It's a game. If I remember correctly, it came out when I was a kid. It was the first laser disc game and in an arcade cabinet. It's basically a quick time event game done with prerendered animation that was accessed off of the disc. Cutting edge for it's time. He also did Dragon's Lair before this. Don Bluth also made the Cartoon movie Secret of Nihm and I think An American Tail. I personally love his artwork and animation.

There we go, the first cartoon post ;)

I knew I wouldn't have to wait long.

It is a game, animated of course.

Heh.

HEH.

If anything that requires you to press a button is your idea of a game then yes its a game. and so is your microwave

Originally posted by Dude_Wheres_My_Kar?:

If anything that requires you to press a button is your idea of a game then yes its a game. and so is your microwave

You're missing the point. It may not be considered much today, but when Space Ace (and Dragon's Lair before it) was released, it was remarkable. Remember, Space Ace came out in 1983, which was before the NES. At the time, the best people could hope for were game systems like the Atari 2600 or ColecoVision.

It's a QTE game (QTE means Quick Time Event) from the 80s

Originally posted by Dude_Wheres_My_Kar?:

If anything that requires you to press a button is your idea of a game then yes its a game. and so is your microwave

Maybe but toaster ovens have better graphics than microwaves

@DeadPoolX: Yeah, I remember the first time I played Dragon's Lair when it came out. My jaw dropped :)

to be honest this is not realy a game for the new generation of young gamers ... have to remember the time this came out there was nothing like it befor sure its all quick time event but and useing tech that was to that day cutting edge to deliver an allmost seamless short exciting cartoon in the vain of saturday morning cartoon.. and as i was a young boy at the time this came out i have fond frustrating memorys of this in the arcade as i spent my pocket money to compleat it ..... allso to them that say if pressing buttons is your idea of a game then go for it .. this about this every dam game you play you have to press buttons .. reguardless if its qte or some dum ass shooter .... just enjoy the games enjoy ya life if its not for you then dont get it nore waste ya energy hateing/moeing .. but back to my first comment not for the new geneation im not sayin thay cant enjoy it but just bare in mind the games you play now in 20+ years will probley seem rubbish to future geneations :)

People who say that this isn't a "game" are ususally the ones who suck at it. So they change the definition of what a game is so they don't have to admit their failure.

Also bear in mind that back in the old days in the arcade, this game didn't have icons popping up telling you which move was next or what to do. You had to spot the clues in the animation which made it very difficult with a lot of trial and error and memorization. I encourage everyone to play this and Dragon's Lair with the prompts turned off to experience the game the way it was supposed to be. Anyone who claims this game is simple or easy I gaurantee has not played it properly.

Originally posted by -->Secundus:

Also bear in mind that back in the old days in the arcade, this game didn't have icons popping up telling you which move was next or what to do. You had to spot the clues in the animation which made it very difficult with a lot of trial and error and memorization. I encourage everyone to play this and Dragon's Lair with the prompts turned off to experience the game the way it was supposed to be. Anyone who claims this game is simple or easy I gaurantee has not played it properly.

Most definitely a Quarter muncher (well, a dollar muncher, it took 4 quarters to play it.)

Is it liquid or is it ice?

Originally posted by -->Secundus:

Also bear in mind that back in the old days in the arcade, this game didn't have icons popping up telling you which move was next or what to do. You had to spot the clues in the animation which made it very difficult with a lot of trial and error and memorization. I encourage everyone to play this and Dragon's Lair with the prompts turned off to experience the game the way it was supposed to be. Anyone who claims this game is simple or easy I gaurantee has not played it properly.

Not to mention when this game was first in arcades there were tons of people around it. I recall a line to play it and about 10 people around it watching most of the time. It really was art back then. Don Bluth was a top animator and made some great movies. These games were so far ahead of their time from a graphic perspective due to the professional animation. The next game I recall drawing any kind of crowd like this at my local arcade were Street Fighter 2 and the first Mortal Kombat game. Especially the latter. The graphics were a bit more extreme than most games at the time.

Think of it this way...you know the quick-time events in a lot of games these days? Try doing that for THE WHOLE GAME. Dragon's Lair was first, followed by Space Ace. Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp wouldn't be release for another 9 years due to the video game crash of '83/'84. At least the animation was done by Don Bluth and his animation studio.

I know this will date me a bit (as if the above hasn't already), but I was one of the lucky kids where my dad worked at an arcade franchise first as the manager of a local arcade and then regional manager. So most of my early teens, I went with him on the weekends and played for free. Including Dragon's Lair and Space Ace (same cabinet al the Dragon's Lair with a chip and the laser disc replaced). The store my dad worked at was also lucky enough to get some of the others, such as Mach 3, Cliff Hanger Firefox (based on the Clint Eastwood movie) and Astron Belt. We even kept one of the LD players and the Dragon's Lair and Cliff Hanger discs once the machines themselves went kaput.

Dang it, I wish Cliff Hanger could be licensed for digital distribution (legally I mean - I know the Daphne emulator lets you play it, but you're supposed to own the machine to legally use it).

Originally posted by Wolverine 1974:

Most definitely a Quarter muncher (well, a dollar muncher, it took 4 quarters to play it.)

Where I lived, they were all 2 quarters (50 cents). And except on Cliff Hanger, you couldn't insert coins to continue.