Pac-Man was still getting top bill at most arcades across America. In 1984, the year Space Ace made it’s debut, Ms. Don Bluth’s animations were absolutely amazing, and it really stood out for the time period in which it was produced. Childhood scars aside, it was a cool game. I’m still friends with him, and to this day, he still brags about beating Space Ace. To give you an idea of how hard this game was, one session usually cost this guy’s folks about thirty dollars. Soon he was an expert, but it still cost his parents dearly. This allowed him to develop a unique set of button-mashing skills. At the time, I knew this little spoiled brat kid whose parents gave him unlimited quarters to play Space Ace. I still feel that this was a form of child abuse. When I first played it, my mom gave me one dollar’s worth of quarters, which was barely enough to get a feel for the ridiculous timing needed to pass the game’s first stage. The game’s success was largely based on the novelty of experiencing something completely different while at the arcade in the 1980’s.
Don Bluth is an awesome animator, and his unique cartoonish style created an interesting juxtaposition to the psychedelic themes and dark humor in the Space Ace story. There where three difficulty options, but the easier settings sacrificed part of the story.
Ultimately, the game was an unforgiving quarter munching beast with an insatiable appetite for loose change. The closest I’ve ever gotten to replicating this feeling was repeatedly losing money to an unlucky slot machine. As a hyper-active child, I found this absolutely nerve racking. The animated Space Ace scenes between interactive game-play were short, and it didn’t take long to die. These games were attractive to young children, but they were extremely challenging. Just the slightest hesitation, and you’re dust. All of the blinking lights can be tricky because they appear in different parts of the scenery and at different times. Most of the time, you were paying so much attention to the story that you didn’t notice the light that you were supposed to be reacting to. All of a sudden, hitting a button became very difficult.
After you lost your first quarter to this game, you quickly realized that the the timing was odd and the controls were a little clumsy. When you timed it just right, you would advance to the next level and see another scene from the animated story. Basically, all you had to do was punch a button or tap a joystick every time you saw a bright blinking light on the screen. The concept was ground-breaking, and it seemed simple enough.
The Space Ace game was released the following year, and was the second laser-disc video game of it’s kind, and it was also animated and produced by Bluth. It was released in 1983 and was the first laser-disc video game ever produced, instantly becoming a classic. Don Bluth ( Space Ace’s creator) developed a cult following after animating the Dragon’s Lair arcade game. That was far from the case.įor those of you who aren’t familiar with Space Ace, here’s a brief history. After spending $3.95 for a comic, I expect to be wowed. Maybe I set my expectations too high, or maybe I’m just cheap. There was no doubt in my mind that this comic would be an absolute slam dunk. I’m a fan of the Space Ace properties, Don Bluth’s animations, and Robert Kirkman’s writing. I don’t usually buy new comics, but in this case, I made an exception. I had no intent of reviewing Space Ace #1, but after reading this book, I decided to share my thoughts.
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