Developer: ReadySoft Publisher: ReadySoft Release: 1994 Genre: Action
Anyone who saw Dragon’s Lair in the arcade had to play it. More than likely they did not get very far but still you had to experience it at least once. The game was a massive success and would later spawn a sequel. But in between those two titles Don Bluth and his studio created another game in the same vein. Space Ace took the setting into space and featured the same gameplay with a few new twists. While it did not have the same level of success it still received a number of ports. The Sega CD version is not the most ideal way to play the game but is serviceable at least.
Space Ace stars Dexter, an intergalactic hero on a quest to stop a criminal named Borf from using his Infanto Ray to turn everyone on Earth in to babies. And somewhere along the way he needs to save his girlfriend Kimberly too. Unfortunately Dexter is the first victim of the ray which turns him in to a teenager. While the game did not reach the heights of Dragon’s Lair it was popular enough to spawn a later SNES adaptation and even a Saturday morning cartoon.
It is unavoidable so we might as well get it out of the way: Space Ace looks bad. The video is heavily compressed and grainy as all get out. It looks better than Dragon’s Lair but not by much. Many of the game’s set pieces are colorful and the Sega CD simply cannot do them justice. The pixelated look will often get in the way of gameplay as visibility takes a nose dive. It is a damn shame as the art direction is absolutely stellar and surpasses Dragon’s Lair. Space Ace is more story driven than Dragon’s Lair as it follows a linear progression. While the cast of characters is small each has personality. Whether you like their character is a different matter. It is too bad you cannot fully appreciate the work done in this category because of the awful video quality.
The basic gameplay is similar to other FMV games. As you progress through each scene you must choose the right action or face death. There is a brief flash in the correct direction and depending on the scene the length of time to act differs. Space Ace adds a few wrinkles to the formula however. At various points you can energize and turn into adult Ace. In his normal form Dexter can fight his way through most situations although that path is more difficult. There are many alternate paths throughout the game, giving it more replay value than most titles in the genre. Giving agency to the player in the route you take through the story also helps in making you feel like a participant in the action.
Space Ace is an incredibly difficult game even by arcade standards. Even though it provides flashing hints regularly the timing window is often short. Since the game moves at a faster pace you often do not have much time to react which is unfair. The later sequences in the game are so fast it is almost nauseating. The choreography is brilliant and watching it unfold is a treat, especially the end game battle against Borf. Playing it however is a nightmare. This version lacks the difficulty settings of the arcade although to an extent it doesn’t matter since you are not pumping quarters in to a machine.
The biggest culprit for the high challenge is the game’s structure. Dragon’s Lair is comprised of many smaller rooms with each serving as a checkpoint however Space Ace has about twelve or thirteen long scenes. There are many set piece moments in each but to reach the next checkpoint you must complete the entire sequence which is a task in itself. The level of memorization required to pass many of the game’s sequences borders on ridiculous because each scene runs so long. You will die a lot and often by the time you reach the end of a given segment you may have forgotten the correct moves for the earlier ones. With limited lives you will need a lot of time to master this one. I suppose the high difficulty is due to the game’s length; when played perfectly it is under 10 minutes!
In Closing
The Sega CD version of Space Ace is perfectly serviceable. But in a time when you can basically play an arcade perfect rendition of the game on your DVD player you would have to be desperate to settle for this one. The gameplay is there but the muddy video ruins the experience. They did their best but unfortunately that is not good enough anymore.
