We here at OCmodshop love video games. Some of us (such as myself) grew up and experienced the 80s arcade scene first hand. Even today, most Gen Xers fondly remember Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace. Those games were absolutely revolutionary at the time, and were so far on the bleeding edge of technology that you could lose a pint of blood just by standing near one of them.
There have been many, many, MANY republications of these LaserDisc games over the years. There was even a 256-color roto-scoped animation version for the PC back in the days of the 486. The experience really wasn’t the same as the original arcade cabinet until DVD finally took consumers by storm. Digital Liesure leveraged this technology to revive Dragon’s Lair, Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp, Space Ace, and several other laser-disc based games. They even have recently been released in High Definition BluRay (HD-DVD versions were announced, but cancelled when Toshiba pulled the plug on the competing HD format).
Honestly, I think I’ve played every version of Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace that Digital Liesure has published… and then they went and released Space Ace for the iPhone.
Previous versions of Space Ace like the HD-WMV version reviewed here (BluRay version here) included the original 4:3 format, as well as a new widescreen (16:9 and 16:10) format. This iPhone version’s resolution is smaller than standard definition, due to the iPhone’s 480×320 pixel screen, and is presented in widescreen 16:10 format. Note that “reverse pan and scan” must be used to generate a widescreen version from a 4:3 original.
There are a few options when the game loads up. They are:
- Attract: Basically runs the original trailer that burned in many an arcade monitor
- Play: Play the game. You can choose Cadet, Captain, or Ace difficulty
- High Scores: Look at the high scores
- Settings: Go to the settings menu
- Instructions: Information on how to play
The Settings menu lets you change several options, some of which are unique to the iPhone version. They are:
- Vibration: Your iPhone provides tactile feedback
- Move Beeps: Makes a sound when you press on the controls
- Infinite Lives: Turn this on if you want to keep playing without starting over
- Left-Handed: Changes the orientation of the controls
- Controls: Toggles Small or Large mode
At 250MB, Space Ace is one of the largest iPhone applications you can download. When you consider that this game contiains over 30 minutes of video, that isn’t bad. Other releases of Space Ace let you “watch” the game from beginning to end, but there is no such feature in the iPhone version.
There are a few advantages to the iPhone version. For one, you can resume the game if you are interrupted for any reason, such as if a call comes in. If you set the game to “infinite lives” then you’ll never have to restart the game ever. Just press the Home button to exit. However, once you’re in the middle of a game, there is no way to get to the main menu. Basically you have to restart the application and answer “no” to “would you like to resume your previous game?”.
There are three levels: Cadet, Captain, and Ace. Cadet level highlights the control you need to press right before it is needed, which makes this more of a “reaction” game. In Cadet mode there aren’t as many of the original scenes, so gameplay is much shorter. In Ace Mode, you get no prompts, and the reaction time is very short (as short as the original arcade game), but all of the original scenes are present.
There are two different control layouts. In normal mode, all of the controls (four arrows and a fire button) are located in the bottom right corner of the screen (or left of the screen if you enable left-handed mode). It is very easy to accidentally press the wrong button, but your fingers don’t have to move very far. In full mode, each part of the screen has its own arrow, and the Fire button is located in the bottom left corner. The buttons are easier to press, but your fingers have to travel further, which usually blocks the screen, meaning many more deaths. My advice: get used to the compact control layout, especially if you’re playing Ace mode.
The iPhone version of Space Ace is probably my favorite version of the classic laser-disc game. For one, there is no need to install any software. Two, there is much lower delay between interactive scenes than DVD (although I did experience some major delay issues when my iPhone’s memory usage was high). And Three, this is the cheapest version of Space Ace available at only $5 (previous versions cost over $20 or more). The control scheme is innovative, but like many iPhone games, your thumbs can cover up the action. If you’re a classic video-game buff, then you probably already have every Atari 2600 and Nintendo NES game on your USB thumb drive, so why not have Space Ace in your pocket, too?
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