TRON RUN/r tries to break you down into little square energy pixels and then it sucks you into the glorious world of ‘the grid’.
Is Tron Run/r a digital frontier or a shallow Temple Run clone?
First of all, I am not the biggest fan of these arcady platformers where your character automatically runs forward into danger. But when I saw it was topped in Tron’s visual epic sauce I decided to give the genre a deeper and unprejudiced look.
If you are not familiar with the ‘Tron’franchise, it’s basically an arcade game booth that can suck you inside of it and turn you into a ‘program’ that has to obey the rules and trials that the Grid throws at you. A great 80ies vibe with colorful and digital art styles. End of Tron101!
The game does justice to this ‘arcady’ heritage by giving you this very arcade feel. I was tempted to look for loose change after losing a level. Jokes aside, it does a great job at giving you that feel while still giving you crisp graphics, fast gameplay and great music!
It offers 3 game modes. The first one is //DISC//. In this Fast paced mode you will face enemies by throwing your, you guessed it, disc at them and while doing that you’ll have to avoid walls, break’m, ‘wallrun’ them or just crash into them and start again. It has a good grading in terms of difficulty throughout the levels and the in-game tutorial is a very well explained feature that will get you ranking up your score immediately. The levels all have the same look at first but they’re actually varied more than you think, it’s just going way to fast to notice! It’s a very well-crafted runner game mode!
//CYCLE// is exactly what you’d expect it to be, an atypical Time Trial Racer where you race against the clock and fellow Light Cycles. And just like in the movies the bikes release a trail that makes the difference between crushing the competition or crashing yourself! Take those jumps to land in front of your foes and hear them being DEREZZED from The Grid! You’ll have to master the power slide to get those extra seconds to widen your remaining time needed to clear the level.
This mode has the most “arcady” feel to it and that’s something I say as a compliment, it just works and feels right!
Lastly, there’s //STREAM//. This is a survival mode based on the first game mode that just doesn’t ever end… until you decide to take a wall or plunge off The Grid! The level is randomly generated and continues to do so as long as you stay alive. It’s a great mode to play with a friend to see who can survive the stream the longest! This mode offers you a level of replayability that is just off the charts!
Furthermore, every game mode offers you the chance to customize your ‘Program RUN/r’ and to buy powerups with the in-game bits you collect throughout the levels. These powerups are to be experimented with and can really help you survive that extra mile!
Conclusion:
TRON RUN/r is not reinventing the genre, it is one of the better ‘runner games’ though! Also the mix of fast action, mesmerizing electro music and the unique ‘Tron-esque’ visual style just feels well balanced and it is very addicting to keep improving your score on the many levels the game offers!
