The game is loaded with some pretty over-the-top scenes. Choosing these modes removes prompts and introduces harder scenes you would not get to play if you opted to try the easier Cadet mode. Many sequences in Space Ace are longer and more complex than Dragon's Lair, especially if you choose to play the game on its harder difficulties like Captain or Ace. For example, when running down a corridor with electrified tubes, you can either roll away as Dexter or energize into Ace to repel the glass.Ĭommander Borf taunted you each time you died. This gives you a little more of a director's chair experience than Dragon's Lair, as there are different solutions for sequences as both teenage and adult Dexter. However, you do not always have to turn into adult Dexter - it's a choice. There's a fire button for Dexter's laser pistol, but at times, this button doubles as "Energize." There are moments during the adventure where Dexter can tap a watch on his wrist and temporarily revert to Ace, his groovy grown-up self. Gameplay Space Ace is an interactive movie, so you are relegated to just pressing the joystick in certain directions to keep the action going. But it was the kind of weird that worked in this bridge era of sci-fi between "Star Wars" and Harlan Ellison. Eventually, the giant Dexter is reduced to only a head, which rolls after Dexter. While little Dexter climbs around the giant trying to escape, the evil Dexter becomes so possessed with killing his quarry that he starts shooting his own fingers off. The adventure unfolds across space stations and alien worlds, some quite conventional for Reagan Era sci-fi while others that are a little more 'Through the Looking Glass,' such as a showdown with an evil giant Dexter. Dexter must chase Borf across space, both on foot and in his ship, the Star Pac. ![]() Borf hits Ace, turning him into the teenager Dexter, and absconds with Kimberly. His weapon of choice is the Infanto Ray, a laser cannon that reduces its targets to children. ![]() Like any sci-fi villain worth his salt, Borf is intent on enslaving humankind. At the start of the game, Ace and his girlfriend Kimberly, are attacked by the evil Commander Borf. What It Was All About The titular Space Ace is Dexter and, according to the game's attract mode, he is the "defender of justice, truth, and planet Earth." Dexter is suave and possessed of the kind of ego we seem to like in rock stars, but not necessarily in our friends. Commander Borf: The blue-skinned maniac wants to take over earth, forcing it into submission with his Infanto ray.Kimmy's been kidnapped by Borf and his alien minions. Kimberly: Essentially, she's the redheaded version of Daphne, the damsel-in-distress from Dragon's Lair.But when struck by the Infanto Ray, we see that he was just a regular geeky teen like anybody that was playing the game. Dexter/Ace: Defender of earth, Dexter is a musclebound lug with a breezy ego.And in doing so, I started to see that Space Ace is, in many ways, a superior game.Īce and Kimberly are ambushed by Borf. ![]() The new 1080p transfer is incredible.) I ended up staying awake until 3AM to beat the game. But yesterday, I sat down with the Blu Ray edition of the game, published by Digital Leisure. I fell in love with the game in 1983, begged for quarters in order to play it, and have bought it on multiple formats over the years, such as the Sega CD and DVD. And it has a full soundtrack instead of audio flourishes, which helps create a more cinematic experience. There is a three-act structure to the game. Dragon's Lair was a series of vignettes that you had to survive, loosely tied together as exploring Singe's castle. ![]() While it would be easy to write off Space Ace as "Dragon's Lair in space" - as I purposefully did in the title of the article - a few minutes with the game reveals developer Cinematronics's expanded vision. Space Ace was the follow-up to the incredibly successful Dragon's Lair, the interactive cartoon that swept through arcades in 1983 and introduced America to Dirk the Daring. Game: Space Ace Platform(s): Arcade, PC, Blu Ray, DVD, Amiga, 3DO, Sega CD, SNES, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Jaguar CD, CD-i Release Date: 1984 Favorite Line: "Struggle with Dexter to regain his manhood." Favorite Moments: Rocket skates sequence, fighting with giant evil Dexter, and motorbike race.
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