This article is about the in-universe video game. For information on the actual video game series, visit Ace Lightning (Video Game Series).
Ace Lightning and the Carnival of Doom is the fictional video game from which Ace Lightning and the other Sixth Dimension characters originate from. While they see it as their homeworld, on Earth it is an entire video game, which the characters are oblivious to. The game has been released in the United States of America and the United Kingdom, and has a large fanbase and an online fanclub, the Conestoga Hills chapter led by Chuck Mugel.
History[]
Ace Lightning and the Carnival of Doom was designed and created by Rick Hummel, and others. Rick created a programme that could actually bring the characters to life and allow people to interact with them. However, he was mocked and eventually fired for this programme. Humiliated and vengeful, Rick secretly inserted the programme into one of the games before being fired.
The game was released around 2002 in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Notable players include Mark Hollander, Chuck Mugel, Brett Ramirez and Jessica Fisgus. Mark reached the final level by the time he moved to Conestoga Hills, and discovered a secret "Level 7", really the programme Rick created. A bolt of lightning struck the satellite dish on the roof of Mark's House, activating the programme and turning the characters into real people, the events of the game playing out in Conestoga Hills.
Differences From the Actual Video Games[]
- The game has six levels; the actual game has five, the Gameboy version having twelve.
- A player can control Ace Lightning or Sparx; Ace is only playable in the real game, Sparx only in a boss battle in the Gameboy version.
- According to Chuck, a player has to be at maximum power to defeat Lord Fear.
- Pieces of the Amulet of Zoar are actually hidden around the game; in the actual games, the pieces are collected at the end of each level.
- Enough pieces are required to defeat Lord Fear.
- In Level 4, Ace can use a disguise to sneak past Lord Fear.
- In the end of the game, if Lord Fear gains the Amulet, the Lightning Knights' energy levels will begin to drop, and the player is forced to find the Amulet in the Haunted House and fight Lord Fear before the character's energy level drops under 12%; in the actual games, the player battles Lord Fear without any effects to the character's energy bar.
- There is shown cutscenes of Ace confronting Random Virus with the Shield of Justice; Random appears as a boss battle in the Playstation 2 and PC versions of the game. In one episode Chuck also "runs a simulation" to determine what would happen if Random Virus joins Lord Fear. This implies Random may not do so in the in-universe game.
- The player is attacked by the villains in the carnival, a similar event happens in the Gameboy version.
- The game has a Game Over screen involving Lord Fear taunting the player; in the actual games, there is an image of Lord Fear standing over an unconscious Ace.
- The graphics are shown to be more detailed than the actual games'.
- After a certain point in the game Anvil powers up and stronger attacks are required to defeat him; in the actual game Anvil appears once, during the final boss battle.