Tron got a lot of attention on the E3 show floor. At Disney Interactive’s booth, there was an impressive light cycle on display, as well as Tron controllers for all three consoles. Tron Evolution, the upcoming video game adaptation of the long awaited Tron sequel due out later this year, was on display not just at Disney’s booth, but at Sony’s and Microsoft’s as well. Because of the amount of marketing behind the game, as well as the property upon which it was based, I really thought there was potential for Tron Evolution to ditch the tie-in stigma and actually be a decent game. After playing it on both the Wii and PS3, I realized that the potential is definitely there, but I don’t know if the gameplay is.

I first jumped onto the Wii version of Tron Evolution, in which a giant light cycle arena was being shown off. Turning the Wii remote sideways, I used it like a steering wheel to turn left and right, while lifting the remote made the light cycle jump. The gameplay was simple, but surprisingly fun: as I drove my light cycle around a closed arena with a handful of others, the vehicle would leave a trail of light. Crashing into another player’s trail meant death and restarting, while causing other riders to collide with mine racked up points. It’s a formula that has been done many times in video games, but this felt like a natural evolution (for lack of a better word), and a good fit for Tron’s famous light cycles. I actually enjoyed this part, and as I became more familiar with the controls, I began drifting, jumping, and weaving in and out of other players’ trails of light.

The following day, I saw the campaign of the game being played at Sony’s booth, and figured I should give that a try too. The gameplay seemed to be reminiscent of Prince of Persia’s, with walls being scaled and platforms being jumped across in quick succession. Almost as soon as I began playing, I was treated to a close up of the character model of Quorra, played in the film by the gorgeous Olivia Wilde, and I actually cringed. The in-game Quorra does the beautiful Wilde absolutely no justice, and is just poorly designed overall. The rest of the level I played didn’t look spectacular either, and I could feel my hope for a great tie-in game slipping away.

I was so frustrated by what I think was the first level of the game that I had no desire to ever play it again. Tron Evolution suffered from some of the same problems that the recent Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands did, with a jumpy camera that often caused me to fall to my death instead of hitting the next platform. However, from the short time I played, the controls seemed to be more inaccurate than PoP’s, ruining the fun and satisfaction of running, climbing, and jumping past a bunch of obstacles in succession.

I’m not surprised that Tron Evolution appears to be the latest tie-in game to fail to live up to its license, but I am a little disappointed. The light cycle part felt right, but that can’t carry the entire game. I really wanted Evolution to be good for two reasons: I want developers to show the world that tie-in games don’t have to suck, and even more importantly, we deserve a great Tron game. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Tron Evolution is going to be that game.

Tron Evolution will be out later this year for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, and PC.