I used to haunt my (then) local arcade in England for this game. Although my best games were Defender, Yi Ar Kung Fu, Hyper Sports and Galaga, they were pretty popular (they had two Defender machines, but only one of the others): this game had a lot of people watching the excellent attract screen, but not that many people had a go. They would always watch when I played, so I had peer pressure to improve ever time. I loved the way that, no matter the awful prospect before him, Ace would always take time to grin and flex his muscles in the brief periods when he regained his manhood. The night I finished the game, there was a really big cheer - far louder than the night I passed 10m on Defender, when there were at least five other guys getting close, and I was the first at the arcade. (Now, I find the all-time record is over 33m - got to install MAME!) The arcade did have Dragon's Lair, but I wasn't a fan, as the clips were too short and fast. They later got a Dragon's Lair II (Time Warp), and the magic was back: again, the fantastic attract screen did a lot of the work, but the clips involved you more. I did finish it eventually, but as always, the death scenes cracked me up and kept me trying, so I could die in a new way I hadn't seen before. Excellent Don Bluth animations.
By the mid-80's,the initial impact caused by games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong was wearing off,and arcade game manufacturers were looking around for the next big thing. They'd hoped it'd be laserdisc games,the first of which was *Dragon's Lair* ,also with animation from Don Bluth's company. Unfortunately,the technology was still in its infancy,so they weren't really interactive enough to be a real game...this game,like *Dragon's Lair* and its sequel,may have had eye-popping visuals but "playing" them was little more than trial-and-error at memorizing the pattern of correct moves,which many did by watching others. It didn't take long for the videogame-themed magazines of the time to start publishing the patterns. There were other laserdisc games,some of which used pre-existing animation,others used real-life footage,others CGI landscapes ...but the whole laserdisc arcade game trend was dead in a few years.
God I really admire the animation. I appreciate the attention to detail and the fluidity compared to a lot of what is popular nowadays. Really awesome find!
randomguy6679 Well they lacked the budget to hire real voice actors so the voices are made by the animators themselves (including Bluth who voiced Borf). Indeed it is nothing compared to real voice actors but considering that they lacked any acting experience they didn't do so bad (especially Bluth as Borf)
With these animated QuickTime event games there isn’t much room for changes in replay cause they’d have to animate each variation. Most of them would have some scenes being played in a mirror image on different play throughs- that explains the “make a left” . Dragons lair would have scenes in a different order. Brain Dead 13 you could chose the order you went to different scenes by walking around. But all would have random scenes in mirrored view. Space Ace does have alternate stage endings if you chose not to energize to the big guy when prompted. You don’t die from it- the scene just continues on a different animated route.
Hatted Sandwich I heard that before Bluth decided to voice Commander Borf he wanted to have Paul Shenar (Jenner from The Secret Of NIMH & Alejandro Sosa from Scarface) voice him.
"If I have a nickel for every time I've seen a major antagonist got turned into a baby, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice."
I played this game in the coin-op arcades along with "Dragon's Lair." Not many people made it to the end on one quarter and you usually had a big crowd of people standing around, watching you finish when you did.
I watched someone complete Dragon's Lair in the arcade along with just one other kid. When it was over none of us said anything. It baffles me how someone could have learned to do that well before any internet.
Yep That be me. 🙂 After you ran out of quarters, all you could do was stand and watch. They used to have a TV on top of the game cabinet. Because the crowds would get so big.
@@officespace7777 yes , but not in all arcades...the one we had they had TV on top or something that u could watch on, it was a huge puller of money..at 50p a pop where we were..best games were 20p, old games 10p so it was a game u didn't play after one go, I'm guessing those who beat it must have spent masses and were on hols cos I had to go seaside to see this.
"KIMMY!" "Beware your dark side" (suddenly turns into doppelganger) Me:...wait, what? (tricks monster into destroying himself, and then his head, while laughing, rolls down) Me: WHAT?! (ending happens) Me:.......WHAT?!!!!!?
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that thought that. I always had a feeling that was a particularly weird part of the story, but was hard to judge as a kid. It's good to watch it as an adult and understand what some of the words mean now - lol. I always wondered about what an "infantile ray" was. As a kid I spent about a year watching other people play this, memorising every move, the timing, and wasting all my pocket money. I could only reach the end through one of the easy paths on cadet, but it was still a great feeling to have people watch you in awe when you completed it. Ah the 80's!
So true! I was lucky enough to work at Showbiz Pizza Place in 1984. I could play for free :) When I joined the military, on one of our few R & R days in Basic, they had Space Ace at the Enlisted Club. I was able to play through the whole game, and when I got done, I must've had 30 people watching.
I love this game and would dump quarter after quarter into it. I was an expert at it at 10 years old and people would gather around the machine as I completed it on Space Ace mode. The 80s indeed! Those were the days.
I am 51 in 2023. I remember i only knew vectrex, coleco, and even if Snes was released, when we saw the arcade games, dragon's lair, star wars, space ace, cliff anger, mach 3, tron, .... yes we were amazed, and very far from today. We could not have such graphics at home and that was frustrating but it made the arcade time so f... great !!!! ❤
I’m the same age as you. I was like 10 when space ace came out and I instantly fell in love. 😻 Mastered the whole game (and of course I mastered all of dragons lair the year before). I used to love drawing so many crowds to see the ending 😊
Wow, I played the hell out of this game. Could literally play it with my eyes closed. Surprised to see the full play-through isn’t even 8 mins worth of animation!
