"Mattel rose above their bad reputation and offers up a great game!"

Overview- Mattel (M Network) makers of the Intellivision, took many of their games and released inferior ports for the Atari 2600 console. Adventures Of Tron started out as a port of Tron Maze-A-Tron but looked little like the Intellivision original causing M Network to rename the game for the Atari 2600. AOT came out as a pretty solid platform game despite so many of the company's other attempts being failures.

Game Play- Adventures Of Tron follows the standard platform game play styles consistent with that time but changes things up and keeps it enjoyable and challenging. Unlike other games, AOT gets tough fast and never allows you to grow bored. There are four floors and an elevator on each side of the screen and a beam in the center. You have to collect the items on each level and then hit the beam in the center to exit the stage. Once you go up an elevator to the next floor you have to cross the center beam to make the elevators work again, you can drop a level by pressing down to avoid enemies, one of the items is replaced by an arrow and if hit right will carry you across the screen avoiding all of the enemies. A few stages into the game tanks will start coming out and firing at you bringing the challenge up in the game. The game plays at a very fast pace and requires precise timing and quick reflexes.

Graphics- Adventures of Tron features a nicely designed title screen with a flashing rainbow style background, something not found in too many Atari 2600 games of the time. The player is very detailed and well animated and has many colors, the items that need to be collected are well animated too. The enemies are detailed but feature only one color each, every few enemies will be a different color, it would be great if there were more colors for the enemies though but it's not a major complaint but there is room for some improvement.

Sound- All of the sound effects fit and are some of the best on the console and offer a nice variety. Nothing sounds rehashed, M Network did a nice job making the game sound original and authentic.

Conclusion- Adventures of Tron isn't my favorite game and it won't ever compete with Activision's best titles but it's still a great game for an Atari 2600 library and one I can always come back to. It rises high above the glut of later released games and really stands out. The game play is original and nothing plays quite like it so it's well worth purchasing from a store that carries classic games, it won't cost much and it will offer a lot of fun and a good challenge. It's also a good recommendation for a seasoned gamer since it's got a higher difficulty level which never results in a game lasting too long.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/09

Game Release: Adventures of Tron (US, 1982)