The History of Space Ace - arcade console documentary
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- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2024
- The history of the epic LaserDisc classic
Special thanks to The Games That Weren't 64 For helping me get the preview up and running
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Fun fact: Will Finn who voiced Dexter and Baby Borf was an animator who would later be known for being the supervising animator for Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast, Iago in Aladdin and Laverne in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, as well as writing and directing Home on the Range.
Excellent, did not know that thanks
I'm one of the two developers mentioned around 14:40. It was so pretentious, I'm laughing and cringing. I wrote something like a virtual machine consuming bytecode that operated a library of game engine routines. This was way before java. Who would have thought my c64 popped up recently as the platform on which to resuscitate two amazing K of 6502 machine language that came off a PROM, only known specimen, of the Mark 6b Laserium console.
I had actually looked into contacting you for comments on the proposed game wasn't able to find any information. Interesting tidbits though, thanks. Also, excellent job on converting it over to the eight bit Commodore 64. How many levels had you planned out? Surely you couldn't have included all of them onto a standard floppy.
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries Thanks! If we had imagined that 35 years in the future there would be interest in this project we would have done more. There were going to be 15 or so levels, Just like the full arcade version. We had planned all the levels out, how to allocate character memory for graphics, multi-sprite objects, etc. so it would fit on one double sided disk. I called the game engine / bytecode scheme Coolmotion. I remember being disappointed that we couldn't come up with a character map for the rocks that looked as good as the cliff diving scene in Summer Games 2.
Not sure why "cringing", I think this was an awesome and brave initiative given the limitations of C64.
I applaude anyone who wanted to take Dragon Lair style games and let others play them, despite not being the same game per se.
Good work!
In the early 90s while in college I bought an original Space Ace arcade unit for $350 from a local arcade amusements shop. It was converted from a Dragon's Lair cabinet and was in great shape. I dragged that thing around every time I moved, and eventually put it in my office in San Francisco, then later brought it home. By 2005 both the laserdisc and CRT started to fail, so I traded it to a local collector for a working 1983 "Mr. and Mrs. Pac Man" pinball machine, which I still have. I'm sure the original cabs are worth a fortune now - I don't even want to look. Anyway, good memories of old Space Ace - I will probably buy one of the mini replicas to keep around for old time's sake. Thanks for this documentary, very enjoyable.
While, that is unfortunate. At least you got to enjoy it for as long as you did. Thank you for the kind words :-)
I Remember My big brother was a wiz at this Game and Dragons Lair at the neighborhood pizzeria back in the Days Sigh miss 1980s Great upload thanx😎🤗💞
I've always been terrible at both Space Ace and Dragon's Lair. Though I grew up with Don Bluth movies so I love the art style and smooth animation. They really don't make 'em like that anymore. Great video!
It's really a bit of a lost art. Thanks
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries Indeed. Was always in the shadow of Dragon's Lair. Never seen it in an arcade, while about every arcade had Dragon's Lair I came across in my (tiny) hometown.
Usually not your fault for being bad. Most joysticks were borken in someway or the other lol.
I LOVE this game SO much!
Used to play it all the time at the local Putt-Putt. I became friends with one of the attendants, and he unexpectedly gave me the movie poster that Cinematronics sent out as a promo. Unfortunately, unavoidable circumstances led to it being left behind in my most recent move, about five years ago. But I kept it from '83 or '84 until 2017 or so, almost 35 years, still rolled up in it's cardboard packing tube.
You can buy replica movie posters online for this and Space Ace. As soon as I find locally available frames, I plan to buy each and hang them in my home gym/library.
I had to travel to another country as a kid to play Space Ace. It was the highlight each summer. Taking the boat from Sweden going to Linnanmäki in Finland to play Space Ace. Then the Amiga version. I tried to get the LaserDisc home version, but it was not released in Europe. Finally I got the arcade perfect CDI version of the game.
It's close to arcade perfect I'd say
Heh, I played this too at Linnanmäki amusement park, and lived in Helsinki. (Didn't know there wasn't game in Sweden for some reason).
I wouldn't say CDI was perfect. It would have had to downgrade quality a bit. No way the CD format could hold video to equal laserdisc.