I'll say this: The Game looks amazing, sounds amazing, and feels amazing while your playing it (I personally have the Dragon's lair trilogy on the Wii, highly recomend), but you've have to have a couple hours put aside and/or a bottle of adderall if you actually plan on beating it
This is my all time favorite laser disc game. I remember setting the all time high score at my local arcade as I spent an entire summer finding out which scenes gave the most points and I even had fun playing the game where either I played strictly as Dexter for the entire game or played the entire game as Ace just to challenge myself. I learned all the possible scenes and the timing for each scene. Now I have this game on my iPhone. Amazing to play it on a mobile device. I wonder how my younger self would have reacted if I could back in time to 1983 and show the game playing on the iPhone to my younger self. My younger self would probably mug me to get the iPhone just to play the game and the discover other games since the finger print scanner would still allow me to log in i would assume.
This is also where the ace part of TH-cam name comes from. I also remember when the college arcade first got the game. Everyone was blown away by Dragon's Lair but was intimidated by the game since it cost 50 cents and it did not tell you what to do. When Space Ace first arrived on day 1 of classes at the university arcade center, everyone was amazed at me that I was able to beat the game on the first play through without losing a single life. They did not know that during the summer break from courses, I was playing it at my local arcade and already mastered the game so I could either as Dexter or Ace for every scene. I always played it at the ace level and never bothered with either cadet or captain levels so that forced me to learn the entire game.
Yes imagine seeing games from now at 13, for me in 1985. Think around that time , scooby doo was pretty nifty graphics and so was Flintstones where u build the house. Then of course that awesome saboteur and saboteur 2, the great spellbound , and knights daze (?), Dizzy, my fave skool daze and back to school
This shows how far the animation and the fluidity of the technology advanced in such a short time from the original "Dragon's Lair" to this similar but different story in Space Ace. This never had a sequel but the Laserdisk technology it pioneered at the time became faster and more receptive to inputs from the joystick as time went on. From the original arcade game to the final Dragon's Lair II it was better and better but unfortunately never really gained the necessary popularity until Don Bluth had to give up on the technology. He is very creative (creating another cartoon now) and was somewhat successful after leaving Disney, but he kept mixing success with flops and the bankruptcies he had.
He is one of the most endearingly fascinating characters in animation, and Hollywood in general. A true artist in every sense of the word. Can't wait to see his newest work.
@@Sol-Cutta He is pretty much retired now. He is still busy however. Bluth announced he was publishing a memoir, Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life, which was released on July 19, 2022. so less than a year ago.
1:49 Dexter: Kimberly, come in. Are you okay? Kimberly: Oh, sure. I'm just kidnapped by aliens, that's all. Dexter: I'll save you, Kimmy! Kimberly: GET ME OUT OF HERE!
I was one of only a few people in my area who could beat this when it was in the arcades in the 80s. Took a lot of money to learn all the moves and memorize them. Felt good to my then 12 year old self to have a group of people hanging around the cabinet watching me play when they noticed I actually knew what I was doing. Was a really fun and unique game, I always loved Dexters voice.
+Emil M From what I remember Nintendo hasn't even come out. It was basically competing with Pac-Man and Space Invaders. It was amazing in an arcade next to those games, it looked almost unbelievable it looked like that back then. Yeah, now it looks like a short FMV game with limited interactivity. But in an arcade in the 80's it was insane.
+Dan Femrestlingfan I agree. It was fantastic! NES was not available yet, and We had Atari, Colleco, and Intellivision. We got bored and went to Arcades where the games were 100 times better. Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were advanced and total quarter eaters...but fantastic and fun!
Son Bluth was is and always will be a divine gift of hand. His hands his pencils his ability to draw is something to behold. I love his backgrounds and his creature designs. I love the expressive faces and range of actions. Atmosphere and high paced speed. His animation style was perfect for arcades and I would argue if not for this and it's more famous older cousin Dragon's Lair we have AAA graphics we do today. Yea....
My dad used to play the hell out of this. I never even payed attention to what it was, but I remembered the tone of voice in the beginning perfectly. Miss you dad.
this was the last game my spanish teacher played, and he never beat it! He wanted me to play it to finish his childhood for him... i sincerely felt for the man, so i spent 100 hours trying to beat the game and finally did it, in front of him!
For those curious Kimberly was voiced by Lorna Cook, one of the animators on the project. Pretty much all of the game's tiny budget went into the animation quality so they had crew members do all the voices instead of professional voice actors.
@@billyb4790 that's what I thought at first, but no, bluth was commissioned to make titan AE. Evil blue alien tries to take over/destroy the world, blonde hero has to rescue his girlfriend. Before I found out bluth was paid to make titan AE, I used to wonder why he didnt just make space ace instead.
This is from freaking 1983? Really? Honestly can't get my head around that... This is just incredible though! :D I wish I got to play this version... instead of that SNES one lol...
I love this and Dragon's Lair, haven't played DL II or III yet. The crazy thing is that we literally have the technology to finally play this kind of animation for real and not with simulated directional arrows. The time is now to fully realize these games.
I spent my childhood in arcades playing this and Dragons Lair it was unlike anything else in arcades at the time.I wish arcade 1up would come out with this
I can't believe I never saw this in the 90's growing up, when I actually had time to play this and enjoy it. Now I'm crushed with responsibilities and adulting. I'm adding this to the need to play list. This looks absolutely awesome! I came here from The Ripper 1996 - /w Christopher Walken.
Lol me too!! I like how it's always dexters theme and then when u get the power up aces chorus plays along dexters. I feel like dexter daily, then every now and then I feel like ace for a few seconds hash This is classic!!
