Commodore User


Ace
By Cascade
Commodore 64

 
Published in Commodore User #31

Ace

Ace

At long last, Plus/4 owners have a game that wasn't written for the C16 but actually takes advantage of the machine's full 64K.

ACE actually stands for Air Combat Emulator - exactly what this game is about. You have to pilot ACE and take care of the enemy craft you come across. Seat belts on and here we go!

When the game is loaded, the menu screen presents you with a number of options: fly in summer, winter or at night, and a choice of five skill levels (the first is for training). You can opt for either one or two player mode: in the latter, you get both pilot and weapons man, who operates the weapons using the keyboard.

Ace

An additional option is choosing a particular type of enemy - air, sea, ground or multi-role. Now to battle.

You wait patiently in your cockpit until you've gained enough speed. Then pull back, raise the undercarriage and you're away.

Look down and you'll see plenty of dials and panels. The plane's computer shows your altitude, speed and fuel. There are also side and front view indicators which show the angle of roll and pitch.

Ace

One nice touch is that the computer output panel warns of any dangers by actually speaking to you - sounds pretty good too. Underneath that, there's your rear-view camera and your weapons panel. There's also a radar screen with icons representing what's around you. You can also call up the computer's map to help you look around.

Learning how to fly ACE is certainly not easy but I'll guarantee you'll want to put in enough effort to master it. The toughest of the enemies, in my opinion, are the enemy planes. You deter their air missiles with your decoy flares - but hitting them is no small task.

This is by far the best (certainly one of the only) dedicated Plus/4 games I've seen. If you've got one, go out and buy this. It's, er, ace.

Ferdy Hamilton

Ace

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