Space Ace Arcade Ace and Kimberley

Space Ace arcade review

The space themed Laserdisc sequel to Dragon’s Lair

It was a wet summer holiday in 1984 and I was with my cousin in an arcade on Canvey Island in Essex. Frankie Goes to Hollywood was in the Top 10 with “Two Tribes”, and the famous fight scene between Reagan and Chernenko was blasting out of the video juke box. I looked up from the 2p falls at the voice emanating from a cabinet at the front of the arcade…

Space Ace – Defender of justice, truth and the planet Earth!

I walked over to the crowd forming around the machine, and that was me set for the rest of the summer.

Space Ace Arcade Animated GIF
Typical gameplay sequence from Space Ace

In 1983 Cinematronics released the first Laserdisc based arcade game, Dragon’s Lair. This was a milestone in arcade game technology, effectively allowing a player to direct the actions of a character in a full colour disney style cartoon. The use of a Laserdisk player hidden within the cabinet allowed a film to be “played” on screen through the timing of joystick and key presses. Getting the timing or input wrong resulted in the film switching to a context sensitive death scene, effectively rendering the game to a test of memory.

Space Ace Title Screen
Space Ace Arcade Title Screen

Whilst the gameplay was so-so, it was the quality of the animation, which was by Disney veteran Don Bluth, which kept players coming back for more.

Hot on the heels of Dragon’s Lair was 1984’s Space Ace, which in contrast to the first game’s medievel theme, was much more futuristic, and I felt much more fitting with the technology.

Space Ace Gameplay

You played hero Ace, who has to rescue his girlfriend Kimberley from the evil commander Borf. Borf has a secret weapon, the Infanto Ray, which he uses to zap Ace back to his childhood form, hampering his mission.

Space Ace flying section

Cue much timed jumping between floating platforms, dodging laser blasts and flying spacecraft through obstacles on a journey to save Kimberley and the earth from the evil blue alien (which was also voiced by Don Bluth). Seeing the game through to the end rewarded the player with a feeling of real accomplishment, that they had mastered the machine and seen all the great animation had to offer.

Space Ace home conversions

Although badly replicated on a number of platforms in period as a “graphics-only” based game with no video footage, it has subsequently been translated to DVD/CD-ROM and now Blu-Ray, allowing it to be played at home in an approximation of it’s former glory.

For traditionalists it is also possible to emulate on a PC if you have a copy of the original laserdisc files and an emulator (see Daphne). Many retro gamers will remember the Amiga and the Super Nintendo versions, neither of which managed to capture the spirit of the original.

Space Ace – Video Game Marmite?

This is not a game for everyone, and many will state it was a passing fad and rightly so – the format was not long lived. You could claim it’s not even a proper video game, as you are never really in control of your character, you are just learning a pre-defined path through a video.

Space Kimberly and baby Borf
Final scene with Space Ace, Kimberly and baby Borf

But for me this was a great arcade experience, a blockbuster summer movie that you could actually interact with, and whilst the technology now might seem clunky, and the gameplay limited, it was a experience that no-one who played it could forget.


Comments

2 responses to “Space Ace arcade review”

  1. The Reluctant Geek Avatar
    The Reluctant Geek

    For me it was 1985 whilst on a family holiday to Lido di Jesslo, Italy. Having grown fond of Dragon’s Lair thanks to 2 years of the Showboat Arcade in sunny Hunstanton, it was an instant love affair and the loss of a son for my parents for the remainder of the holiday.

    The Laserdisc games of the 80s are a major milestone in video gaming history and Space Ace is right up there with Space Invaders and Donkey Kong in terms of my all time top retro games. I did buy DL for my Commadore 64 but it wasn’t the same, so you can bet that I jumped on the opportunity to purchase the Bluth trillogy on DVD. DL, DL2 and SA remain some of my favourate games to this day and I continue to play them with the same zest as my 13 year old self.

    BE VALIANT SPACE WARRIOR THE FATE OF EARTH IS IN YOUR HANDS!

    1. RolyRetro Avatar
      RolyRetro

      Spain was the place I discovered arcades, and a lifelong love of videogames. For me the game that started it all was Phoenix, a game I mastered during a holiday on Majorca in the early 80’s, where may 25 pesata pieces were consumed.

      Space Ace was also one of those games that conjure memories. Frankie Goes to Hollywood on the video jukebox in the arcade in Canvey Island, Essex.

      Cheers!

      Roly

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