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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Digital Leisure Publisher: Digital Leisure |
There are a lot of games from the past that were way ahead of their time in many ways, “Space Ace” is one of those games. The
problem with a lot of the popular games of the past is that when gaming companies try to remake them into an updated version of the
same game, there are sometimes issues. This time around players are being offered a high definition version of the game form the
past. Many players will be brought back to the days when they first played the game when it originally came out. Along with the walk
down memory lane will come the thoughts of frustration and confusion that went along with playing the game. Many players may think
twice before wanting to player this game again because this time around “Space Ace” is a twenty year old game with a little bit of glass
added to it. Players will quickly be reminded of playing the game but not realizing why they were losing or what they need in order to
advance further into the game, eventually leading to a lot of frustration.
For those who have ever played “Dragon’s Lair,” the precursor to “Space Ace,” has a lot of similarities to this game. The plot itself is
about the cheesiest of possible space plots. The evil Commander Borf attacks Ace, the game’s main galactic hero, with a ray designed
to turn creatures into tiny babies. This turns Ace into a child version of himself named Dexter as Borf reveals his plans to conquer the
Earth with his Infanto Ray as he laughs maniacally. He then kidnaps the lovely Kimberly, who is the damsel in distress character
element that has to be in any game of this type, and really has no other role in the overall game than to be saved. This puts players in
the role of traveling through space to save the damsel in distress, the world and defeat the evil Borf.
To actually call “Space Ace” is probably the wrong thing to do, and may lead many players to believe that it is an actual side scrolling
game or something similar, which it is not. Instead, this type of entertainment is more of an interactive movie since players don’t have a
direct say in what is going on in the movie, the more need to select actions for the hero to perform. Players will watch the actions of
Dexter/Ace, and when appropriate, follow a prmpt to press the correct action button and save him from one of a number of utter
demises. At certain points throughout “Space Ace” players will be given a prompt to Energize, at which point, if players follow the
prompt and do what they are asked, the will change Dexter back into Ace for a little while. When layers become Ace, players will be able
to face the many challenges with a laser gun, but if players decide to not change their form, Dexter’s challenges involve a lot of running
and dodging.
The animation of the game is done by the industry veteran Don Bluth, and his style looks familiar to that of “Dragon’s Lair” from the very
first scene. This means that the graphics of the game are quite amazing to look at. Whether or not the game has matured over the
years, despite being re-mastered into a high definition, is quite debatable. The video still skips oddly on very rare occasions and
strange items often appear when this happens, but other than the small glitches in the game, it players fairly well. Also, for those who
want to just see the animation without actually playing through the entire game and getting frustrated constantly, players are able to
watch the entire movie from beginning to end by selecting the Watch mode from the title screen. This is an element of the game that
many players will who simply want to see what happens will enjoy.
While players work their way through the game, they will be reminded of the difference between the players of today and the players of
the past. For those who were able to master this game in the past proved to have a lot more tenacity and patience than the players of
today. There are only so many times that players will want to see Bork while he offers a nugget of information after the player dies
before they will smash in their screen, or simply turn the game off out of frustration. The game allows players to have an unlimited
number of lives, but it is amazing that players would continually put quarter after quarter into the arcade machine in order to see what
happens to Ace in the end. For those who get frustrated with this version of the game, imagine those who had to put a quarter in every
time they wanted to play again.
It is very hard to critique a game that is ultimately a movie, and to make things even more difficult is the fact that it is a twenty year one at
that. Obviously fans of the game are going to love this because it is almost an exact duplicate of the original. The only replay values of
the game comes in the form of difficulty levels that restrict how many scenes players actually see in the game, for example, those who
play on the easiest move will see only about half of the total scenes in the game. As a game, this doesn’t quite measure up to other
titles, but for those looking for a bit of nostalgia, this classic is still a great play.
problem with a lot of the popular games of the past is that when gaming companies try to remake them into an updated version of the
same game, there are sometimes issues. This time around players are being offered a high definition version of the game form the
past. Many players will be brought back to the days when they first played the game when it originally came out. Along with the walk
down memory lane will come the thoughts of frustration and confusion that went along with playing the game. Many players may think
twice before wanting to player this game again because this time around “Space Ace” is a twenty year old game with a little bit of glass
added to it. Players will quickly be reminded of playing the game but not realizing why they were losing or what they need in order to
advance further into the game, eventually leading to a lot of frustration.
For those who have ever played “Dragon’s Lair,” the precursor to “Space Ace,” has a lot of similarities to this game. The plot itself is
about the cheesiest of possible space plots. The evil Commander Borf attacks Ace, the game’s main galactic hero, with a ray designed
to turn creatures into tiny babies. This turns Ace into a child version of himself named Dexter as Borf reveals his plans to conquer the
Earth with his Infanto Ray as he laughs maniacally. He then kidnaps the lovely Kimberly, who is the damsel in distress character
element that has to be in any game of this type, and really has no other role in the overall game than to be saved. This puts players in
the role of traveling through space to save the damsel in distress, the world and defeat the evil Borf.
To actually call “Space Ace” is probably the wrong thing to do, and may lead many players to believe that it is an actual side scrolling
game or something similar, which it is not. Instead, this type of entertainment is more of an interactive movie since players don’t have a
direct say in what is going on in the movie, the more need to select actions for the hero to perform. Players will watch the actions of
Dexter/Ace, and when appropriate, follow a prmpt to press the correct action button and save him from one of a number of utter
demises. At certain points throughout “Space Ace” players will be given a prompt to Energize, at which point, if players follow the
prompt and do what they are asked, the will change Dexter back into Ace for a little while. When layers become Ace, players will be able
to face the many challenges with a laser gun, but if players decide to not change their form, Dexter’s challenges involve a lot of running
and dodging.
The animation of the game is done by the industry veteran Don Bluth, and his style looks familiar to that of “Dragon’s Lair” from the very
first scene. This means that the graphics of the game are quite amazing to look at. Whether or not the game has matured over the
years, despite being re-mastered into a high definition, is quite debatable. The video still skips oddly on very rare occasions and
strange items often appear when this happens, but other than the small glitches in the game, it players fairly well. Also, for those who
want to just see the animation without actually playing through the entire game and getting frustrated constantly, players are able to
watch the entire movie from beginning to end by selecting the Watch mode from the title screen. This is an element of the game that
many players will who simply want to see what happens will enjoy.
While players work their way through the game, they will be reminded of the difference between the players of today and the players of
the past. For those who were able to master this game in the past proved to have a lot more tenacity and patience than the players of
today. There are only so many times that players will want to see Bork while he offers a nugget of information after the player dies
before they will smash in their screen, or simply turn the game off out of frustration. The game allows players to have an unlimited
number of lives, but it is amazing that players would continually put quarter after quarter into the arcade machine in order to see what
happens to Ace in the end. For those who get frustrated with this version of the game, imagine those who had to put a quarter in every
time they wanted to play again.
It is very hard to critique a game that is ultimately a movie, and to make things even more difficult is the fact that it is a twenty year one at
that. Obviously fans of the game are going to love this because it is almost an exact duplicate of the original. The only replay values of
the game comes in the form of difficulty levels that restrict how many scenes players actually see in the game, for example, those who
play on the easiest move will see only about half of the total scenes in the game. As a game, this doesn’t quite measure up to other
titles, but for those looking for a bit of nostalgia, this classic is still a great play.
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