Buena Vista Games (Disney)
www.disney.com

Disney had another huge booth this year and while most of their titles were aimed at the younger audience (as expected) they still had ample space reserved for some fantastic games for adults including Xbox and GBA versions of TRON, and a stunning GBA adaptation of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Disney Online - Toontown (PC) - Revisited
Disney’s Toontown Online (www.toontown.com), the first massively multiplayer (MMP) 3D online game for kids and families launched last summer and has been growing consistently ever since. I was treated to a personal demo of the newest expansion to Toontown, a darker, more sinister part of the world inhabited by Cogs.

While the core gameplay content remains true with plenty of mini-games and challenges, there is more focus on cooperative gameplay. The quests and boss "fights" within the game now require gamers to join forces and tackles these quests together. Toontown remains one of the friendliest and "kid-safe" online gaming destinations currently available in the ever-growing genre of massive multiplayer online games.

IMAGES




TRON 2.0: Killer Ap (Xbox)
TRON 2.0 Killer App is the Xbox-exclusive follow-up/port of the PC hit from last year. Climax is taking their time to carefully make this the best possible conversion of a PC game to date including some major support for Xbox Live.

Features:

  • All-new and all-intense multiplayer experience over Xbox Live and system link for up to 16 players
  • Split screen multiplayer combat capability for up to four players
  • Battle for bragging rights on more than ten new and exciting multiplayer maps
  • Command an arsenal of 16 high-impact weapons, including the powerful disc, digital grenades and cyber sniper rifles
  • Equip and modify your character's weapons, shields, gadgets and abilities through an innovative player customization system
  • Face-off against Security Programs, Thorne's corrupt minions, Resource Hogs, Seekers and other rogue "users"
  • Action-packed and engrossing single-player campaign from the award-winning TRON 2.0
While the single-player game is pretty much the same as the PC version, the multiplayer modes are off the hook. With games like overRIDE where you can jump into a lighcycle at will, Hard Ware, a team and class-based game for up to 16 players where you tackle unique objectives, Disc Arena, where you toss your disc and knock away the floating platform rings, and conventional Deathmatch games, both on foot and in lightcycles, this is one game you will probably play online more than off.

IMAGES




TRON 2.0 (GBA)
TRON 2.0 is also coming to the Game Boy Advance and its getting nearly the same attention to detail as the Xbox conversion. Playing as either Tron or Mercury, each with your own story, weapons, and gameplay mode, you will battle through 30 impressive levels that vary between third-person action and lightcycle racing and more.

There are plenty of upgrades for both characters and loads of secrets to unlock by collecting more than 100 upgrade chips. Perhaps the single best feature of this new version of TRON is the ability to unlock the original classic games from the arcade coin-op. Just the prospect of playing the Tank Maze sent shivers down my joystick wrist.

IMAGES




Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King (GBA)
Tim Burton is actually quite involved in the development of this upcoming GBA title, making sure that it is true to the visual style and content of the original source material. The Pumpkin King, will let you play as Jack Skellington, the leader of Halloween festivities in the dark and spooky Halloween Town.

Many of your favorite characters from the movie will make an appearance including Zero, the ghostly dog; Sally, the patchwork girl; and the Mayor of Halloween Town. While investigating an invasion of insects Jack learns that the insects are the work of Oogie Boogie, the mean-spirited creature Jack and Sally defeated in the movie. Jack must stop the bug infestation and defeat Oogie in time for Halloween.

Traditional sidescrolling gameplay with plenty of puzzles await the Pumpkin King and you'll also interact with characters from the movie as well as make use of items like bat boomerangs and jack-o-lanterns. You'll even discover the origins of Jack himself and learn how he gained the title of The Pumpkin King.

IMAGES