With the recent success of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie and also the penchant for throwback cartoons from the 80s and 90s, a game like Ace Ferrera and the Dino Menace has come just in the nick of time. The adventure game is set in space, has a wickedly funny (and punny) sense of humor and a simple enough mission that will keep you entertained and not so frustrated as you play it. Oh, and did we mention that the great villain in this piece is a talking cat with dinosaur soldiers?
In the game, you are a military cadet on a very important role: to fly in the Discordia, the flagship of the Proton Riders who are a bunch of misfit and weird superpilots. They are the only ones standing between mankind and evil dinosaurs bent on taking over the planet. You will start as an intern and work your way up until you become a galactic hero and a respected member of the Proton Riders. You get to launch sorties, ride through dangerous minefields, go on special missions and attack ships who want to destroy the earth. There are 23 different missions and five different kinds of ships that you can master.
While the graphics and action leave much to be desired, as compared to other adventure games, the look and feel of it is keeping to the 80s feel that it wants to evoke. The scripted dialogue scenes are funny and full of tropes you might recognize from yesteryears and this might just make up for the simplistic nature of the game. If you're not familiar with space combat games, then this is a perfect way to start getting into them.
Ace Ferrera and the Dino Menace is available for download from the Google Play Store for only $2.29. There are no in-app purchases, so you don't have to worry if kids start playing it on your device. They just might not get the humor as it is before their time, but they could probably finish the game in one sitting.