You can get them on Dvd to play nowadays.
Fun factoid ... in the Space Ace cartoon, he didn't have the 'Energizer' watch, the transformations were completely random (well, based on plot needs, but you know what I mean). Kimberly had to pass off Dexter as her little brother to keep Ace's age-shifting a secret. And Dexter's voice was PATHETICALLY wimpy and whiny. And in the cartoon, Kimberly was voiced by Nancy 'Bart Simpson' Cartwright.
I don't have much recollection of the space ace cartoon so thanks for the info
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries I loved Saturday Supercade. I think a lot of the episodes of the show are wandering around RUclips.
I'm a huge fan of Don Bluth Movies! However when Space Ace came out I was still a kid & there was a line of adults with tons of quarters ready to play this game. I found myself just enjoying watching them play the game. I think I was able to play it once, but with this cabinet there it made for Dragon's Lair to open up. So that took all my quarters & not Space Ace. I did get the Space Ace for Blue Ray but only put it on as Watch Mode. One of these days I'll try it out on game mode. Until then keep up the good work there Patman!
That's what I mostly did was watch other people play. $0.50 A game was a lot back in 1983 And I had to conserve my quarters as much as possible. Thanks for sharing
Well, I have been living in a cave for the last 40 years, but there was a Dragon's Lair arcade cabinet in there.
I never saw a Space Ace cabinet until like the late 90's. No place around me ever had one. Shame, because I would have played the hell out of it, like I did Dragon's Lair.
I recall DL very well and Space Ace on SNES but zero recollection of Space Ace cabinet.
Whenever I put on the Space Ace DVD, I'd choose the "watch" option. As with Dragon's Lair, my response time was kinda off.
LOL, it took me a little while to get back up to speed because I was so rusty after not playing these types of games for so long
Can we FINALLY get a Dragon's Lair & Space Ace cross-over where Dirk uses the Time Machine to travel to the future, meets Ace & have to work together to save Daphne & Ace & Kimberly's children, or something?
Loved ❤ Space Ace growing up, alongside Dragon's Lair & Dragon's Lair Time Warp. Wish Space Ace received the same love & attention Dragon's Lair got in the home PC & console game department. Something like Dragon's Lair 3D, but w/Space Ace could've been really cool.
That would be fantastic and seems like a no-brainer
Omg that would be epic!
@@brooklynbred1460 - ikr?
Wonderful nostalgia. Thanks so much for taking me back to my early teenage awkwardness.
Also: I was THE VERY FIRST PERSON to complete the game on Space Ace level at the now long-gone arcade at Putt Putt Golf And Games on South Freeway in Fort Worth, Texas. Probably two dozen kids had gathered around me as I progressed further and further, and when I reached the final scene and made the very last move (the Infanto Ray mirror reversal) there was a hush...and then suddenly spontaneous applause when the victory screen appeared! I'll remember that experience forever.
Absolutely, thanks for watching. LOL, that's fantastic :-)
I actually beat it before you did and the whole stadium gave me a standing ovation....
@@shaolin95 ruclips.net/video/k1T1WLY-JoY/видео.html
I vividly remember when the prototype was put into a Golfland arcade in Escondido, CA. The attract mode was so incredibly exciting. I couldn't get enough of it. There were two guys from the company who were giving quarters to us to have us play it. Over the following weeks, there was a small group of people who were playing it regularly, trying to beat it. This was before the three difficulty modes were introduced. The timing windows were also extremely tight. Personally, while difficult, it made progressing so much more satisfying. At one point, the prototype got moved to the University Town Center mall in La Jolla, CA. I would drive down there from North County whenever I got the chance to keep playing it and try to beat it. One day I was there, some of us were getting very close to finishing the game. I ended up being the first person to finish the game. When I did, someone from Cinematronics was behind the crowd watching. Because I was the first person to beat it, I got an invitation to go to Cinematronics. They had a meeting with me and some of the people working on the game to get my opinions and thoughts then I got a tour of the factory. Such an amazing experience!
Was that the arcade at the UTC mall?
@@chanelpop in La Jolla, California (San Diego County) there is an outdoor shopping mall called University Town Center (UTC). In the Ice Rink/Food court, there used to be an Arcade.
