Reviewed: March 27, 2008
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Digital Leisure

Developer
Digital Leisure

Released: April 8, 2008
Genre: Action
Players: 1

8
9
8
8
8.1

System Requirements

Spring of 1984 saw the release of Space Ace, the second laserdisc video game from award-winning animator, Don Bluth. Following in the footsteps of Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace featured stunning feature-quality animation and gameplay that relied entirely on memorization and reflexes. And much like Dragon’s Lair, I was consumed by the experience, dumping countless quarters (it cost a $1 to play) into the machine until I had mastered all the moves…then people paid for me to play while they watched.

Space Ace follows the adventures of the suave hero Ace. At the start of the game, the villainous Commander Borf attacks Ace with the "Infanto Ray", a weapon that transforms him into an adolescent version of himself, and kidnaps his girlfriend Kimberly. It is up to the player to guide Dexter - Ace's younger incarnation - through a series of obstacles in pursuit of Borf, in order to rescue Kimberly, restore his manhood, and prevent Borf from using the Infanto Ray to conquer Earth.

Space Ace BD boasts about a “high definition film transfer” as well as digitally remastered 5.1 surround sound. The Blu-ray disc also includes the following special features:

• Interviews with game creators Don Bluth, Gary Goldman & Rick Dyer
• Picture in Picture video commentary from the creators
• Viewing Mode Option: Widescreen (16:9) or Anamorphic (4:3) video playback
• Watch Mode – Watch Don Bluth's stunning animation without playing
• Subtitled: English, French, Spanish, Italian and German

The nature of the game was memorization. You only had five possible actions; up, down, left, right, and firing your ray gun. But Space Ace took the formula a bit further by giving you three skill levels to choose from; Cadet, Captain, or Ace. Only by playing the game on Ace level would you see all the action sequences whereas Cadet offered only about half the game experience.

Also new to the gameplay was the ability to “Energize!” at predetermined locations. If you tapped the action button Dexter would morph into the mighty Ace for a few moments. This gave the player two options to take through several of the game's more intense action scenes, and you never were quite sure which way would be the quickest or safest, at least until you tried. Often, transforming into Ace would instigate more combat, and thus more excitement for the player and any spectators. Then again, choosing to stay as Dexter presented it's own set of unique challenges, forcing you to run complicated escape patterns rather than shooting your way out.

After complaints that Dragon's Lair was "too easy" or "too slow" the designers decided to pack in a lot more decision points into Space Ace and put them closer together. Even though the game prompted your next action with flashes of light overlaid on the animation, these visual cues only allowed only a fraction of a second for error and you could never win by reflexes alone. Timing was critical, and if you got too confident and started pressing the joystick or button too soon you would also die. Only after several dozen (or was it hundreds) of tokens did you finally master the timing and find your "zone". Then you were unstoppable...you were "Space Ace".

The gameplay is as simple (and boring) as it gets. You control Dexter/Ace, the hero, through dozens of animated action scenes. At critical points in the action you are given a small window of opportunity to interact with the game by moving with the directional controls on your BD remote or PS3 controller or performing some context-sensitive action with the OK or X button like firing your ray gun or using an underwater air tank, or even Energizing into Ace. Act too soon or react too late and you get to witness one of the dozens of horrible, yet humorous death scenes.

Unlike Dragon’s Lair and it’s randomized action scenes, Space Ace follows a more direct and linear path. Depending on the skill level chosen before you start the game, additional scenes may be inserted into the story as well as mirror images of previous sequences. The story and the action is far more reaching than Dragon’s Lair, taking you to a space station, alien planets, and all sorts of cool locations like a roller-skating maze, underwater eel lair, exciting motorcycle chase, and many more all leading up to the exciting final battle with Borf.

The Blu-ray version of Space Ace offers the fastest seeks times since 1984 - nearly seamless but not quite. The game uses the new Blu-ray Disc Java or BD-J. This is an interactive platform supporting advanced content for Blu-ray Discs. BD-J coding allows control of the video, audio and overlays using Java code, which makes Space Ace one of the most sophisticated Blu-ray title on the market. All Blu-ray Disc players are designed to play BD-J titles based on the Blu-ray Disc Association Specifications, so it will work with the PS3 or any standalone Blu-ray player.

Since the goal is no longer about taking all the tokens out of your pocket, Space Ace HD offers limited lives but unlimited continues, so you can easily beat the game in one sitting without having to start from the beginning after you die. There is also a scoring mode, which I never really figured out. It keeps a running score, but resets when you run out of lives and have to continue. And if you don’t feel like playing the game, you can simply “watch” it play out (automatically) and learn what to do in the future. This is a great way to figure out when you want to "Energize" into Ace or stick with Dexter.

One new feature for the BD version is the Visual Move Guide, a gold circle that appears in the lower right corner whenever an action is required. If you perform the correct action it will turn green and if you enter the wrong move or don't do it fast enough the circle turns red. One thing I do miss from the original arcade version is the strictness of the timing for a lot of commands. Now, if you know you are supposed to fire your gun you can just mash the X button until the indicator turns green.

Don Bluth is a masterful animator and you can really tell that a lot of time and care went into the creation of this game. The colors are rich and vibrant and the characters are delightful. The game's animation features some traditional rotoscoping, wherein models were built of Ace's spaceship "Star Pac", his motorcycle, and the tunnel in the game's exciting dogfight sequence. These were then filmed and traced over to render moving animated images with very realistic depth and perspective. Even the scarier creatures have a humorous side that makes this game great for kids of all ages.

With unlimited continues you can easily finish this game in less than two hours, and the more you play the faster you can do it. As a 24-year veteran of the game I finished Space Ace (on Ace level) and watched all the extra bonus features in 58 minutes. Nothing really changes, so there is little motivation to replay the game other than to show off your skills to your friends and perhaps improve your score.

New for the BD version is a running video commentary (recorded on Don Bluth's birthday) where you can watch the game play out in its entirety with a PIP window that has creators, Don Bluth, Rick Dyer, and Gary Goldman talking about each scene and the game in general. This is some really insightful stuff and a great addition to the aging franchise that will make this edition a hit with nostalgic video gamers everywhere. In addition to the commentary there are some other interviews as well as some interesting split-screen comparison that put the BD and 1984 versions side by side so you can see just how much better this game looks 24 years later.

Space Ace is a timeless classic, a definitive milestone in the legacy of arcades and gaming, and one of the first expressions of true "interactive entertainment", and the Blu-ray version is easily the best way to experience it. Adults and kids alike won’t be able to resist the mesmerizing visuals and the memorizing gameplay.