Highlights
- Tron 2.0 explores a digital world called the Grid, where the protagonist fights viruses and uncovers a corporate conspiracy.
- Narita Boy takes a fantastical approach to the digital world, with priests, churches, and collectible floppy discs that reveal the Creator's past.
- Glitchspace is a well-made puzzle game that represents computer processes and teaches concepts of computer science through abstract gameplay.
Ada Lovelace is credited as the world’s first computer programmer in the 19th Century. Since her time, computers have become a staple of many homes across the country and the globe. They even fit in one’s pockets in the form of mobile phones and are used not only for communications and research but also for entertainment.
Given the impact of computers on the world, storytellers and artists would explore them in their work. Landscapes within these machines have been envisioned through mediums such as film, television, and even video games. Some pay homage to visions of the past. Others have delved into technology’s future. As computers continue to evolve, explorations of digital worlds will persist as well. Here are a few titles that explore worlds within technology.
7 Tron 2.0
Tron 2.0 served as the sequel to the original Tron film before Tron: Legacy was made. The story follows Jethro “Jet” Bradley, the son of Alan Bradley from the first film, who is searching for his father in the digital environment called the Grid.
Tron 2.0 explores the fantastical simulated world of the classic film. Jethro can interact with programs, combat viruses, and participate in light cycle matches. He can also upgrade himself using data packets discovered in the world, as well as uncover emails alluding to the corporate conspiracy at the heart of the story.
6 Narita Boy
Narita Boy is a 2D action/adventure game that follows a digital protagonist as he battles the forces of the malevolent HIM, which has wiped the memories of the Digital Kingdom’s Creator. It combines hack-and-slash gameplay with exploration and neon visuals ripped straight from the eighties.
Narita Boy takes a more fantastical approach to the world inside a computer. Priests and churches populate the landscape, and the game’s hero must cross desolate lands. All the while, he collects floppy discs that will allow him access to moments in the Creator’s early life.
5 Armagetron Advanced
One of the most iconic elements of Disney’s Tron films is the light cycle battle. These vehicles leave a wall of energy in their paths, and riders must make sharp 90-degree turns to avoid other cyclers’ light trails, or else be digitally erased.
Armagetron Advanced recreates these thrilling light cycle matches in both single-player and online modes. The arenas are reminiscent of Tron’s digital environments. Racers who end up on the short end of the light trail become “core dumped,” something that occurs on a computer when a program crashes. The low specs of the game mean that it can run fast on most computers, and the best part is that it is completely free, so it will not impact the wallet.
4 Glitchspace
Glitchspace follows the protagonist in a glossy white, blocky representation of a digital landscape. The gameplay draws much inspiration from Portal, as it tasks the digital avatar with moving from area to area and solving a variety of puzzles.
Glitchspace abstractly represents the processes that occur within a computer. Data streams are an environmental hazard that must be avoided. Platforms must be “reprogrammed” with nodes that represent simple computer programs. Overall, it is a well-made game that is great for introducing individuals to concepts of computer science.
3 Child Of Eden
Child of Eden, a spiritual sequel to the Sega Dreamcast title, Rez, comes from the mind of Tetsuya Mizuguchi. It was released first on the Xbox 360, integrating the console’s motion-tracking peripheral, the Kinect, and later released on the PS3, utilizing the console’s PlayStation Move controller.
The cyberspace in Child of Eden is a vibrant sensory experience. The digital environment that is the setting of this game is a project to virtually recreate the first human girl born in space. Visuals and gameplay are comprised of the same vibrant colors and shapes that defined Rez’s visual style. The entities that serve as the game’s enemies are the viruses that threaten Eden and the girl that inhabits its world.
2 Mega Man Battle Network
Capcom’s iconic blue robot, Mega Man, starred in a string of NES platformers known for their brutal difficulty. The blue bomber would also star in a series of spinoff games for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS called Mega Man: Battle Network.
The Battle Network games differ significantly from the main franchise in several ways. Instead of Mega Man being a robot, he is a program that is also the companion of a 5th Grader named Lan. The gameplay of these titles is split between the real world, where players control Lan, and the net, where Mega Man fights dangerous computer viruses in grid-based combat.
1 Beglitched
Beglitched puts new hackers into the role of the apprentice of the Glitch Witch, the previous owner of the laptop that one must now use to hack into networks. This game's aesthetics include bright pastel colors, cute animal avatars, and a retro OS interface.
The gameplay features segments that are reminiscent of both Minesweeper and popular match-three mobile games. The hacker character must navigate a grid of nodes, using context clues to determine what is hiding beneath each one. They may reveal a resource, an exit, or a mine. Encounters with enemies require one to match tiles and trigger bombs to find and expose the digital foe while balancing available moves and energy for triggering certain actions. Between these segments, the Glitch Witch’s apprentice will browse the system’s files, uncovering logs reflecting the Witch’s own internal struggles.