This and Dragon's Lair stand apart as awesome concepts from a unique time. Don Bluth truly was one of animations greatest, and this game is some of his best work. His character design and fluidity of motion will always be unmatched. He does get the credit he deserves - I just wish more people knew his name. Unfortunately, hand drawn animation like this will never come back. I never really understood why the animated film video game hybrid didn't catch on more. But I'm thankful we at least have these two examples.
@DreamwalkwerFilms I’ve been a huge fan of “Space Ace” for over 35 years, having successfully completed the game in an arcade in 1988. I purchased the Blu-Ray approximately 10 years ago and have loved being able to see the game’s rich artwork in high-definition. Only recently did I use my Blu-Ray disc to just “watch” the animated sequences as opposed to playing the game. Because I wasn’t concerned with pressing buttons or worried about forgetting what move to perform, I was able to focus on other details in the animation. The animation of Borf during the final bo staff duel is tremendous. I also love the color design throughout the game. Really vibrant and evocative. I especially enjoy the way color shifts are handled to give a sense of different environment lighting. For example, Ace and Kimberly while underwater, or blue Borf appearing purple during the finale because of the red glow of the fiery surroundings. Beautiful. 😍
Agreed. My only question as an artist myself is how a teal mini dress 👗 turns the exact opposite on the color - wheel then back again in the same room. It just waited for Borf to get zapped and then the dress is teal again. Though I thought she looked great in red, not gonna lie. I'm just a nitpicker.
I've heard how Don Bluth is trying to make a Dragon's Lair movie, but has there ever been anything to follow up this and explain some of the crazy stuff in it: comic, novel, anything? Because I would love to see that.
Note that this isn't the only path through, either. You can choose *not* to Energize most times and play through as Dexter instead of transforming into Ace. (Dexter tends to dodge and avoid enemies rather than shoot them down, though he does fight back sometimes) I think the only time you *have* to Energize is in the final battle.
Yeah, it’s not a huge difference though, and like you said you have to energize at the end anyways. The biggest difference I like is that instead of a giant space ace, you fight multiple clones of dexter.
you can barely tell what the hell is going on and the game is just a big quick time event. can I ask how this translates to no one caring about quality today?
there will be a new dragon's lair movie by the original creators. it already got funded by indiegogo: www.indiegogo.com/projects/dragon-s-lair-returns-movie-cartoon#/ they will also make a space age short movie.
The second laser disc game from Con Bluth and the follow up to the ground breaking Dragon's Lair. This was about 15 years ahead of it's time before home computers and CDs became computer standards in the 1990's.
Game was way harder than it looks, you had to press the right buttons at the exact right time or you'd have to start all over. Played this when I was a kid on the Panasonic 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and it seems like yesterday, probably one of my top memories tbh
when we got to the arcade in the morning, we opened up the back of this machine and filled our pockets with tokens and loaded up like 70 credits on game, played all day every day all summer, could finish on any difficulty, using Ace or Dexter, good times, good times..... on maxx difficulty was a lot harder (longer) most scenes mirrored and replayed, and i didnt see the jet skates here...
Everything is really cheesy except for the animation itself. The concept of controlling the ''movie'' is awesome. I remember seeing a video about it on TH-cam, were with should use the same ida for modern films so people can feel more interacted with the film, like in video games.
Fun fact: in order to save money on voice actors, the animators themselves voiced the characters: Will Finn as Dexter/Baby Borf (animator) Jeff Etter as Ace (animator) Lorna Cook as Kimberly (animator) Don Bluth as Borf/Aliens/Dark Side Dexter/Dark Side Ace (director/animator) Michael Rye as Narrator (actor, voice actor)
man, i can't imagine that you'd have to play this on an arcade, and maybe not even then be able to see the whole thing! I'm kinda glad i'm born in the 2000.
Dragons Lair, Dragons Lair 2 and Space Ace the most fascinating and unique.. not forgetting underated gaming of all time.. and still fascinates me to this very day.. compare this to the modern garbage gaming platforms.. their is no Competition.. plus not forgetting ADDICTIVE
A Putt-Putt Golf employee gave me the promotional movie poster they got for this, back around 1984-5. Still have it, need to get a frame for it to put it up on the wall.
I loved playing Dragon's Lair in the arcades. However, I had so much difficulty getting into Space Ace. It appeared to be too fast-paced. But I guess it was really the music that was throwing me off the whole time. It probably would have been more playable for me if that was eliminated from the gameplay.
>Game starts >Kimmy immediately kidnapped inside the big ship five feet away >Dexter...warps entire planets away? That's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see if it pays off. *5 actual minutes later* Huh. It did.
I used to play it on my 3DO in early 1990s. Still remember Kimberly's scream "Get me out of here" ) I was so happy to finish it to see all the sequences.
What happened to the scene where they are skating? I remember that part being in the game. They were skating on top of a maze and the animation was awesome.
When for the first time I saw Space Ace I was a kid, and it was hard to see for so many people who were huddled close to the game to see it. One thing I can say that at the time in the original arcade game, there was no clear indication of what moves to make and at what exact time to do them. flashes separately. What you had to do was play and when you got to a new move that you didn't know you would die and understand that that was the time to do it, and try a direction or action button. So after spending so much money you could finally know all the moves and finish the game. Of course in the captain (medium) and space ace (hard) levels, new scenes, reflex scenes, and even more stringent response times were added to enter the moves. Memorable times.
I still can't believe this used to be an arcade game from the 80s. It must have been insane back then.
Dragon's Lair moved at a snail's pace compared to this game. I enjoyed both.