Cannot wait to watch this! One of my favorite arcade machines growing up!
Hope you enjoy it!
I played the crap out of Space Ace to the point I could play it with one life. The only problem I couldn't figure out was the three portals where you had to jump into at the very end and lose a life there.
Fantastic!
Wonderful video as always Pat! It's crazy to think how amazing these graphics are considering it's nearly 40 years old.
Thanks a lot. Absolutely amazing animation and artwork which still holds up as you said over 40 years later
The game takes me way way back to a time when arcades were flourishing. So sad that arcades are becoming increasingly rare, nowadays. I think I know of only a handful, now.
Great game I remember hiring a Philips CDI from a local games shop and playing Space Ace all weekend using the silly remote control thing. But it seemed incredible. Who’d have thought that all that tech on a giant Laser Disc could now be easily fitted on a minuscule MicroSD card. I’m very tempted by the Arcade1Up version which has all 3 games but not sure if the novelty would wear off. Dragons Lair is still amazing. Every time you see the Lair it’s so mesmerising and beautifully drawn. Great video man. Cheers. Call me Ace huh
I play space ace at the arcade one time when I was a kid and it's cool and I will keep trying to beat the game. 😀👍🎮
Great job on both this and Dragon's Lair, my two unquestionable favorite arcade games. Enjoyed them, and even learned a few things!
Glad you enjoyed it!
The attract modes on these were always set at a much higher volume than the other games. If it was in an arcade you knew it immediately
Oh yes I remember this well, similar to the turtles arcade game
We had an arcade in my college and one of the students working the place ALWAYS turned off Space Ace because it was too loud. And I always yelled at him to put it back on or find another job. :P
Finally, someone has confirmed the existence of 'Cliffhanger'. I swear I'm the only one I know who has ever seen it. None of my friends ever believed me. They thought I was making it up...
I did a video on it a couple of years back, check my archives
I guess your "friends" ignored you, thinking that the game didn't exist. 🤦
It's in MAME.
Cliff Hanger was in the city I grew up in Charlottetown PEI. Located at a small mall. Also had Dragon’s Lair too at one point.
It's based on a classic manga movie called The Castle of Cagliostro... I'd definitely recommend it if you've never seen it before...
I remember being so disappointed this one wasn't at a single arcade in my area, even though Dragon's Lair was everywhere. Then, FINALLY, an arcade set up just for for the state fair had the game. I was more excited to play it then go on any of the rides. That was the first and, to this day, remains the only time I played the game.
Love your videos! Please consider doing a review of Cobra Command. I shoved a lot of quarters in that game at my local arcade.
YES! Cobra Command!
Played this to the end dozens of times.
I might go back and give the game another look, we'll see :-)
Cliffhanger was the best to me, the Lupin III character and movies were my 10 yo style of animation. Like Starchasers and many other Japanese animations which just seemed more advanced, funny and enjoyable. So by 83 when I was playing games in arcades I loved Cliffhanger. Space Ace and Dragons Lair were awesome too!
My buddy Andrew was the first one in my neighbourhood to finish this game. In grade school he was treated as a local celebrity.
LOL, that's fantastic
GREAT video! Been waiting for this one! Dragon's Lair and Space Ace are my favorite arcade games of all time. There was something so incredible about walking into an arcade in the 80s and seeing this game. I never finished Space Ace in the arcade. Only when it came to home systems like Sega CD. Don Bluth was a genius. I still love Secret of Nimh.
Thanks a lot! I agree, I can recall seeing it for the first time And being totally floored.
Never got to see Space Ace in person, but appreciate that a high quality port was placed onto the Switch as part of the Dragon's Lair trilogy.
It's a really good compilation if you like those types of games
My brother is a complete champion of Space Ace, FYI.
He’s been a fan of the game since 6 years ago.
Fantastic
Outstanding work, Patman! This one is one of my favorites, and this video was a nice nostalgia trip! I'm really hoping that New Wave Toys will make Space Ace as a follow-up to their excellent Dragon's Lair cabinet. Cheers!
