Space Ace: Original Arcade Scenes, Don Bluth Animation, and a Global Laser-Gun Scoreboard

Space Ace asks you to play the heroic Ace in a race to stop the evil Commander Borf from taking over Earth. Borf's plan is to reduce all of humankind to infants, and the story begins with his Infanto Ray striking Ace and turning him into a child while Kimberly is kidnapped. The arcade-authentic edition packages that mission with all of the original scenes from the arcade version, Don Bluth's animation, laser gun play, an all-new global high scores list, and a full watch feature.

The Premise: Stop Borf, Save Kimberly, Restore Ace

The stakes are planetary. Commander Borf wants to reduce all of humankind to infants and take over the planet, and the game frames the response in heroic terms: only two people are said to have the courage and strength to stop Borf and save Earth, the beautiful Kimberly and the heroic Ace. That framing gives each scene a purpose beyond scenery — you are working against Borf's plan while also dealing with the immediate disaster that opens the story.

As Ace and Kimberly approach Borf's stronghold, the Infanto Ray hits Ace and changes him into a child, and Kimberly is kidnapped by the evil madman. That setup creates a split objective inside the larger mission: rescue Kimberly and restore Ace from the ray's effect while still stopping Borf. The fate of Earth is placed in your hands, and the de-aged hero is the character you play.

The Laser Gun at the Center of Play

The documented equipment defines the action: the game lists laser gun control for shooting enemies and describes a laser gun for combat. That places the weapon at the center of the player's interaction with threats. Rather than being a decorative prop in the animation, the gun is the named control dedicated to enemy encounters, and the combat language in the material reinforces it as the tool used to deal with them.

The gun also carries the game's competitive meaning. The arcade-authentic edition includes an all-new global high scores list, and the material explains its purpose as showing how well you handle Ace's laser gun. That directly links your performance with the weapon to the worldwide ranking, so the shooting you do in the scenes is the activity the scoreboard is built to display.

In practice, the material documents the gun and its targets but not a fuller combat system. There are no details on aiming, firing inputs, ammunition, enemy variety, or timing windows, and no separate inventory or melee system is described. That leaves laser-gun handling as the supported skill the game measures, and it keeps the scoreboard's purpose specific: the ranking is about your use of Ace's laser gun, as the source states.

All of the Original Arcade Scenes

The package is presented as a fully arcade authentic version, and its scene content is stated plainly: it includes all of the original scenes from the arcade version. The material describes these as the original scenes you have come to enjoy, which makes the scene list a carried-over set rather than a trimmed or rebuilt selection. The rescue mission and that scene set are delivered together as one product.

The scenes are made of Don Bluth's animation, and the arcade-authentic framing means the visual material players encounter is the original sequence set. The material does not describe the order of scenes or the specific actions inside each one, so what is documented is the content and its origin rather than a walkthrough of the route. The point for a player is coverage: the arcade scene list is included, paired with the story of Ace confronting Borf.

Watch Don Bluth's Animation Without Playing

A full watch feature is included as one of the bonuses, and its stated purpose is to sit back and enjoy Don Bluth's stunning animation. That gives the artwork a mode of its own: the Bluth sequences can be viewed for their own sake, without the pressure of laser gun encounters. The watch option does not replace the arcade scene set; it sits alongside the same animated material as an alternative way to take it in.

The result is two documented ways to meet the same animation. One is active, through the laser gun play that the global high scores list measures; the other is passive, through the full watch feature. The publisher material does not specify how the watch feature is launched or whether it is tied to unlocked scenes, so it is best treated as a bonus viewing option rather than a progression system.

The Global High Scores List

The arcade-authentic edition adds an all-new global high scores list. The source gives that list one stated purpose: to show how well you handle Ace's laser gun. That makes the list a comparison point for players around the world, and it frames score performance around weapon handling rather than around a separate ranking mode.

The source does not describe score formulas, leaderboard resets, or how many entries the list holds, so no further ranking rules should be assumed. What is clear is that the ranking is tied to Ace's laser gun rather than presented as a time or completion board, and that it is included alongside the original scenes and the watch feature. Those additions layer onto the arcade scene set instead of replacing it.

This Edition and a Practical Starting Note

Space Ace is developed and published by Digital Leisure Inc. The publisher material lists it for Windows and Linux with a 2013 release year and catalogues it under Action, Adventure, and Casual. The arcade-authentic edition contains all of the original scenes, the all-new global high scores list, and the full watch feature, so the original arcade material and the current package additions should be read separately: the scenes are the arcade content, while the scoreboard and watch option are the additions this version layers on top.

For a new player, the documented loop is to treat the laser gun as the skill the game rewards. The high scores list exists to show how well you handle that gun, so attention to gun play is the clearest starting priority the material supports. If you would rather encounter the animation first, the watch feature offers that route without the pressure of scoring, while the playable scenes let you build the weapon handling the global list records. Beyond those points, the source does not document controls, scene order, difficulty settings, or puzzle solutions, and no walkthrough should be assumed from it.

First published Oct 28, 2026.