"Ace? Ace!?! ACE!!!!?"

Ace Lightning

Based on the BBC multimedia children's show, Ace Lightning is the name of a video game hero that comes to life. I picked up this game after seeing it in a flea market for five bucks. It's a standard platform game with tie-ins for the show.

Story - 7/10

Basically, you play as Ace to send baddies back to the sixth dimensional prison. Each level offers one boss to deal with and many baddies throughout the level. You face off against the Googler in the first level, and battle against him and his minions. Eventually, you have to get pieces of amulet to send all those baddies back home!

Gameplay - 9/10

Straight up, undiluted platforming with a few twists. Find icons that allow Ace to fly, and to refill his health to get to new places. Your goal is to defeat all the level bosses, and get the pieces of amulet. You are finished when you confront the main baddy wizard type thing, and defeat him!

Graphics - 1/10

What on Earth? We had great eye-candy in the form of Shining Force, and even Pokemon. What happened to Ace? Did he have an operation to remove his facial features?

Good grief, the whole faceless hero thing has been overdone.

Sound - 4/10

Ace Lightning sounds awful with a capital A. Death throes are short and silted, sounding like someone covered the microphone in the studio when recording the sound clip. Getting hit provides a strange sound...

The only saving grace is the cool eerie sounding music that plays in the background. This music is really perfect for this game, as it takes place in a warped carnival!

Control - 7/10

The controls are a bit awkward in this game. Attacks are thrown by the shoulder buttons, and lightning is used by the B button. Jumps are the universal standard, the A button. The attacks are a bit slow, but not unforgivable - the biggest problem is the lightning attack...it's collision boxes seem off, and you'd swear you hit the baddie, but you really didn't!

Final Thoughts - 4/10

Not bad, if I were giving out letter grades, Ace Lightning would be C+. It's seems like a half-decent game, and a quick cash grab for BBC Multimedia. Watch the show first, and then get the game!

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 03/31/06