Space Ace hits different when it boots instantly in your browser. Released in 1983 on the Super Nintendo, this retro classic from Cinematronics, Digital Leisure is ready the second you press start — no downloads, no setup.
Like its predecessor, it uses film-quality animation played back from a LaserDisc. It was unveiled in October 1983, just four months after the Dragon's Lair game, followed by a limited release in December 1983 and a wide release on April 29, 1984.
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| Action | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| D-Pad Up | ↑ | D-Pad up |
| D-Pad Down | ↓ | D-Pad down |
| D-Pad Left | ← | D-Pad left |
| D-Pad Right | → | D-Pad right |
| B (bottom) | X | Bottom face |
| A (right) | Z | Right face |
| Y (left) | S | Left face |
| X (top) | A | Top face |
| L | Q | Left shoulder |
| R | E | Right shoulder |
| Start | Enter | Start |
| Select | V | Select |
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The Story Behind Space Ace
Space Ace follows the adventures of the dashing hero Dexter, better known as "Ace". As with Dragon's Lair, a comic book miniseries incorporating elements from both the game and its Saturday Supercade version (such as Ace randomly changing into Dexter and back, instead of "energizing" back into Ace) was released in 2003 by Crossgen Publishing. In order to see the credits, the player must get an "Ace" rank on every level, meaning that they must have near-perfect accuracy and collect all the disks found throughout the game.
It is up to the player to guide Ace, in his adolescent form of Dexter, through a series of obstacles in pursuit of Borf, in order to rescue Kimberly and prevent Borf from using the Infanto Ray to conquer Earth. Because a SNES cartridge has limited storage however, it ended up being a top-down perspective action game with levels based on the scenes from the original. It was later released as DSiWare in North America on December 6 and in the PAL region on December 31.
How Space Ace Plays
Along with the floppy disk-based versions for Amiga, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, MS-DOS and Macintosh, ReadySoft issued a CD-ROM version featuring downsampled video for MS-DOS and Macintosh which preserved almost all of the original laserdisc content. A sequel, Space Ace II: Borf's Revenge, was created and shipped on floppy disk for the aforementioned computer platforms mixing new animation with scenes from the original game that were left out of the previous version due to large file sizes. It requires the ROM files plus the original laserdisc to run.
It is up to the player to guide Ace, in his adolescent form of Dexter, through a series of obstacles in pursuit of Borf, in order to rescue Kimberly and prevent Borf from using the Infanto Ray to conquer Earth. In 1991, Leland Corporation released a slightly updated version of Space Ace in the form of a conversion kit for the then recently released Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp. Ace is on a mission to stop the villainous Commander Borf, who is seeking to attack Earth with his "Infanto Ray" to render Earthlings helpless by reverting them into infants.
Why Players Still Load It Up
The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the CD-i version a 7.75 out of 10. Space Ace does manage to come out looking and sounding almost exactly like the original arcade adventure, but in the end, that's not necessarily a good thing". Unique, but only suitable for speed freaks."
A reviewer for Next Generation gave the PC version two out of five stars, commenting that "Don Bluth's LaserDisc classic remains an entertaining cartoon attached to the antithesis of interactivity. ... Next Generation gave the Sega CD version two out of five stars, criticizing the game's story as "juvenile" and the gameplay as 'overly limited': "The only way to beat any of the game's 13 stages is to play through it over and over until your reactions are automatic. In their review of the Sega CD version, GamePro gave the game an overall score of 3.9 out of 5, remarking that the game 'unfortunately highlights the color bleeding of the Sega CD', but praised the story, voicing, and music, and concluded "Space Ace is great for animation buffs or gamers who enjoyed Dragon's Lair".
Space Ace — Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I buy the original Space Ace?
See the "Other Places You Can Get This Game" section below the article for legitimate places to buy real-world versions.
What console was Space Ace released on?
Cinematronics, Digital Leisure shipped Space Ace for the Super Nintendo back in 1983, and this page runs that release.
Can I save my progress in Space Ace?
Yes. Create a free account and the player unlocks save states — snapshot your progress at any moment and resume later on any device.
How many players does Space Ace support?
This browser version of Space Ace handles 1 player(s).