You went there! Great video, the nostalgia is real.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks a lot
I was always intimidated by Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace. I always had a hard time with those games. I finally gave them a real chance when they came out on the DS.
When it wasn't $0.50 each time to play for about 20 seconds :-)
I can still EASILY recite the opening narration from both this and Dragon's Lair. Possibly the greatest attract mode sequences ever!
If nothing else, Kimberly and Daphne both gave new meaning to the term "attract mode"...😍😆
The attract mode was fantastic
Love the videos and love the games you cover. I just installed the emulator to play these yesterday.
Thanks a lot, I appreciate that
Another great video. The only version of this game that I've ever played is the Jaguar version. I figured it was too hard to spend quarters on! LOL
Thank you so much. It was extremely hard especially when it first came out in 1983. That was the cost of two regular games and I had to make my quarters last
Thanks for reminding me that I own Dragon's Lair Trilogy for the Wii, I completely forgot it existed, I even ended up buying it again for the PS4.
Thanks again Patman, I love LaserDisc/FMV games, and they are often considered the "red head step child" of the industry, so any and all love is greatly appreciated. I would love to see more videos of these types for games like Badlands, Time Gal, Firefox, etc., as many of these games have really been lost to history since the vast majority of offerings never got home releases.
This was my absolute favorite game - sunk a ton of quarters into one at a Showbiz Pizza Place in Colorado. Totally appreciate the thorough history, I had no idea the other ports even existed. I bought the Windows version/port (via Steam) a few months ago...the different modes/walkthrough/etc are great additions, but you can tell the timing is off and it will get irritating rather quickly if you still have the 'historic timing' lodged in your brain.
Cliffhanger is based on Lupin the 3rd movie called Castle of Calistro one of my personal favorite anime movies..Space Ace was my childhood and still love it today...thanks for posting this. :)
Absolutely, I did a video on cliffhanger a couple of years ago so you might want to check it out. Thanks
Thank you very much for this, i loved space ace as a kid in the arcades, i was terrible but always stayed to watch other play it. awesome stuff Pat as always.
Thank you very much :-)
one of my all time favorite games. Glad we're able to get on a I-phone
Absolutely amazing and it runs so good on such a small device
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries Funny to think that in the 80's you needed such a large machine to play that game and now it's in the palm of your hand.
Nice documentary. I do like Space Ace but find it very difficult. I have the arcade machine and can get to Borf's lair on Cadet. The iPhone version is easy though, with prompting what button to press. Hope you do more Laserdisc games in the future, especially the 90s ones.
Thank you. I was definitely out of practice with the arcade game and it was a bit difficult at first. The iPhone version as you mentioned is a lot easier. I did do time traveler a while back if you haven't seen that
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries I think I saw that one, will need to recheck it. I would love to see more American Laser Games, Street Viper and the Spanish Picmatic games which basically ripped of American Laser Games :)
Picked up this game and dragons lair during a sale a couple years ago on PS3 Honestly best five bucks I ever spent on that store thanks for the video had no idea they made a 3DS version
Five bucks is a great deal
Thank you so much for the great videos.
Glad you like them! Thanks
I saw what you did with the Kimberly flashing, I mean game flashing there ;) . 🤣🤣 Also not sure about the stare at an eclipse line i laugh at it maybe there was no pun intended 😅😅😅. Great work as usual.... Keep it coming
LOL, I'm glad a couple of people got that :-) thanks
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries I even pause to see what the whole flashing was about... 😅😅😅🤣🤣
I truly enjoy All the content! It’s absolutely faaantastic!
Wow, thank you!
The artists for these games are incredible 😮😮😀😀
I agree, extremely smooth with lush vibrant colors
Space Ace was such a fun game even though it was less popular than Dragon's Lair. After all these years, it would have been fun to experience a Dragon's Lair II level where Dirk and the Time Machine go into the future fighting with Space Ace/Dexter against Borf and Mordroc.
