Yep, it's true! I've just now been playing Ares (version 1.2.1) on my Intel MBP running Leopard.

I'm running 9.0.4 using an emulator called Sheepshaver. It has the effect of delivering an Ares experience similar to that on an early Power PC machine (like a Performa 5300). But the game runs smoothly and is very playable.

If anyone is interested I can post details of how to get this rather temperamental emulator running.......

Well that sounds awesome, I haven't been able to play Ares for ages, I miss that game Give us details!

Yes, it feels like I'm playing Ares again for the first time!

I've been experimenting with this program for a while now.
The biggest problem is that of getting Sheepshaver to work in OSX - It's been around for some time on other platforms. However finally someone has solved the problems and posted the results. All the bits you need can vbe downloaded from here:

h t t p://grazer.free.fr./webstore/various/SheepSaverPackage.zip

Download it and follow the install instructions. You should create a volume of at least 1GB for the OS9 partition and give it 512 MB of Ram.

After you have 9.0.4 running you will need to create a disk image using disk Utility in OSX to allow you to copy Ares onto the new OS9 Mac emulator. You will not be able to drag and drop files into the emulated 9.0.4 from OSX (like in Virtual PC).
The sound doesn't work properly on my installation. Haven't been able to fix it yet.
The best gameplay result can be had from running the emulation in full screen mode. It is a bit slow(like an old Mac), but far better than Classic ever was.

9.0.4 is the latest version of 9 supported. (I tried 9.2 in it and it wouldn't boot).
Hopefully sheepshaver will be improved in future versions.

Some other hints here:
h t t p://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060509180914879&lsrc=osxh
.
.

If you have any issues, or can't get it to work, then post here and I'll help out.

Yeah, I used Sheepshaver for a while. I had to force quit for some reason or another, ran a OS X disk repair, and it made the system Kernel Panic. The other users of the computer were already nervous enough with my limited coding experience and I was forced to banish it to the Abyss of Software That Made my Family Nervous.

Weird, when I tried it on my MacBook Pro, it ran slower and jerkier than my 26 year old car.

Hmm, yes. I get a performance equivalent to a 68k Mac (remember those!!?) or a very early Power PC running Ares.
But it does not crash and it doesn't annoy Leopard (10.5.1) - so far.

I'm using it on a MBP 2.4GHz with lots of Ram.

Mind you, all of this is a bit academic as I can still play Ares natively in OS 9 on my old Powerbook....