Game Review - Aero the Acro-Bat (SNES)

Aero the Acro-Bat is a game released for the Super NES by Sunsoft corporation after development in 1992 and 1993 by Iguana Entertainment. Put simply, this is one of the most overlooked, underrated games I have ever played (and never heard about).

The story in Aero the Acro-Bat is hilariously corny and very fun; you're a bat who conquers crime. Your arch nemesis is a clown (is this a Batman reference?) and your goal is to traverse levels in a platformer-style while defeating enemies. Your ultimate goal is to defend your homeland (which is, zanily, a circus that you live and work in to make a living). The game speaks to the theme of the period which was to compete with games that promoted an animal as the protagonist (you're a bat who fights crime!).

As I said earlier, Aero the Acro-Bat is a platformer. As such, it offers the standard platforming environments, though many of them are circus-themed. From exotically multicolored tents to elephants and flames galore, the circus environment is actually the main theme in the game, since you're defending it (your home) from your arch enemy. This graphical environment does well to change the pace, as most platformers take place in weird universes that lack and semblance of reality. Aero the Acro-Bat most certainly describes its environment accurately without question.

The audio in Aero the Acro-Bat is swell, as well (pun intended). The sound tracks are a little dull, but the ambient noise is not bad at all; if it weren't there, there would be a problem. I guess I can go so far as to say that it's simply average. There's a simple voice-over; a "yowch" sound whenever you die and lose a life in-game; when you respawn, he also says an inaudible phrase. I found this to be a little annoying at times, especially when I was ready to break my controller in anger that I died, but maybe that's just me. Whenever you clear a level (meaning you complete the proper task for a warp to appear), a nice little jingle plays to confirm your success.

Aero the Acro-Bat has a bit of a learning curve as it's not a standard platformer; you have to do things to enable the completion of the level, rather than simply reaching the "end" of the level, like most platformers. As such, it took me a little bit of getting used to; I ended up having to backtrack quite a bit, since I'm so accustomed to storming through the levels, killing everything in my path.

This game is definitely one of the best I've played, and, as I've said, is grossly underrated. From its nice environments to its fun theme and ambient sound track, it's a good game all-around. I award it a solid five crime-fighting bats out of five, and will definitely come back to it after I finish some more reviews!