Battle Ace

~ BATTLE ACE ~

Hudson Soft

HuCard (SuperGrafx)

1989

Every console should be allowed a few duds. Of course, with only five titles to claim as its own, the SuperGrafx stood a better chance of hosting a library of perfection than most systems. Indeed, after the first four SGX exclusives I'd played ranged from pretty good to phenomenal with nary a clunker in sight, a five-for-five showing seemed well within reach. But then Battle Ace came along and put an end to those hopes.

BA is quite reminiscent of After Burner II (which I am admittedly not a big fan of) with its straightforward, repetitious shoot-the-enemies, dodge-the-missiles gameplay. But ABII has a superior score and plays faster (and better if, like me, you prefer a behind-the-jet view to this inside-the-cockpit stuff).

Hudson Soft did try to set Battle Ace apart from After Burner by incorporating elements that they undoubtedly believed would lend some variety to the experience. Bosses await you at the end of each act, but they're all easy to beat, and most are quite boring in design.

And "environmental factors" such as ice crystals, lightning bolts, asteroids, and flame geysers must be taken into consideration here, though they're usually not incorporated into the waves-of-enemies action, instead acting as simple breaks from the blasting and requiring just a bit of left-and-right maneuvering. Frankly, I had more fun with the "variety" provided by ABII's unspectacular bonus rounds.

If you want a pick-up-and-play title in this vein, hunt down After Burner II. If you'd like something similar to ABII but with bosses and greater depth, you'd do well to acquire Spiral Wave. Hell, I'd rather play Starfox or fucking Stealth ATF than make another run through boring Battle Ace.