I used to haunt my (then) local arcade in England for this game. Although my best games were Defender, Yi Ar Kung Fu, Hyper Sports and Galaga, they were pretty popular (they had two Defender machines, but only one of the others): this game had a lot of people watching the excellent attract screen, but not that many people had a go. They would always watch when I played, so I had peer pressure to improve ever time. I loved the way that, no matter the awful prospect before him, Ace would always take time to grin and flex his muscles in the brief periods when he regained his manhood. The night I finished the game, there was a really big cheer - far louder than the night I passed 10m on Defender, when there were at least five other guys getting close, and I was the first at the arcade. (Now, I find the all-time record is over 33m - got to install MAME!)
The arcade did have Dragon's Lair, but I wasn't a fan, as the clips were too short and fast. They later got a Dragon's Lair II (Time Warp), and the magic was back: again, the fantastic attract screen did a lot of the work, but the clips involved you more. I did finish it eventually, but as always, the death scenes cracked me up and kept me trying, so I could die in a new way I hadn't seen before.
Excellent Don Bluth animations.
Remember this game very well - oh man it was brutal hard, you needed microsecond timing!
It was.. and still it was "just" video playback from a laserdisc triggered by the controler. Not more.
By the mid-80's,the initial impact caused by games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong was wearing off,and arcade game manufacturers were looking around for the next big thing. They'd hoped it'd be laserdisc games,the first of which was *Dragon's Lair* ,also with animation from Don Bluth's company. Unfortunately,the technology was still in its infancy,so they weren't really interactive enough to be a real game...this game,like *Dragon's Lair* and its sequel,may have had eye-popping visuals but "playing" them was little more than trial-and-error at memorizing the pattern of correct moves,which many did by watching others. It didn't take long for the videogame-themed magazines of the time to start publishing the patterns.
There were other laserdisc games,some of which used pre-existing animation,others used real-life footage,others CGI landscapes ...but the whole laserdisc arcade game trend was dead in a few years.
God I really admire the animation. I appreciate the attention to detail and the fluidity compared to a lot of what is popular nowadays. Really awesome find!
Don Bluth is my favorite animator
Same feeling here too m'lady! Grew up around this era and so love this style of animation.
Julia Duke really wish the voice acting wasn't so awful though
randomguy6679 Well they lacked the budget to hire real voice actors so the voices are made by the animators themselves (including Bluth who voiced Borf). Indeed it is nothing compared to real voice actors but considering that they lacked any acting experience they didn't do so bad (especially Bluth as Borf)
Jewels July same ;) also, check out Dragon's Lair if you haven't already
I love how Kimberly says, "Make a left" when that's the wrong move!
Video is flipped at certain parts for some reason.
With these animated QuickTime event games there isn’t much room for changes in replay cause they’d have to animate each variation. Most of them would have some scenes being played in a mirror image on different play throughs- that explains the “make a left” . Dragons lair would have scenes in a different order. Brain Dead 13 you could chose the order you went to different scenes by walking around. But all would have random scenes in mirrored view.
Space Ace does have alternate stage endings if you chose not to energize to the big guy when prompted. You don’t die from it- the scene just continues on a different animated route.
@@michaelb9537 and to think I just thought it was an amusing sexist play on the idea that women give bad directions.
@@vivalapsych It's most likely that.
@@PsypherWolf that's so they can make the stages longer on ace level, just do the scene 2x, regular and mirror mode.
Fun Fact: Borf, the blue dude is voiced by the animator Don Bluth!
Hatted Sandwich I heard that before Bluth decided to voice Commander Borf he wanted to have Paul Shenar (Jenner from The Secret Of NIMH & Alejandro Sosa from Scarface) voice him.
AuronTsubaki85 They had to make budget-cuts
So Don is an awesome director, animator, screenwriter and voice actor as well!
I did not know that. Thanks.
normie twice removed with a voice filter
I always loved the way Dexter would pause for a few seconds to admire his muscles when he turned back into Ace.
What a unique ending. Dont think ive ever seen the main antagonist turn into a baby n the protagonist adopts him 🤣
How Endgame should have ended.
Spider-Geddon
Klonoa 2
I think it is a cute ending, I guess
"If I have a nickel for every time I've seen a major antagonist got turned into a baby, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice."
I played this game in the coin-op arcades along with "Dragon's Lair." Not many people made it to the end on one quarter and you usually had a big crowd of people standing around, watching you finish when you did.
I loved it.
I imagine just how crazy it must’ve felt to finish this game with a whole crowd of people watching behind you
I watched someone complete Dragon's Lair in the arcade along with just one other kid. When it was over none of us said anything.
It baffles me how someone could have learned to do that well before any internet.
Yep
That be me. 🙂
After you ran out of quarters, all you could do was stand and watch.
They used to have a TV on top of the game cabinet. Because the crowds would get so big.
@@officespace7777 yes , but not in all arcades...the one we had they had TV on top or something that u could watch on, it was a huge puller of money..at 50p a pop where we were..best games were 20p, old games 10p so it was a game u didn't play after one go, I'm guessing those who beat it must have spent masses and were on hols cos I had to go seaside to see this.
I'm not gonna lie. I have no idea what's going on.
Philip Gerlach oh she is not his girlfriend, is her teammate
Philip Gerlach on the original box
It said
"Follow the adventures of the brave dexter and her loyal partner" i dont remember her name
VenlaMusic a space ranger's blasting aliens, that's about it ;)
Johan Contreras Kimberley
@@jozinek876 oh yes kimberley i forgot
"KIMMY!"
"Beware your dark side"
(suddenly turns into doppelganger)
Me:...wait, what?
