It's the arcade-perfect port of Tron, for good and for bad!
(Taken today, you could almost view this movie as an open-source vs closed-architecture fable).
Scenes from the show are re-created here. This was one of the first movie-to-game translations made, and probably one of the best for years.
Tron, the game, is basically four mini-games based on this movie. You select a random board on each level, and it starts one of the four games randomly.
The first, and most famous, is the light-cycle level. You race against one or more bikes, each of which leaves a light trail in it's wake. Once a bike is destroyed, the trail disappears. This is probably the most enjoyable of the four games, due to the quick pace and the timeless gameplay.
Secondly are the tank battles. The player's tank has a rotatable turret and bouncing bullets. Enemy tanks fire directly in front of themselves. This makes for some odd cat-and-mouse games as the player tries to ricochet shots around corners. Enemy tanks will survive 3 shots, and the player will be destroyed after one shot.
Third is the MCP level, where the player must shoot through a rotating barrier to enter a cone. This level is pretty basic, especially by today's standards.
Finally, the last level will involve a user battling past a wave of reproducing spiders to enter a flashing circle before time expires. Like the MCP level, these levels are pretty simplistic by today's standards.
Once a all four challenges are cleared, you can do them again, at a higher level of difficulty. Starting at level three, these games become extremely challenging, and will quickly kill off most players.
The game is an arcade-perfect port of Tron, which is great. However, there's a number of changes which could have been made to ease the transition to XBL.
For starters, when you first start a mini-game you'll receive instructions on how to play. Why an option to turn this off wasn't included is beyond me, but it's REALLY annoying to have to go through a tutorial EVERY. SINGLE. PLAYTHROUGH.
Second, the original Tron game had a huge, comfortable joystick and a dial for aim. This control scheme somehow doesn't work very well on the 360 controller, despite the many control options offered. A "direct aim" option should have been included; no matter which option you pick Tron's arm will swing around in a circle until it's pointed where you want it. This seems odd and un-intuitive today.
Third; multiplayer. I don't know if no one is playing this game, or if the matchmaking service doesn't work, but I've been unable to play a single game of Tron online.
Finally, it would have been nice to see some updates to the graphics, as with the recent asteroids or tempest. There are free, 3D versions of the light-cycle game available online for the PC.
Still, for 400 points this isn't a bad way to kill an hour or two. The achievements are interesting and challenging.
(Anyone who scores the "User" achievement MUST be cheating, though!). All-in-all, a fun trip down memory lane for those vets out there. Everyone else, probably not for you.