I agree with Kitsunexus. Battle Ace needs more supporters.
Why is this game the worst ever? It seems like all of you are saying "Oh yeah, that game sucks. Well, not really, but we got used to saying it sucks so it sucks".
You pretty much nailed it.
People like to compare it to Afterburner (II) because you fly towards enemies in both games.
However, in reality, the gameplay is a bit different. In Battle Aces you have (kick-ass) well-designed bosses at the end of each stage, in Afterburner you get "bonus" stages. In Battle Ace you sit in the cockpit, in Afterburner you fly behind your fighter. In Battle Ace you have many airborne obstacles to avoid (energy fields, weird space-crystals, asteroids), in Afterburner you just shoot oncoming foe. In Battle Ace the roll is 75% cooler than the roll in Afterburner. Don't get me wrong, I love both games, but I'm trying to point out the "good" in BA that makes it a great game. BOTH games feature killer soundtracks, but I almost prefer the Battle Ace soundtrack because you actually get a new, great song for every single stage. And they really are great.
Later in Battle Ace you make it into outerspace (something that never happens in Afterburner) where you have to traverse an asteroid belt while dealing with an onslaught of enemy ships. This is my favorite part of the game, and has an unique intense quality lacking from any part of Afterburner.
I think I might try to get a Supergrafx and Battle Ace for my first foray into NEC.
I think that's a grand idea. If you like the ROM played via shitty emulation, you will only appreciate the real thing that much more. Since the SuperGrafx is backwards compatible with all "regular" PCE games too, it's not a bad investment, especially if you don't have any other NEC hardware. The SuperGrafx is also the best looking (IMHO) NEC console, with the only competition being some of the Duo models. But you just can't beat that top-loading cartridge slot.
When I get home I'll post something up here just to whet your appetite, Kitsunexus.