(tricks monster into destroying himself, and then his head, while laughing, rolls down)
Me: WHAT?!
(ending happens)
Me:.......WHAT?!!!!!?
PyroGothNerd Yeah, this game was...weird.
Great animation, but seriously made less sense than a Miyazaki flick.
+BigBrotherMateyka It's ment to be weird, it's a parody of Sci-fi movies
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that thought that. I always had a feeling that was a particularly weird part of the story, but was hard to judge as a kid. It's good to watch it as an adult and understand what some of the words mean now - lol. I always wondered about what an "infantile ray" was. As a kid I spent about a year watching other people play this, memorising every move, the timing, and wasting all my pocket money. I could only reach the end through one of the easy paths on cadet, but it was still a great feeling to have people watch you in awe when you completed it. Ah the 80's!
So true! I was lucky enough to work at Showbiz Pizza Place in 1984. I could play for free :) When I joined the military, on one of our few R & R days in Basic, they had Space Ace at the Enlisted Club. I was able to play through the whole game, and when I got done, I must've had 30 people watching.
I love this game and would dump quarter after quarter into it. I was an expert at it at 10 years old and people would gather around the machine as I completed it on Space Ace mode. The 80s indeed! Those were the days.
I am 51 in 2023. I remember i only knew vectrex, coleco, and even if Snes was released, when we saw the arcade games, dragon's lair, star wars, space ace, cliff anger, mach 3, tron, .... yes we were amazed, and very far from today. We could not have such graphics at home and that was frustrating but it made the arcade time so f... great !!!! ❤
I’m the same age as you. I was like 10 when space ace came out and I instantly fell in love. 😻
Mastered the whole game (and of course I mastered all of dragons lair the year before). I used to love drawing so many crowds to see the ending 😊
"Oh sure! I've just been kidnapped by aliens, that's all!"
- Angry Kimmy
🎵GET ME OUT OF HEEEEERE!!🎵
@@pauldickinson3961🤣
Basically every girls fantasy and nightmare at the same time
Wow, I played the hell out of this game. Could literally play it with my eyes closed. Surprised to see the full play-through isn’t even 8 mins worth of animation!
a few scenes are missing..Dex falling off a ladder hit with a Vacumm bubble robot...the cats chasing him, the SKATING SCENE!??! :)
LMAO! He sounds like Jerry Lewis when he's a kid. "I'll save you nice lady Kimmy!"
MOYVEN glaven!!!
MrAlcazar Kimmeeeeee :,(
This is so hard to even process it moves so fast
This game was SUPER hard back then. It amazed me how some people had the fast twitch reflexes to beat this game.
I think a lot of the success stories related to this game have more to do with memorizing than reflexes!
@@DreamwalkerFilms agreed.
It was a trial and error game.
It all came down to memorization.
Not only was it super difficult, it was expensive! I remember it costing at least .50 or $1 to play. A lot back in 1983-4.
Both this and both dragons lair 1 and 2
There are 8 energizes in the stage :
1st energize : 1:13
2nd energize : 2:33
3rd energize : 3:05
4th energize : 3:38
5th energize : 4:10
6th energize : 4:31
7th energize : 5:06
8th energize : 6:34
It misses the 9 (rollerblade in the labirinth)
They made an 8 minute cartoon into a game that made literally millions. 1983 Yeah, that would really work today.
Especially if it had a really nice art style and an intriguing plot.
SJW Tactics well...... arcades aren't really that prominent anymore
Make it a phone app then
The Graphics for the Amiga version was also very good
@@mikekaraoke Yes it was.
I'll say this: The Game looks amazing, sounds amazing, and feels amazing while your playing it (I personally have the Dragon's lair trilogy on the Wii, highly recomend), but you've have to have a couple hours put aside and/or a bottle of adderall if you actually plan on beating it
Thank god for TH-cam. It's a joy to just watch this animation without having to pull your hair out over the twitch-reflex gameplay.
...or have to shove more coins into a machine because you kept dying!
This is my all time favorite laser disc game. I remember setting the all time high score at my local arcade as I spent an entire summer finding out which scenes gave the most points and I even had fun playing the game where either I played strictly as Dexter for the entire game or played the entire game as Ace just to challenge myself. I learned all the possible scenes and the timing for each scene. Now I have this game on my iPhone. Amazing to play it on a mobile device. I wonder how my younger self would have reacted if I could back in time to 1983 and show the game playing on the iPhone to my younger self. My younger self would probably mug me to get the iPhone just to play the game and the discover other games since the finger print scanner would still allow me to log in i would assume.
This is also where the ace part of TH-cam name comes from. I also remember when the college arcade first got the game. Everyone was blown away by Dragon's Lair but was intimidated by the game since it cost 50 cents and it did not tell you what to do.
When Space Ace first arrived on day 1 of classes at the university arcade center, everyone was amazed at me that I was able to beat the game on the first play through without losing a single life. They did not know that during the summer break from courses, I was playing it at my local arcade and already mastered the game so I could either as Dexter or Ace for every scene. I always played it at the ace level and never bothered with either cadet or captain levels so that forced me to learn the entire game.
I played on CD-i as a kid but could never beat it
they would ressurect the witch burning laws if you showed your iphone to anyone in 1983.
Yes imagine seeing games from now at 13, for me in 1985. Think around that time , scooby doo was pretty nifty graphics and so was Flintstones where u build the house. Then of course that awesome saboteur and saboteur 2, the great spellbound , and knights daze (?), Dizzy, my fave skool daze and back to school
5:12 ...oh my
Don Bluth catering to the fans
the man knew what the lads wanted.
gusbaker4u oh dear.... here come the perverts....
