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Don Bluth Studios, RDI Video Systems (formerly AMS), and Cinematronics
(together known as Magicom) teamed up once again and released Space Ace in early 1984, with animation completed in late 1983. This
game introduces us to Dexter (a.k.a. "Ace"), Kimberly, and Commander Borf. As the game starts, you are given three
different skill level options, "Cadet", "Captain", and "Space Ace". The "Cadet" version,
being the easiest, skips about half the scenes of the game. The "Captain" version adds a couple more scenes, and the
"Space Ace" version includes all the scenes on the laserdisc.
For the animation of Space Ace, models were made of Ace's starship and his motorcycle. They were then filmed, traced over, and
painted. A large-scale tunnel was also built so that a camera could move through it for the dogfight sequence. Once again,
to keep costs down, some of the staff provided their own voices. Animator Jeff Etter was the voice of Ace, storyman/animator
Will Finn was the voice of Dexter, animator Lorna Pomeroy (wife of co-producer
John Pomeroy) was the voice of Kimberly, and Don Bluth was the voice of Borf. The narrator was Michael Rye, and the
musical score was created by Christopher Stone.
In 1991, the Leland Corporation rereleased Space Ace as a conversion kit for Dragon's Lair II. That version is a little different
because Leland programmed diagonal move requirements in quite a few places, which makes it harder to play. Also, there are no skill
level options.
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