How to play Adventures of Tron online
- Run left and right: left and right arrow keys
- Jump, or let go of a Solar Sailer: Space bar
- Ride the elevators: up arrow to go up; down arrow slows the ride
- Drop to a lower floor / speed up on the I/O Beam: down arrow (up arrow slows your descent)
- Game speed: F4 (left difficulty switch): B is slower, A is much faster
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
Gameplay
The screen shows four floors with an elevator on each side and the Input/Output Beam running down the middle. Seven bits float near the ceilings, and you catch them by jumping. The higher the floor, the more a bit is worth. Before the elevators will carry you, you have to cross the central I/O Beam.
Recognizers and Grid Bugs enter on the top floor, run to the edge of the screen, drop down a floor and turn back. On harder levels, cannon-firing Tanks join them, although a Tank cannot shoot backwards. Tron cannot fight back, so you survive by jumping over enemies or dropping to a lower floor. A passing Solar Sailer is another way out: jump up to catch a ride, and press the button to let go. One touch from an enemy costs a life, and you have four.
Catch all seven bits and the screen turns blue. Tron rides the I/O Beam up and off the screen, you collect a 2,000-point bonus, and the next level begins at a higher speed.
| Bit caught on | Points |
|---|---|
| Floor 1 (bottom) | 100 |
| Floor 2 | 200 |
| Floor 3 | 400 |
| Floor 4 (top) | 800 |
| All seven bits cleared | 2,000 bonus |
Tips
- Follow, don’t lead. Running behind an attacker is much safer than running towards one.
- Be careful jumping on high floors. Leaping over enemies up there leaves you little room to escape.
- Watch the screen edges. That is where enemies drop down and change direction.
- Use the B setting to learn. On A the action is much faster and Tanks appear straight away.
History
The game began as a 2600 conversion of the Intellivision title Tron: Maze-A-Tron, but it changed so much during development that Mattel gave it a new name. An Intellivision version was also made but never released. Mattel sold the cartridge in a bundle with Tron: Deadly Discs and a special blue Tron joystick. Critics praised its graphics and sound but found the play repetitive and sometimes frustrating. After the Tron licence ended, the game was reissued as Adventures on GX-12. Its designer, Hal Finney, later became known as a cryptographer and as the recipient of the first ever Bitcoin transaction in 2009.