@Jozinek I'd rather be a "pervert" than an incel like you. Stop inhibiting people's sexuality.
Oh, yeah. This did not get past me in the arcade, back in the day....
ISS A SPACE ACE. ISS FOR THE SUUUPER NINTENDO.
I GE-AHhhhh.
Oh, what was...what was that...oh HERE IT COMES I CAN'T STOP IT!
SPACE WALKEN!!!!!!!!!! =O
*Gets close to your face* Far out
I give up. That's it
*Falls*
(But I didn't die though it was a joke)
Nerds...
This shows how far the animation and the fluidity of the technology advanced in such a short time from the original "Dragon's Lair" to this similar but different story in Space Ace. This never had a sequel but the Laserdisk technology it pioneered at the time became faster and more receptive to inputs from the joystick as time went on. From the original arcade game to the final Dragon's Lair II it was better and better but unfortunately never really gained the necessary popularity until Don Bluth had to give up on the technology. He is very creative (creating another cartoon now) and was somewhat successful after leaving Disney, but he kept mixing success with flops and the bankruptcies he had.
He is one of the most endearingly fascinating characters in animation, and Hollywood in general. A true artist in every sense of the word. Can't wait to see his newest work.
@@DreamwalkerFilms I hope we get something from him as I believe he is retired now. I do like his work.
What was the other he did brain dead 13 ??
@@Buc_Stops_Here retired ??? I'm pretty sure he will be dead ..??
@@Sol-Cutta He is pretty much retired now. He is still busy however. Bluth announced he was publishing a memoir, Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life, which was released on July 19, 2022. so less than a year ago.
With such good animation, I feel like this could be made into a movie.
Maybe it's gonna be
It had a TV show
@@RefriedBeanie yep....sure did but it didn't run very long.(it kinda sucked) because it wasn't Don Bluth,s animation.
Check out Titan A.E. , a sci-fi animated film also from Don Bluth.
@@DwayneETownsI was severely disappointed with the cartoon
Every time I hear Ace's younger voice... I laugh... My ass off... Cause that's funny shit.
I have always enjoyed Don Bluth's animation projects. Even if Rock A Doodle was not so great
Except it is great. Fuck Doug Walker the dipshit.
Critics can say whatever they want, Rock a Doodle kicked ass back in the days.
@@sixtyfivekills4543 thats where i recall the animation style! ty! these go by so fast!
An American Tail is the best Bluth film in my opinion.
1:49
Dexter: Kimberly, come in. Are you okay?
Kimberly: Oh, sure. I'm just kidnapped by aliens, that's all.
Dexter: I'll save you, Kimmy!
Kimberly: GET ME OUT OF HERE!
I was one of only a few people in my area who could beat this when it was in the arcades in the 80s. Took a lot of money to learn all the moves and memorize them. Felt good to my then 12 year old self to have a group of people hanging around the cabinet watching me play when they noticed I actually knew what I was doing.
Was a really fun and unique game, I always loved Dexters voice.
So this whole game is just one, big quicktime event of a game?
Nolan Swagner yeah but for the time it was revolutionary.
+Nolan Swagner Imagine being stuck with NES games and such, and then suddenly out of nowhere a game where you can *control a cartoon like a game*
+Emil M From what I remember Nintendo hasn't even come out. It was basically competing with Pac-Man and Space Invaders. It was amazing in an arcade next to those games, it looked almost unbelievable it looked like that back then. Yeah, now it looks like a short FMV game with limited interactivity. But in an arcade in the 80's it was insane.
+Dan Femrestlingfan I agree. It was fantastic! NES was not available yet, and We had Atari, Colleco, and Intellivision. We got bored and went to Arcades where the games were 100 times better. Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were advanced and total quarter eaters...but fantastic and fun!
+Dan Femrestlingfan Yup, I remember this and Dragon's Lair blowing my little mind when I saw them in the Arcade. It was totally next level.
Kimberly is...something.
I like something.
Don’t we all?
That bad guys voice is really badass
"That bad guys voice is really badass"
That's Don Bluth (creator and animator) himself...;)
Yep, Don is an awesome animator, director and voice actor as well!
magnusm4 FAR OUT
magnusm4 it's voiced by the animator ;)
"YOU CANNOT WIN!"
Holy fuck. The animation aesthetic is godly.
Well DUH, it's Don Bluth!!
Son Bluth was is and always will be a divine gift of hand. His hands his pencils his ability to draw is something to behold. I love his backgrounds and his creature designs. I love the expressive faces and range of actions. Atmosphere and high paced speed. His animation style was perfect for arcades and I would argue if not for this and it's more famous older cousin Dragon's Lair we have AAA graphics we do today. Yea....
Alex Panciera
DDDDDDDDUH
Don Bluth is an animation god
Yeah no doubt about it.
4:53 🤣 I can’t stop laughing at their conversation.
My dad used to play the hell out of this. I never even payed attention to what it was, but I remembered the tone of voice in the beginning perfectly. Miss you dad.
Just as exhilarating and beautifully animated as Dragon's Lair ;)
this was the last game my spanish teacher played, and he never beat it! He wanted me to play it to finish his childhood for him... i sincerely felt for the man, so i spent 100 hours trying to beat the game and finally did it, in front of him!
Wait so you turn you're main rival into a baby and keep him the fuck!? Now Aces enemy is his son....
And that, is the greatest of all punishments.
Maybe Ace will teach him right from wrong, so when he grows up, he won't be evil anymore! You see, Ace's enemy is being given a second chance at life!
