TRON 2.0: Killer App (Game Boy Advance)

Tron 2.0: Killer App
Developer	Digital Eclipse
Publisher	Buena Vista Interactive
Game System	Nintendo Gameboy Advance
Release Date	2004
Genre	Isometric shooter
Number of Players	1

TRON 2.0: Killer App is a game developed by Digital Eclipse and produced by Buena Vista Interactive and takes place before TRON 2.0. The story involves Tron and Mercury "as they battle against the Corruptor, an evil computer program attempting to create the ultimate virus that will take over the computer system."^[1]

This game also marks the first time Bruce Boxleitner played the role of Tron since TRON.

Storyline[]

You start off as Tron and progress to find out about a deadly virus spreading through the ENCOM system. The system's own protection programs (ICPs) see you as the source and attack you. Later on, in a light cycle grid, you meet a friendly program named Mercury (same as in the PC game). Mercury agrees to go after the Corruptor and you agree to go after the virus communication grid (which the User is using to prevent the security system from identifying and neutralizing the virus). You can also start out as Mercury and progress through the game along an alternative storyline.

Gameplay[]

The game is an isometric with numerous mini-games and extras. You can find 'chips' throughout the story and equip them to your character to improve one of their attributes, e.g. jumping ability, targeting. There are many light cycle, Tank and Recognizer sections in story mode that are playable outside story mode. The light cycle sections function similarly to the light cycle mode from the original arcade game, with the addition that cycles can be upgraded and customized with chips found while playing story mode. The Tank and Recognizer sections are nearly identical to each other and function from a first-person perspective in the Game Boy Advance's primitive 3D; the only difference between the two is that where in the Tank mode you hold A and use Up and Down to adjust vertical aim, in Recgnizer mode you instead press A to increase height or release A to drop. Any of those three modes can be played in multiplayer with up to four players. The arcade games TRON and Discs of TRON are also playable in their exact form as they are in arcade machines.

Mini Games[]

There are several Mini-Games exclusive to this edition of Killer App:

• Firewall - A top down shooter with gameplay similar to Yar's Revenge. You can move your ship up and down as you try to shoot through an increasing number of moving walls. A creature on the other side of these moving walls launches attacks that you must dodge. Getting hit by an attack costs you one life. Occasionally, powerups and powerdowns will appear that can be collected.
• Defragmentation - A puzzle game where the player manipulates a pointer to select a colored block to pick up, then can deposit that block elsewhere. The object is to group together six or more blocks of the same color on adjacent squares, at which point they will disappear. Over time, corrupted red blocks will appear. These cannot be picked up and dropped as normal; instead, the player must use white blocks to clear them. If fewer than six blocks of one color are left on the board, the player only has to group together as many as there are left. The minigame runs on a timer.

• Security - A puzzle game with gameplay similar to Pipe Dream. There are different piece types that can be distributed to you at random, in a fashion similar to Tetris. You must use these pieces to connect the starting piece to the ending piece within the time limit. Like in the Firewall game, there are powerups and powerdowns that can appear. There are blue circles that increase your time, and orange circles that decrease your time. There are also large orange circles that give you an immediate game over. In addition, placing a piece over an existing piece results in a regularly sized orange piece penalty.

• TRON - A faithful emulation of the original 1982 arcade game TRON. Unfortunately, it is a bit hard to control the spinner functions due to the spinner being mapped to the L and R triggers.

• Discs of TRON - A faithful emulation of the 1983 arcade game Discs of TRON. Unfortunately, the voice and background from the original arcade game is absent, and the select button must be used to toggle between adjusting the height of the targeting reticule and running forwards and backwards.

Reception[]

Despite receiving many fair to good reviews the game, it did not sell as much as was expected.^{[citation needed]}

Refereneces[]