I finally picked up a copy of space Ace for the sega cd not to long ago. I've heard a lot of interesting things about the game and I have a good amount of laserdisc games on the sega cd, my favorite system. A very different time in gaming overall but an interesting one indeed. This vid brings up a few more consoles I'd really like to collect, being the 3do and cdi. They are really difficult to find but I did see one cdi in the wild recently. The games are expensive but it may be a rabbit hole I'll definitely go down at some point. Great job with the vid Pat. I can't wait to see what you come out with next in regards to the sega cd or cd based consoles. 👍
Thanks a lot. I still have my original Sega CD model one from back in the day although I have not used it in a number of years just relying purely on ambulation. There were some pretty good games for the system that I enjoyed so I'm sure I'll cover that attachment at some point. Thanks
Back in the day, I was always terrible at Dragon's Lair, but I was able to beat Space Ace - it always seemed to be much more intuitive as far as what the "correct" thing to do was supposed to be. Plus, the local arcade had it set to $0.25 per play (Dragon's Lair was usually 50 cents), so it was more economical to play it over and over to learn the correct commands.
Thanks Pat! I never got very far with Space Ace, as it was definitely tougher than DL. I never saw anyone really get too far (to learn from) and it lacked a lot of the appeal for me that DL had. I too bought Space Ace II for Amiga, and it was fun. I had no idea that Don Bluth voiced Borf! That's pretty cool.
Absolutely, I had my silly little channel can be both entertaining and educating :-)
I always changed to ace. I've literally never done the other sections. I will have to give them a try.
I remember liking this one more than Dragons Lair! But I always was a scifi fan, even as a kid
It's definitely more of a challenge
Im 52 nowadays and got to see the movie Firefox in theaters , Maybe that is what that Atari video game was supposed to be of ?
Reminders of my childhood. If you played the game and the others in the beginning of the video, you had some sort of childhood.
Great video. Arcade1up has this game coming out soon with Dragon's Lair. You can choose the style of your cabinet art. You can choose either the Dragon's Lair arcade Cabinet or the Space Ace cabinet, but either way both games are included, which is very cool!! Take care!
Thanks, I'll be sure and check it out. Thanks a lot for the info
I have this on the Limited Run collection with Dragon's Lair 1 and 2. I love it, it's great!
I enjoyed it but it is extremely hard
Amazing Video Patman🛸🎮💎
Thanks a lot :-)
It was actually Garry Goldman who suggested they use playboy as reference for Daphne. He also provided the magazines
Hey you did do Space Ace after all! Nice job. It’s still my favorite arcade game, and I liked that iOS version too even though it hasn’t been updated and no longer works. There’s also a version for Steam that I’ve purchased but haven’t gotten around to playing yet.
So of course now you gotta do Time Warp and finish the trilogy…
I remember playing at local 7-11 as a youth 1.00 a pop! 25 yrs later played all 3 games on Phillips cd-i overpriced system,and now on ipad love it to the day I die.
Yeah, Dragon's Lair and Space Ace always intrigued me but at a dollar a pop I only played them once or twice back in the day.
I own the Cliff Hanger and Space Ace laser discs, sadly not the machines.
Very cool
Dragon's Lair 1 and 2 as well as Space Ace are available on Steam for the PC!!! Keep up the great vids!!!
Thanks for the info, thanks for the nice words
The scene where Ace/Dexter turns into a baby is also my favorite.
I wasted sooooo many quarters on this game as a kid, and I wouldn't change a thing! This game is AWESOME!
The comercial scenes and sounds reminds me in He man or Marshall Bravestarr.Typical 80's Cartoon stile
Yes it does
I was able to learn Dragon's Lair by watching someone finish the game a few times during a vacation. From then on I could easily finish it. Space Ace and Dragon's Lair 2 however, I was never able to get the hang of well enough to finish on one credit.
They are definitely harder
The animation for this “game” is amazing.
Yes it was
Space Ace, cool! Lead on Brave Adventurer, your quest awaits! Space Ace! Cool video, thanks Patman. Sadly, the animated planned Dragon's Lair movie never happened, and is turning into a potential live-action film instead, if that happens eventually.
Thanks a lot. It all depends on quality of the project. I would have rather seen a cartoon version instead on the big screen
I remember how hard that game was. Lost interest in actually playing it because of its difficulty. I would just watch others play it and save my money.
That's what I did a lot of the time as well $0.50 a game back in 1983 was completely crazy to me
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries When I discovered these games in local arcades, they usually charged $1.00 per play.