Nintendo Nation reminds me of sky high
5:13 was my childhood lol
Is it me, or does Kimberly kinda sound like Leela?
That was the intention xd
I was just noticing the same thing - Kimberly sounds a lot like Katie Segal. . .
For those curious Kimberly was voiced by Lorna Cook, one of the animators on the project. Pretty much all of the game's tiny budget went into the animation quality so they had crew members do all the voices instead of professional voice actors.
I love how Don Bluth villains always have that toothy grin.
My brother mastered this game. I couldn't finish it but, I did win to the end of Dragons Lair. 1983 was a cool time to be alive.
This could easily have been an animated film. insanely creative
It was...Titan AE, more or less.
@@magnusdiridianreally? I never saw titan. I had no idea it was inspired by space ace??
@@billyb4790 that's what I thought at first, but no, bluth was commissioned to make titan AE.
Evil blue alien tries to take over/destroy the world, blonde hero has to rescue his girlfriend. Before I found out bluth was paid to make titan AE, I used to wonder why he didnt just make space ace instead.
5:12 ---> the "Kimberly" money shot!🥰
I've already completed Space Ace and Dragon's Lair on the PS4. Best game!
Ahh i played the crap out of this game at the arcade. Oh the memories.
This is from freaking 1983? Really? Honestly can't get my head around that... This is just incredible though! :D I wish I got to play this version... instead of that SNES one lol...
You can get it on the nintendo switch now, and its not a rip off
You can always play it on the DAPHNE emulator.
6:57
"Dexter, the Infanto Ray is- AUGH!"
You’d think an interactive cinematic masterpiece of a game like this would at least have a better ending!
I spent a lot of money at the arcade on this game during my childhood. This brings back great memories.
Incredible little game. I love how colorful the world is and how cool the characters are with their personalities.
Still a better movie that Lightyear. God bless you Don B!
Not a full Play-thru. Missing a lot of stuff.
The Full one is "Space Ace", this is "Cadet"
C"e" anche il capitan
1:58 Well if you wanna say it like that then I guess that's how it's gonna be.
Telltale should remake this game in the same art style but expand upon the functionality.
*Kimberly will remember that*
MinimMats as in make more choices for each action?
Telltale is no more.
too bad we'll never have this
7:11 Super Friends cutscene sound effect being used for laser blasts.
I love this and Dragon's Lair, haven't played DL II or III yet. The crazy thing is that we literally have the technology to finally play this kind of animation for real and not with simulated directional arrows. The time is now to fully realize these games.
It is crazy how nowadays, cuphead exists, which is like this but with gameplay fitting of a game. Crazy, huh?
This entire experience has been one big "WHAT THE FUCK?!" moment
I spent my childhood in arcades playing this and Dragons Lair it was unlike anything else in arcades at the time.I wish arcade 1up would come out with this
Rick Kanski I spent so much goddamn money in the arcade trying to beat this xD
I can't believe I never saw this in the 90's growing up, when I actually had time to play this and enjoy it. Now I'm crushed with responsibilities and adulting. I'm adding this to the need to play list. This looks absolutely awesome! I came here from The Ripper 1996 - /w Christopher Walken.
It's so funny! I'm a big and strong guy, but when that "Space Ace" theme comes up and he flexes... funny... I start to feel INVINCIBLE! :D
Lol me too!! I like how it's always dexters theme and then when u get the power up aces chorus plays along dexters.
I feel like dexter daily, then every now and then I feel like ace for a few seconds hash
This is classic!!
0:23
"No way, Borf old buddy." -Dexter (a.k.a Ace)
Famous lines:
"WOAH"
"DEXTER GET ME OUT OF HEEEERRRREE"
This and Dragon's Lair stand apart as awesome concepts from a unique time. Don Bluth truly was one of animations greatest, and this game is some of his best work. His character design and fluidity of motion will always be unmatched. He does get the credit he deserves - I just wish more people knew his name. Unfortunately, hand drawn animation like this will never come back.
I never really understood why the animated film video game hybrid didn't catch on more. But I'm thankful we at least have these two examples.
Because they cost a lot to make and to play, also after a while they became a little boring to play.
Cuz it has no replay value.
@@webguy943 Good point
@DreamwalkwerFilms I’ve been a huge fan of “Space Ace” for over 35 years, having successfully completed the game in an arcade in 1988. I purchased the Blu-Ray approximately 10 years ago and have loved being able to see the game’s rich artwork in high-definition. Only recently did I use my Blu-Ray disc to just “watch” the animated sequences as opposed to playing the game. Because I wasn’t concerned with pressing buttons or worried about forgetting what move to perform, I was able to focus on other details in the animation. The animation of Borf during the final bo staff duel is tremendous. I also love the color design throughout the game. Really vibrant and evocative. I especially enjoy the way color shifts are handled to give a sense of different environment lighting. For example, Ace and Kimberly while underwater, or blue Borf appearing purple during the finale because of the red glow of the fiery surroundings. Beautiful. 😍
Agreed. My only question as an artist myself is how a teal mini dress 👗 turns the exact opposite on the color - wheel then back again in the same room. It just waited for Borf to get zapped and then the dress is teal again. Though I thought she looked great in red, not gonna lie. I'm just a nitpicker.
Probably best animation ever. At least for me.
I'll wait for the GOTY edition with all the DLC included.
I've heard how Don Bluth is trying to make a Dragon's Lair movie, but has there ever been anything to follow up this and explain some of the crazy stuff in it: comic, novel, anything? Because I would love to see that.
