The Final Word game review

Space Ace -- ReadySoft

Converted by ReadySoft from the laser disk arcade game of the same name. Space Ace for the 3DO pits you as the bold hero out to save the fair damsel Kimberly from the clutches of the evil Commander Borf. Featuring full screen animated video as your play area, you must guide Ace through numerous perils in your quest.

E.Phoenix
If you have never played Space Ace, the play style is almost exactly like Dragon's Lair. If you have played neither, the play control goes like this: LEFT, RIGHT, LASER... "Hey, why the hell did I just die?" You interact with semi-interesting animation sequences where there is only one correct move and if you make one wrong move out of sequence you die instantly. Needless to say, this gets really frustrating. One of the things that really pisses me off about this version is that there are almost no clues as to what the moves should be; in the arcade objects would flash a split second before you had to make a move, giving you a clue as to which move you should make. Almost all of these flashes have been removed. If you loved Space Ace in the arcade, do NOT buy this version; playing this version will quite possibly destroy your fond memories of an arcade enigma that disappeared almost as fast as it had appeared.

R.I.P.
Damn it... Obviously this game was released to cater to the ten people who memorized this title in the arcade. Just like in the Dragon's Lair, conversions (only worse), this game was released with almost all of the blinking lights removed. This makes it impossible to actually sit down and enjoy the game based on dexterity skills alone. Most of the moves had to be so heavily anticipated that I found myself required to activate them a screen in advance of the action, seconds before the "commence action here" blink occurs... if it ever occurs. I found myself repeating segments, literally dozens of times, since I not only had to memorize the exact sequence of button pushes, but I also had to over anticipate every single one of them. Lets put this nicely... I enjoyed this game in the arcade when I bothered to shell out the bucks for it. I did not enjoy this conversion. Graphics are near perfect, though grainy, and sound is straight from the original, but play control... it's not there.

>>>>> 18.5/50 <<<<<		E.Phoenix	R.I.P.
Graphics		4.0	4.0
Sound		3.0	4.0
Gameplay/Control		0.5	0.0
Longevity/Playability		1.0	0.0
Overall		1.0	1.0
Total		9.5	9.0

(12/95)