The series follows the life of British teenager Mark Hollander, who moved to the American town Conestoga Hills with his parents.
One stormy night, Mark plays his favourite video game, the fictional Ace Lightning and the Carnival of Doom–a superhero-based adventure game where hero Ace Lightning traverses the Carnival of Doom to find the pieces of the magical Amulet of Zoar, whilst battling his nemesis Lord Fear.
The world and rules of the game played out in Conestoga Hill; for example, when two pieces of the Amulet were connected, a new character or weapon would be summoned.
An ongoing story was the love triangle between Ace and villain Lady Illusion, who was Lord Fear's mistress throughout the first season but betrays him in the finale.
In the second season, Chuck becomes Ace's secondary sidekick, and all the villains return under the leadership of a new antagonist named Kilobyte.
In the series finale, Ace and Lord Fear join forces and banish Kilobyte to the game world.
The graphics were greatly improved, and several of the characters, including Staff Head and Pigface, were changed to look more like the animals they resembled.
[5] According to the 2003–2004 annual review of BBC Worldwide's children's products, the series was a success and translated into different languages and forty countries, gaining high ratings in the United States on DIC Kids Network.
Children's television analyst Dale Kunkel, a communication professor at the University of Arizona, described the series and Stargate Infinity as "anti-social".
The opinions were shared by the activist groups of the United Church of Christ and Center of Digital Democracy, viewing both programmes as violent.
Former CEO of DIC Entertainment, Andy Heyward, defended Ace Lightning, taking the educational requirement very seriously for each episode.