Ace of Aces Cheats & Cheat Codes for PC and More

Ace of Aces is a 1986 combat flight simulation video game. The game was developed by Artech Digital Entertainment and published by U.S. Gold (Europe) and Accolade (North America). Ace of Aces received many ports across at-home systems, including the Amstrad CPC, the Atari 8-bit family, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, MSX, MS-DOS, SEGA Master System/Genesis, and ZX Spectrum. In 1988, Atari ported Ace of Aces to the Atari XEGS, a new console they hoped would generate even more sales.

Modern gamers likely don’t have access to any of the systems Ace of Aces was released on. Fortunately, Googling the game will yield several results for places a player can play. The easiest place for gamers to play Ace of Aces is RetroGames.cz. RetroGames.cz allows gamers to play games for free with no need for downloads. They can play almost every game on the website on an internet browser. Since RetroGames.cz features such a large catalog of retro games, it’s a great resource for anyone interested in exploring older games. The website also has titles like The Lion King (1994, based on the Disney animated film of the same name) and Cool Spot (1993).

My Abandonware, another website that specializes in classic games, has Ace of Aces available for download. Gamers have the choice of the following versions: DOS, Amstrad CPC, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MSX, and SEGA Master System. Like RetroGames.cz, My Abandonware also has plenty of games to offer, like Tau Ceti (1985) and Finders Keepers (1985).

When Ace of Aces first hit the market, it debuted to mixed reviews. That didn’t stop the game from becoming one of Accolade’s best-selling Commodore 64 games, though. Ace of Aces sold over 100,000 copies. Modern gamers hold this flight simulator in somewhat higher regard than gamers of the time did. Lemon64 rates Ace of Aces an 8 out of 10, while My Abandonware rates it a 4.4 out of 5. According to Google, 92% of Google users claim to like the game as well.

Ace of Aces Premise

Ace of Aces takes place during World War II and it lets the player control a RAF Mosquito long-range fighter-bomber. The RAF Mosquito has a cannon, rockets, and bombs, emphasizing the combat part of the combat flight simulator. The player is assigned random missions that consist of destroying enemy vessels like fighter planes and U-boats. The goal of the game isn’t to tell a story. Instead, it wants players to feel like they could be a pilot in the middle of an active warzone.

Fortunately for new players, Ace of Aces includes a practice mode. After loading the game, players get the choice to go into practice mode or the actual game. Practice mode allows players to choose between three different training sessions, including dog fight training, U-boat bombing, or train bombing. This mode allows players to familiarize themselves with the mechanics of the game without feeling overwhelmed. Enemies aren’t as powerful or consistent in the training mode, allowing players to learn without immediately dying.

The game provides the player with five different points of view: the cock pit, the navigational map, the left wing, the right wing, and the bomb bay. Each mission starts the player off in the air, so there are no take-off controls or commands. Ace of Aces skips the often frustrating process of getting airborne and staying in the air. Likewise, the mission ends with the player still in the air, so they don’t need to land.

Players also get to select what supplies they stash in their plane, giving them a bit of control over how they approach each mission. The more weight the RAF Mosquito carries, the slower the plane flies, so players need to pack as lightly as possible. Players earn points based on the number of enemy targets destroyed and leftover supplies, like unused fuel, missiles, and bombs. Once players complete every mission, they can combine mission types into larger, more involved missions.

Ace of Aces Main Characters

Ace of Aces doesn’t feature any characters, per se. As stated above, Ace of Aces doesn’t set out to tell a story. It’s a simulator game, meaning that it wants to make the players feel as if they’re active participants in the world. In this case, the player is supposed to feel like the pilot of a RAF Mosquito. The game doesn’t bother providing more than a basic setting. There are no main characters because the entire game is about combat. The player has control over a RAF Mosquito plane, so they aren’t even really playing as a person.

Many games of the time do the same thing Ace of Aces does. Instead of putting the player in the perspective of a person or other living organism that represents the main protagonist, they play as vehicles or machinery of some sort. In Space Invaders (1978), the player controls a massive laser cannon designed to shoot aliens out of the sky. Thexder (1985) lets players control a high-tech suit of armor called Thexder. In TNK III (1985), players play as an army tank, and in Gradius (1985), players control a spacecraft called the Vic Viper.

This technique isn’t as common anymore. Modern developers like to put players in the shoes of a protagonist they can relate to, but back in the 1980s, this was extremely common.

Ace of Aces Titles in the Series

Ace of Aces is a stand-alone game that didn’t spur a series or even a sequel. While there are other games like Ace of Aces, as far as this series goes, it’s the only one.

Ace of Aces Cheats, Cheat Codes, and Action Replay Codes

Cheat codes and other intentional exploits were commonplace for games of the 1980s and even into the ’90s as well. While modern gamers are familiar with cheats of all kinds, the relationship the gaming industry has with them is very different today. Many cheats or exploits come from the player with the use of custom content, cheat engines, and mods. Some game developers do still include cheat codes, but they’re much rarer these days. More often than not, if modern developers purposefully build cheats of any kind into their games, it’s for the sake of nostalgia or alluding to an Easter egg.

Back in 1986, when Ace of Aces first came out, cheat codes were often included just to help make gaming easier. Most games couldn’t be saved and relied on several lives, so players needed to keep going until they won or received a Game Over. Ace of Aces doesn’t have many cheats, but the couple that it does supply are game-breaking enough on their own.

Unlimited Ammo Cheat

• Open the game
• While on the title screen, wait for the Ace of Aces logo to flash
• Input the following sequence: Up, Right, Right, Down, Down, Down, Left, Left, Left, Left, Up, Right, Down, Left
• This activates cheat mode
• Players will be taken to the mission select screen
• If they input the code correctly, they should see “cheat mode” in the bottom righthand side of the mission board

Unlimited Lives Cheat

• Get a high score
• Enter “DUSTY BUG” as the top spot name
• This should grant the player unlimited lives

Action Replay Codes

To use the following codes, players must have access to an Action Replay, a cheat device that works with many classic or older consoles. To use the Action Replay, players will also need the corresponding console.

• 00D5BD0X: Fuel Tanks Modifier (0-2)
• 00D5BAXX: Small Missiles Modifier (09)
• 00D5B9XX: Yellow/Red Striped Missile
• 00D5B8XX: Bomb Modifier (Any Value Works)

Ace of Aces Cheats FAQ

If curious players Google “Ace of Aces video game cheats”, no frequently asked question results pop up. Googling “Ace of Aces video game” does turn up a few FAQs. Unfortunately, none of them are related to Ace of Aces. A couple of the questions refer to Call of Duty, an unrelated, modern gaming franchise. Others ask about the meaning behind the term “ace” and one asks about how to play the Ace of Aces: Handy Rotary Series, which is a board game.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Gaming Exhibit / Artech Digital Entertainment / Accolade / U.S. Gold.