The game, developed by the unfortunately named Trainwreck Studios (I was hoping Time Ace was absolutely dreadful so I could write "this game is a trainwreck" in the review) is an arcadey shooter masquerading as a flight sim. Time Ace revolves around a stolen time machine built around the turn of the century (think Jules Verne). The scientist who happened to have built the machine is, conveniently, an ace pilot as well. As the thief leaps through the "future" from time period to time period -- coincidentally during historical wars -- you, as the scientist-turned-pilot, take off after him to stop his evil plan.
While Time Ace gives the impression of a free-to-fly-anywhere game, it's really more of a rail shooter in similar Star Fox style. This illusion actually hurts the game since it's one of those games that doesn't do a good job giving players an idea of its restrictions -- you can fly almost in full 360 fashion, and in some levels, it's completely possible to loop and turn around to attack enemies on your tail. But in other missions, the game forces you on a particular path that can't be strayed from -- and it's very jolting to the gameplay when you're trying to turn around to pick up a power-up or extra life only to have the "auto pilot" bounce you back on a forward course.
If you can accept the restrictions and the poor laws used to enforce them, Time Ace isn't terrible. The "leaping through time" thing opens up a lot of potential for level variety, and it's something the designers adopt well for player controlled aircrafts as well as the locations where the dogfights happen. It's a little odd for the game to give players the ability to choose their craft at the start of a mission, since unlocked vehicles pretty much trounce the once you've already been piloting in past missions. The gameplay focuses on completing objectives, like blasting warehouses or ships or anything that fires back...all the while trying to stay airborne and avoiding getting shot down or, you know, crashing into the ground.
The game looks pretty good if a little glitchy -- its silky smooth framerate running at 60 frames per second is offset by some quirky and rigid opponent animations, and there are occasional glitches where you can see objects through the rising mountains. Music is impressively dynamic, an orchestral score that almost doesn't fit the arcade-style action.
Time Ace also supports multiplayer dogfights which would have been excellent had the team managed to support the Nintendo DS system's single cartridge Download Play option. As it stands, everyone needs a copy of the game, and unfortunately because the game isn't all that spectacular it might be a little hard to convince players to invest in a copy.