I remember these games in 80 played . Then bought on the Sega CD in 90s
Turned out really good
At 9:54 I feel you intentionally said "flash" the moment she flashes the screen.
LOL, good call :-)
Literally every modern game and modern movie/tv show
What about the game Freedom Fighter? My Favorite All Time Arcade game! Can you Please do a Documentary on that hidden Gem!? Great video & Research as Always!👍👾
Knowing that Erci Chahi's inspiration for Another World (Out of this World in North America) was the poor ports of Dragon's Lair, I've always wondered if these games would've been possible on the Amiga, if the scenes were redrawn with vectors.
Thanks, this was very intriguing and informative! I thought Dragon's Lair was awesome but I liked Space Ace even more. I of course bought the Nintendo Switch collection of these games! What a great artist Don Bluth is!
Thank you very much. He is a fantastic artist
Love your productions. I'd suggest getting a pop screen for your mic. It's very pronounced when wearing headphones.
Yup, I tried my hand at this in the 3rd grade at Chuck E Cheese. I couldn't match the prompts or the bank to get good. I would just watch the big kids play as they had the scenes memorized. Good times....
Also available on the iircade. WAY harder than Dragon's Lair!
space ace always reminded me of the stern segment of heavy metal
I got this brand new for Sega CD on clearance for like $10 back in the day. I kind of regret turning it in to Funco Land for credit on a different game, but the replay value isn't really there once you beat it. Even if it had that fancy pathway tree.
Great video as always
Awesome video buddy
Thanks 👍
documentaries youre welcome
There was another game, similar to these, that came out a bit later. Claimed to be a hologram game called Time Traveler (I think).
I do remember seeing Space Ace and Dragon's Lair in the arcades, back in the day. Maybe I'm just a stick in the mud but even as a kid, I didn't care for the games and I'd rather watch than play. I am glad for the fans of these games that they can now play them at home.
Yes, I have done a video on that as well so check my archives
Hey I was wondering which versions of Space Ace has the skating level? I was about to download the Steam version, but people say it doesn't have the level.
40 years ago, that is surreal
One small inaccuracy. The Sega CD version was quite complete but did not include the checkered tube level which was heavily background animated instead of a static or simple scrolling background which would have been a problem for programmers.
Space Ace and the Drangon's Lair knight should've teamed up in a time quest. What a hit that'd have been. PS. Gary Owens and Ted Knight have to have been the best narrators ever. Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones and Patrick Stewart are marvels at it too, but in a mellow way. This guy (and Knight) made it feel bigger than life. It's a lost artform, I think.
How cool would that have been
Was not the best at this game, but my older cousin loved it. Loved the cartoon.
I wasn't that good at it either and I sure wasn't going to keep dumping $0.50 at a time into play it for about 15 seconds :-)
I beat Dragon’s Lair but Space Ace was a bigger challenge. Worked hard and eventually made it to the last battle with Bork a few times but never beat it. Still it was cool to make it that far and, overall, was more fun and exciting to play than Dragon’s Lair.
Yes, there is definitely more variety and difficulty involved. The new HD remaster of both games look really good
Space Ace, I put a ton of quarters into this machine and got pretty far, but did not complete it. I liked this more than Dragon's Lair because there were some choices available for the player: solve as the skinny kid or as Ace.
What about Freedom Fighter I used to play it along with space ace and dragon lair good times love your videos keep it up
Great video, However, you forgot the 20th anniversary special edition dvd box set. The game play is great and can be played on both the xbox and ps3 as well as on the pc using an arcade joystick setup.
Thanks
Your videos are great.
Thanks a lot
I think the creators of Cuphead could do Dragons Lair and Space Ace justice given the ease with which they incorporated the look of classic 1930's style animation with modern gameplay mechanics.
I agree, they could do a fantastic job
Great video like always:)
You're the best! Thanks
I believe Space Ace is also available on the Arcade 1up cabinets. I think it's on the Dragon's Lair cabinet along with Dragon's Lair 2.
Yes it is :-)
Thank You for this. 👍🏼👍🏼
Another sweet vid. BTW. WC MB 4 fun. 🤘
Thank you my friend