Tron, Mickey, Donkey Kong video games tap into youthful nostalgia

Tron: Evolution (Disney; DS, PC, PSP, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360; rated teen)
Developed in Vancouver by Propaganda Games, this scintillating title sets up the story told in the film Tron: Legacy, which hits theatres on December 17. Players are Anon, a system monitor—essentially a security operative—in a plot that revolves around power struggles in the Grid, the world inside a computer. The pulsing electronic soundtrack—which includes two tracks from Daft Punk—suits the stunning visuals that perfectly update those in the original 1982 film. Players race light cycles and use lighted discs for combat. In a first, multiplayer gaming has been integrated into the single-player story. If you really want to enjoy playing Tron: Evolution, though, you’ll have to spend time practising running and jumping. Free running is core to the experience, but controlling Anon is frustrating, to say the least. Just like with Mirror’s Edge, another game built on the parkour mechanic, you’ll have difficulty hitting the jumps and wall-runs on your first attempt. Once you’re able to, though, the game can be quite exhilarating.

Disney Epic Mickey (Disney; Wii; rated everyone)
Epic Mickey is something of an encyclopedia, collecting a wealth of creativity from the Disney animation archives. Players take on the role of Mickey Mouse—wielding a magic paintbrush—who finds himself in the Wasteland, a place for forgotten and rejected characters. The Wii remote is used to aim Mickey’s brush, which can apply paint (used to restore) or thinner (used to erase). Player choice is important. Every task can be completed using either paint or thinner: for example, enemies can be dissolved with thinner or converted into allies by being sprayed with paint. These choices have implications for how other characters respond and how the plot plays out. The game is actually quite challenging and isn’t suitable for very young children. All dialogue is presented as text, and the automatic camera often restricts players from seeing what they need to, which leads to frustrating failures. Otherwise, Epic Mickey is a rich and engaging game that gives the Mouse some of the sophistication he’s been lacking in recent years.

Donkey Kong Country Returns (Nintendo; Wii; rated everyone)
Donkey Kong, on a quest to recover some stolen bananas, runs, jumps, climbs, and pounds the ground (when you shake both Wii controllers). He occasionally travels by mine cart and in explosive barrels and is accompanied by his jetpack-wearing nephew Diddy, who can be controlled by a second player. The key is not just to get to the end of each level, thereby unlocking later missions, but to collect all the golden K, O, N, and G blocks and puzzle pieces hidden in the environments. And that’s not an easy task. Luckily, if a level is too hard, Super Kong can complete it for you. With colourful and varied level design, and lots of reasons to replay, Donkey Kong Country Returns proves that when it comes to platform games, Nintendo is king.