Search - Space Ace [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

The Definitive Space Ace Conversion!!! They got it right th

Rapido | 09/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To say that I am a Space Ace fan is an understatement. Back in the 80s, I don't know how many quarters I spent trying to discover the correct routes for every sequence (the only games I spent more money on was probably the first few versions of Street Fighter II). I became someone who can consistently complete the game on one quarter (on Cadet level anyway). Everytime I played at the local arcade, I always drew a crowd watching as I took command of Ace to rescue the fair Kimberly. Space Ace certainly has a special place in my heart.

So believe me when I say I tried many of the home conversions that became commercially available over the years, and was left sorely disappointed every time. Of the ones I remember, I tried Sega CD, Panasonic 3DO, PC, and the Philips CDI. Graphic quality of these were usually horrendous. The timing of the moves were completely different from the arcade, and some were just straight up wrong. Some versions did not even include every sequence. The best conversion thus far was probably the CDI version (which I tried at a store demo), but even that was not perfect, and I'm not about to buy a machine costing $300+ at the time just for Space Ace.

When I found out about Space Ace HD on amazon, I had to try it. I've been jaded by all the conversions thus far so I didn't entirely have high hopes, but the very affordable price, the promise of HD, and the generally positive reviews here made it too enticing.

I am happy to report that this is the Space Ace that we have been waiting for! Graphic quality is excellent! Keep in mind that this was done in the 80s so there's only so much they can do, but on my 1080p 46-inch set, the video quality is really sharp. I played thru the entire game on Ace difficulty, and the timing of the inputs is just as I remembered from the arcade. Every sequence is intact. There is both a widescreen and standard video mode. A visual guide setting is available to help with timing. All 3 difficulties are present. If you just want to watch the whole thing in one sitting, there's a watch mode. I'm not really an audiophile so can't comment in this area, but it seemed pretty good to me.

And just in case you read some earlier reviews here, I had no problems on my PS3. And the thing about the lack of Kimberly's "get me out of here" on Ace and Captain modes, that's how it was in the arcade. It is only available on Cadet mode (as it should be), and the watch mode.

So what you you waiting for? If you're reading this, Space Ace must mean something to you, so buy it now! You will not regret it."

This game does not work on PS3s and blu ray player

marradaz | Virginia | 01/18/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I tried to play this DVD/game on both of my updated PS3s. Failed both times cycling through the same graphic non-stop. I then tested this DVD/game on a Sony stand-alone player and got the same result. It failed again. Consider yourself warned and avoid the headache of returning merchandise.
"

Not Dragon's Lair, but good enough to warrant a buy

JOHN SPANGLER | Ohio | 12/29/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Back in 1983 a game called Dragon's Lair came to the local arcades, 3 months later came Space Ace in early 1984. The rest is history. Space Ace back in the day was a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios and Cinematronics. Just like Dragon's Lair, Space Ace's gameplay consists of requiring the gamer to move the joystick or press the fire button at precise moments in the animated sequences to govern the hero's actions. It's basically a mini-animated movie. You think for a video game's purposes the animation will be pretty lame, but both Space Ace and Dragon's Lair had animation that Disney would love to have a hold of.

Even 25+ years later, I still find myself enjoying these games, but as with them back in the day, it's definitely an acquired taste and not for everybody. This version of Space Ace is clearly the best Space Ace ever released to a home console. The graphics have been immensely improved and the controls are more lenient on the gamer. I noticed only a couple of bugs where there is an annoying clicking sound after a death or scene, but that's only a minor nitpick. Space Ace definitely is not a fun as Dragon's Lair. I think it's the characters in Space Ace that are sometimes just annoying for my tastes, but the game is still fun to play and watch at times. The extras has some nice additions including a full movie video of the game without interruption and some nice interviews of the creators of the game and even includes Don Bluth. It also contains playable levels from Dragons Lair, and Dragons Lair II. Not bad!

I played it on my PS3 without problems and I hear it should run on all other blu-ray players without a hitch. Obviously it's going to feel more like a game with a PS3 controller, but the regular DVD controller will do the job too. Definitely pick this up if you want to take a trip down Laserdisc video game lane..."