Remember Tron? Well I certainly don't. I guess I'm a bit young...it shames me to admit that I only just recently saw the Matrix. Anyways, apart from that dude on Youtube and the fact that Daft Punk infuriates me, the only thing I can think of when someone says Tron is the lightbike. Whoever came up with that either dropped a lot of acid, was a genius, or both. One of the things that made it so unique and fun to play was the 90 degree turn mechanic. I wondered what would happen if you just made a game about lightbikes but let them turn fluidly...then I played Vektor Space.
Vektor Space isn't quite as unforgiving as some other lightbike games I've played. You can run into somebody's trail once and not die, for instance, but run into two or the wall and its game over. Another innovation that makes this unique from your typical Tron clone is that the vehicles have stats, so you can go for either the tank that can run into three walls in a row without harm or the speed demon who expertly weaves in and out of other peoples' trails.
While I appreciate that Vektor Space added its own flavor to an old classic, I don't think the fluid turning mechanic really helped it all that much. After all, one of the most fun parts of the old lightbike games is that you can charge right for the wall but turn at the last second to get a tactical edge on the poor sap who was following you. If you want to try that strategy in Vektor Space, you're going to have to possess incredible precision to ride the round wall while turning in a tighter circle. I wouldn't really have a problem with it if I thought it added more to the game, but it really just feels like it was added for the sake of uniqueness.
While the core mechanic might not serve the game to the best of its ability, I still think Vektor Assault is a damn fun game. The artistic design is wonderful, the game feel is great, and there's enough variety to make this one of the few games on this list I'll return to when I'm bored. This one gets my seal of approval.
Links
Sector Lace: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=538