Note that this isn't the only path through, either. You can choose *not* to Energize most times and play through as Dexter instead of transforming into Ace. (Dexter tends to dodge and avoid enemies rather than shoot them down, though he does fight back sometimes)
I think the only time you *have* to Energize is in the final battle.
Yeah, it’s not a huge difference though, and like you said you have to energize at the end anyways. The biggest difference I like is that instead of a giant space ace, you fight multiple clones of dexter.
Animation game is ON POINT. No one cares about quality any more, or at least no one is willing to commit to it.
you can barely tell what the hell is going on and the game is just a big quick time event.
can I ask how this translates to no one caring about quality today?
VaughnJogVlog Check out cupcake
Amazin, just amazing, Don Bluth is awesome ! We should do thing like that nowaday !
there will be a new dragon's lair movie by the original creators. it already got funded by indiegogo: www.indiegogo.com/projects/dragon-s-lair-returns-movie-cartoon#/
they will also make a space age short movie.
1funkyou2 Oh, thanks, I will keep an eye on that !
"He's so cute! Dexter, can we keep him?"
"Call me Ace, huh?"
Borf: "ACe!"
"Hmmm yeah alright we can keep him"
The second laser disc game from Con Bluth and the follow up to the ground breaking Dragon's Lair. This was about 15 years ahead of it's time before home computers and CDs became computer standards in the 1990's.
I finished this game in the arcade in Rimini Italy when I was 9 year old. Really I played at 4 the First time. Thanks Don
Game was way harder than it looks, you had to press the right buttons at the exact right time or you'd have to start all over. Played this when I was a kid on the Panasonic 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and it seems like yesterday, probably one of my top memories tbh
That video game deserves a movie
0:18 He asks who Borf is, the immediately calls him old buddy 3 seconds after
Just shows what a cool dude Ace is. Super casual and friendly. Very easy going. Probably used to work at In-N-Out Burger. 😎
when we got to the arcade in the morning, we opened up the back of this machine and filled our pockets with tokens and loaded up like 70 credits on game, played all day every day all summer, could finish on any difficulty, using Ace or Dexter, good times, good times..... on maxx difficulty was a lot harder (longer) most scenes mirrored and replayed, and i didnt see the jet skates here...
6:18 In actual game play,, there are several possible moves. You can only move toward the yellow flashes.
Everything is really cheesy except for the animation itself. The concept of controlling the ''movie'' is awesome. I remember seeing a video about it on TH-cam, were with should use the same ida for modern films so people can feel more interacted with the film, like in video games.
"Accept"
I remember this game at the time it was fascinating but never saw anyone beat it.
Dexter: Who is that creep?
Also Dexter, 2 seconds later: No way, Borf, old buddy.
The most calmest "Take that" I've ever heard 7:10
This is honestly a pretty cool concept, plus it was animated by Don Bluth??? PERFECTION!!!
AHHHHHHHHHH Space Ace A game that I COULD PLAY Still remember MOST of the moves
Fun fact: in order to save money on voice actors, the animators themselves voiced the characters:
Will Finn as Dexter/Baby Borf (animator)
Jeff Etter as Ace (animator)
Lorna Cook as Kimberly (animator)
Don Bluth as Borf/Aliens/Dark Side Dexter/Dark Side Ace (director/animator)
Michael Rye as Narrator (actor, voice actor)
Definitely a blast-processing game, even after learning the patterns.
man, i can't imagine that you'd have to play this on an arcade, and maybe not even then be able to see the whole thing!
I'm kinda glad i'm born in the 2000.
And you had to pay 50 cents to a dollar to play it.
I'll always remember the first time I saw this game in my local arcade.
one of best games on the story
So true
Dragons Lair, Dragons Lair 2 and Space Ace the most fascinating and unique.. not forgetting underated gaming of all time.. and still fascinates me to this very day.. compare this to the modern garbage gaming platforms.. their is no Competition.. plus not forgetting ADDICTIVE
A Putt-Putt Golf employee gave me the promotional movie poster they got for this, back around 1984-5. Still have it, need to get a frame for it to put it up on the wall.
I guess adopting him is the hero thing to do
I loved playing Dragon's Lair in the arcades. However, I had so much difficulty getting into Space Ace. It appeared to be too fast-paced. But I guess it was really the music that was throwing me off the whole time. It probably would have been more playable for me if that was eliminated from the gameplay.
>Game starts
>Kimmy immediately kidnapped inside the big ship five feet away
>Dexter...warps entire planets away?
That's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see if it pays off.
*5 actual minutes later*
Huh. It did.
7:13 GENIE HAS A BABY!!!
I used to play it on my 3DO in early 1990s. Still remember Kimberly's scream "Get me out of here" ) I was so happy to finish it to see all the sequences.
This looks SO badass!
CrasherX 2000 try playing it. It’s so goddamn fun
The music change is great from small guy to big guy !
What happened to the scene where they are skating? I remember that part being in the game. They were skating on top of a maze and the animation was awesome.
This is the remastered home computer game version, there's a little more in the arcade version
There needs to be a bit more spacing in between the dialogue and cutscenes XD
When for the first time I saw Space Ace I was a kid, and it was hard to see for so many people who were huddled close to the game to see it. One thing I can say that at the time in the original arcade game, there was no clear indication of what moves to make and at what exact time to do them. flashes separately. What you had to do was play and when you got to a new move that you didn't know you would die and understand that that was the time to do it, and try a direction or action button. So after spending so much money you could finally know all the moves and finish the game. Of course in the captain (medium) and space ace (hard) levels, new scenes, reflex scenes, and even more stringent response times were added to enter the moves. Memorable times.