TRON: Legacy The Complete Story is a Missed Opportunity

Price: $3.99     Score: 6/10    Category: Books

Disney has been setting the bar pretty high for its interactive books on iPad. From Winnie the Pooh to Mickey Mouse, they’ve created a nice library of books for kids, most of which include little bits of interactivity like puzzles, moving pictures, and mini-games.

It would seem the Tron is a perfect fit for the platform and would show off Disney’s panache for including bells and whistles to play up the “neat-o” factor. But strangely, there isn’t much that’s neat-o about Tron: Legacy The Complete Story. In fact, it’s little more than a simple eBook, with only a handful of extra features to take advantage of the iPad. As a result, the app feels more like a missed opportunity than a must-have for Tron fans.

The bulk of the content in Tron: Legacy The Complete Story lies in the book section. The plot of the film is retold simply through text laid atop artwork inspired by the movie. Many pages include still images from the movie that correspond with that section of the story. The stills rarely show anything new or interesting from the movie, and most are practically mirror images of the hand-drawn counterparts.

Once you’re finished paging through the story, there will be little else to keep you occupied. The multimedia section contains only the first chapter of a motion comic, which again retells the story of the movie via voice-acting, narration, and crude animation. In addition, you’re able to listen to one track of the movie soundtrack with the option to head to iTunes and purchase the entire album.

Unfortunately, that’s all their is to Tron: Legacy The Complete Story for iPad. Admittedly, four dollars isn’t an outrageous price for an official movie book, complete with artwork, photo stills, and music. It’s just disappointing that nothing in this app takes full advantage of the iPad as a platform, especially when compared to Disney’s other iPad offerings. Considering the property, there’s a lot of wasted potential.

Bottom Line: Tron: Legacy The Complete Story offers little more than a basic retelling of the film and little in the way of interactivity. For super-fans only.

Tron Legacy is compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.