporadically appear grants bonus points.
- MCP Cone
Players break through a rotating shield guarding the MCP cone without contacting shield blocks. Extra points are awarded for destroying all shield blocks. This segment represents Tron’s final confrontation with the MCP but modifies shield mechanics for gameplay purposes.
- Light Cycles
This is a player-versus-AI variation of the snake genre where players control Tron's blue Light Cycle against yellow opponents inside an arena. The aim is to cause enemy crashes against walls or trails while avoiding collisions yourself. Notably, this subgame reverses friendly and enemy colors from the movie’s Light Cycle Arena scene and does not use the rotary dial control.
- Battle Tanks
Players navigate Tron’s red battle tank through a maze to destroy all blue enemy tanks by shooting each three times. The tank can teleport via a central diamond; shots ricochet off walls until reaching their maximum distance. At higher difficulty levels, enemy tanks are replaced by faster red Recognizers that attempt collisions rather than firing. This minigame draws inspiration from Tank Program elements in the film’s story instead of depicting a specific scene.
Development
Bally Midway considered two design proposals for this project: one envisioned a first-person experience using vector graphics, while the other suggested creating five minigames utilizing existing Bally Midway technology. The latter concept was selected due to its practicality within tight deadlines. One minigame was ultimately removed because of time limitations.
Reception
Tron was honored with the title of "Coin-Operated Game of the Year" by Electronic Games magazine.
By the year 1982, sales had reached 800 arcade units. By January 1983, it secured the fourth position on the RePlay arcade rankings. According to the book The Naked Computer, the game generated $45 million in revenue by 1983. USgamer estimated that more than 10,000 arcade machines were sold, with total earnings surpassing $30 million by that same year. In 1995, Flux highlighted that many contemporary coin-operated games still struggled to equal the commercial success achieved by Tron.
Records
In July 2011, David Cruz from Brandon, Florida, established the world record high score for Tron, amassing 14,007,645 points in accordance with Twin Galaxies regulations.
Legacy
Originally intended as a fifth segment within Tron, Discs of Tron (1983) was ultimately released as a standalone game due to incomplete development. This title centers on disc-throwing combat inspired by the movie but saw limited distribution.
Two unofficial versions named ElecTron (1984) and Kron (1983) were developed for the TRS-80 Color Computer platform.
The light cycles portion of Tron had a significant impact on the Snake category, with several games released after Tron adopting its motifs and terminology.
The 2004 Game Boy Advance release, Tron 2.0: Killer App, features ports of both the original Tron and its sequel, Discs of Tron, arcade titles.
In January 2008, Disney Interactive partnered with Digital Eclipse to launch a port of Tron for Xbox Live Arcade.
A miniature modification of the Tron arcade cabinet is included in the 2011 Tron: Legacy pinball machine produced by Stern Pinball.
In October 2021, Arcade1Up introduced a reimagined version of the classic Tron arcade cabinet.