How to play Tron: Deadly Discs online
- Move Tron: arrow keys (eight directions, including diagonals)
- Throw your disc: Space bar – the disc flies in the direction you are pushing
- Call the disc back early: press Space again while it is in the air
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch), then push any arrow key
- Game speed: F4 (left difficulty switch) – A is faster from the start, B begins slower and gets harder gradually
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
Gameplay
Tron starts in the middle of the arena. Warriors run in through doors in the walls and throw their own discs at him, and up to three of them can be on screen at once. Your disc is only dangerous on its way out: it looks like a thin line while it flies, and once it has hit a wall and is heading back to you it turns into a harmless square. That means every missed throw leaves you briefly unarmed.
Tron can take five hits, and he fades in colour each time he is struck. If you clear the arena of warriors before their replacements arrive, he recovers from one hit and moves up to the next scoring level, where the warriors are worth more and fight harder. New warriors keep coming roughly every ten seconds, so you have to be quick.
The doors are more than entrances. Hit one with your disc and it locks open. When two doors on opposite walls are both locked open, Tron can step through one and come out of the other, and for about two seconds after this jump the warriors cannot hit him.
| Warrior colour | Points |
|---|---|
| Light green | 10 |
| Dark green | 20 |
| Blue | 40 |
| White | 75 |
| Yellow | 150 |
| Black | 300 |
| Red | 500 |
| Gold | 800 |
Tips
- Keep moving. A standing Tron is an easy target, and corners are the worst place to get stuck.
- Recall misses at once. If a throw is clearly going wide, press the button again so you are armed sooner.
- Lock doors in pairs. Opening two opposite doors early gives you an escape route and a short safe moment.
- Check before you jump. A warrior may be standing right next to the door you come out of.
- Clear waves fast. Beating the ten-second reinforcements is the only way to heal a hit.
About this version
The Intellivision original, designed by Don Daglow and Steven Sents, has more enemy types, such as the Recognizer that repairs jammed doors. The 2600 manual describes a simpler game built around the warriors and the doors. In spring 1983 Mattel ran an offer giving a free Tron joystick to buyers of both this cartridge and Adventures of Tron. Telegames later reissued the game in Europe under the shorter name Deadly Discs.
Similar games to play next
- Adventures of Tron – M Network’s other Tron cartridge, a platform game
- Armor Ambush – another M Network action game
- Berzerk – shoot robots in a series of walled rooms
- Wizard of Wor – fight creatures in maze arenas with side doors that warp you across