Time Ace

"Fun - Intense - Cheap - Ignored"

What a confusing situation there was with this game. Time Ace from Konami was slated for a US release on June 12th, 2007. June 12th game, and Gamestop pushed this game back to June 13th. June 13th game, and Gamestop pushed this game back to June 19th. June 19th came, and Gamestop completely removed this game from their webpage. Some people reported luck finding it in their local areas, but it seemed that Time Ace didn't receive a very wide spread release, despite being released by a rather large company.

Fast forward about a week later. Buy.com came through where Gamestop failed and delivered Time Ace to my door - and what a game it is! Normally priced for $19.99, I was able to grab my copy for the low price of $8.99, but it would be completely worth the full price.

Gameplay
Time Ace is a rail shooter in the same vein as many games long past - the inevitable comparison to Star Fox will be made, and it's not entirely an unfounded one. You go stage to stage, traveling back and forth through time and fighting it out with many, many enemies. Across the nineteen (19) stages in the game, you will come across a lot of challenges. Whether it's in the form of enemies swarming you from all sides, boulders falling down on you, large fans trying to shove you into walls, or navigating through tight tunnels and narrow spaces, Time Ace doesn't hesitate to throw some tricky things at you.

While you fly around, you have a number of ways to deal with the situations given to you. You can fire your normal shot, which can be upgraded by grabbing power ups dropped by enemies in the game - allowing you to have a variety of different shots with their different pros and cons. You also have your secondary weapon, which is limited but far more powerful. You can use your afterburner to speed up and your air brakes to slow down. You'll quickly discover that knowing the best times to make use of these features is essential, unless you want to crash and burn.

In the stages, there come areas where you have full motion all around, so you can turn around, fly up and down and all kinds of things, taking out enemies. In other areas, you will be a little more restricted, moving along the set rail but being able to move pretty far left and right off the path. If you stray too far, the came will correct you and turn you back onto the path.

You also get a number of ships to play with, unlocking them as you go along. Every ship has it's own stats and starting fire, making each one unique and better depending on your preference and purpose.

The touch screen doesn't go unused in the gameplay, either. While flying, it allows you to access three power ups - one is a shield, one is a bomb, and one allows you to have greater mobility. Then you have the repair mini games. These are games you can play between missions to give your ship a boost of life. One involves running your stylus along black gaps to weld the metal back together, before the time runs out. Another requires you to navigate a maze of circuit boards within the time limit, being careful not to touch the walls. These aren't too much of a hassle, but they're not exactly thrilling.

The actual game play is a ton of fun, though, often being very chaotic and fast paced, and really quite intense. It's a great flight game, and considering I have played Blades Of Thunder II, Top Gun, Freedom Wings and Star Fox Command, which makes up a large part of the DS's flight game library, I'd have to judge this as one of the best, despite the jaw dropping amount of critical complaining it has thusfar received.

Score: 8/10

Graphics
One aspect of this game which I see people so eager to tear down are the visuals. Granted, this game is no Elder Scrolls IV or Shadow Of the Colossus, but we are talking about a handheld DS game here, and a budget title at that. Considering this, Time Ace actually looks really quite good. The areas are very large with many buildings, the landscapes ranging from ancient and modern cities, to oceanic territories populated with the occasional islands and docks, all the way to outer space, rushing through caves and diving under water. There's a lot of scenery to be had, and it's all pretty pleasing to the eye.

The enemies seem decent for what they are - you won't usually get a whole lot of detail on the smaller ones, as you'll want to shoot them down before they get to you. But enemies and player character alike both look good. Different enemies are distinct and well designed, and your different planes look good as well. Shots and explosions both look good, and the textures on the water and land are also pleasing to the eye.

The game's main problem, though, is that it sometimes suffers some slowdown. But if you give this game a shot, you'll see why - flying around in a 3D environment with enemies exploding all around and shots firing everywhere can become pretty intense.

Score: 8/10

Controls
Interestingly enough, Time Ace does not make much use of the touch screen. As was noted earlier, it's used by two mini games, and for power ups, all of which work well and are responsive. But most of the game relies upon the D-Pad and buttons, and it does a good job.

The shoulder buttons allow you to roll; the directional pad moves you around and lets you target your enemies. You have a button to shoot, a button to fire your secondary weapon, a button to speed up and a button to slow down. There isn't much else to say aside from that. The controls are simple but effective - they respond well and allow you to move quickly with ease.

Score: 9/10

Sound
Another pretty good area for Time Ace, if I do say so myself. The music for this game is great, especially in the first stage, and I turn my speakers up all the way just to enjoy it while I blast enemies out of the sky. You will be hearing the sound of your guns firing pretty frequently, but the sounds are all well done and never get annoying. The explosions also have a nice sound to them that I find strangely pleasing to my ear. I quite enjoy hearing large warships explode as I quickly fly around, taking down everything in my sight.

Score: 7/10

Difficulty
Fortunately, Time Ace offers three difficulty modes, with the main difference between them being the number of lives you're given. Even on Easy mode, you may find yourself losing quite a number of lives as everything gets chaotic. Still, some may find it to be a bit easy, while others may find it to be rather hard. I found it to be just right - I would die occasionally, but never so much that I felt the urge to throw the DS against the wall or something.

Even so, it's a welcome addition to have three different difficulties to choose from, as some games will either be too easy or too hard without allowing itself to be adjusted to individual gamers. This game is not the same level of easiness as New Super Mario Bros., but it's also not the same level of difficulty as the first few floors of Etrian Odyssey.

Score: 7/10

Replayability
Sadly, this is an area where Time Ace takes a hit. The main game only takes a few hours to beat, as most action games do, and beyond that, there isn't much else to do. Two levels and one ship are locked as you progress, but all three are quite easy to unlock. I actually did so just by casually playing through the game, not knowing the requirements to unlock it.

Beyond the single player mode, though, you aren't presented with a whole lot of other options. You can replay the single player mode on other difficulties with your new ships and what not, but if you weren't addicted to the game from your first go, you may not be too compelled to run through it again.

There is a multiplayer mode in the game - it's multi-card and I believe it's dogfighting, but I'm currently unable to test this for myself.

Score: 6/10

Overall
In the end, Time Ace is no masterpiece - it's not a game without flaws by any means. But it is a great action game with a fun single player mode that will last you for a few hours (or more, if you so choose), for a very low price. For only $20, Time Ace is a good investment - assuming you can actually find it.

Score: 8/10*

*Score is rounded to the nearest whole number.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/07