| Introduction
In the U.K., Ace Lightning is a BBC TV series that
can best be described as a fantasy/video game show mixing
CGI animation with live action. To be honest, I'd never
actually heard of it when I realized it was on TV that
day, so I watched an episode. I can only assume it's
popular, as it would be madness for any company to produce
a GBA licensed product for anything less--but enough
waffling about how little I know about the TV series,
what we're really here to find out is what the GBA version
actually plays like. Read on to see if it was indeed
worth BBC Multimedia's time and effort...
GamePlay
Ace Lightning is played from an overhead view of
an Amusement Park, and although you may assume this
allows you to freely roam around the various areas,
you'll quickly realize that most sections are in fact
closed off. Entering one of the open doors propels you
into one of the twelve theme worlds, a 2D side-on platformer,
where you must battle with a whole host of enemies to
discover the whereabouts of the Gold Amulet.
This will lead you to the end of level foe which
you must defeat and well, that's it actually. Do this
in all twelve areas and it's all over. Of course there
are bonus items and pick ups along the way, including
one which allows you to fly for a limited time, but
as far as gaming variety goes, Ace Lightning falls far
short of the mark.
Complete a given number of the sections and you're
rewarded with one of the two mini-games. The first of
these is a kind of target range affair where you must
shoot a collection of enemies within a given time. Next
up is a 'test your strength' game, which is played a
little like a computer golf Sim, only the aim is to
hit the bell at the top of the pole. You get the odd
henchman jumping out on you as you travel around the
Park but dealing with them only takes a matter of seconds.
A battery backup rounds off a very shallow package,
and if not for this one positive feature, there's a
good chance I would never have replayed the game after
the first session.
Controls
The control is remarkably simple and responsive,
despite some questionable collision detection. Anyone
who's encountered this type of game before will know
exactly what to expect, and if you're playing Ace Lightning
coming from another platformer, you'll hardly notice
that you're playing a different game. Obviously, the
mini games differ in control from the main game and
while the shooter is remarkably intuitive, you'll probably
thumb through the manual to work out the 'strength'
game.
Graphics
Visually, Ace Lightning falls somewhere between the
GBA and GBC, so while the visuals are quite pleasing,
they fall significantly short of what the Advance platform
is capable of. The background graphics are suitably
different in each of the areas, but there does appear
to be a lot of enemy repetition; it's obvious that the
developers were pushed for time in order to meet a pre-Christmas
release date. The sprites have been lifted directly
from the TV series, which makes for some above average
animation, but there really is nothing here you haven't
seen before.
Sound & Music
Things start off with a lengthy sample of the series
theme music, which is of reasonable quality and will
no doubt please fans, although the actual in-game interpretation
is far better. The rest of the music is also quite good,
and does a fair job of setting the atmosphere of a creepy
Amusement Park. The sound effects are very basic and
not nearly as inventive as they could have been, considering
this is a fantasy-based show. A real mixed bag overall,
with the developers seemingly trying various ideas and
managing to implement some that didn't seem to work.
Very disappointing.
Final Comments
Ace Lightning starts out as a reasonably pleasant
gaming experience--anyone who's encountered the platforming
genre will recognize the various attributes instantly,
but the next thing you'll notice is the complete lack
of originality or any type of variety. There are the
various mini games of course, but the bulk of this title
is given over to basic platforming, and the whole thing
quickly becomes not only a chore, but instantly forgettable.
Overall, Ace Lightning manages to combine all the reasons
why the majority of gamers dislike the movie/TV tie-in
game, so unless you're a huge fan of the series, avoid
this at all costs.
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