SNES

Aero the Acro-Bat

It's big fun under the big top with Aero the Acro-Bat, a bodacious, high-flying bat in an above-average platform product. Sunsoft converted the Genesis version to the SNES, enhancing the graphics and sound, and adding a mod Mode 7 bonus stage.

The graphics are very simple but very effective, with some lovely touches. Aero's buggy eyes when he dies are worth watching out for, as are many of the well animated mobile baddies. The graphics improve vastly the further into the game you get, with such levels as the roller-coaster and the woods looking very nice indeed. Overall verdict: A strange one, but once you give it a chance you'll be hooked. Aero handles well and you'll learn to live with the tricky, but cavernous, early levels. What puts it in the "very good" league is its sheer size and variety. Just when you're bored with a game-type, it's gone and there's something new there.

It's very difficult to come into the market with a great platform game, but Sunsoft's Aero is a rare gem. This has some of the most impressive graphics I've seen. The near-perfect calliope music really sets the tone of the game and get you into it as well. There are tons of out-of-the-way areas to get to and find. The gameplay is very good and responsive with his double-jump-spin attack. I dig this game!

Sunsoft's mascot character is a daredevil bat who performs amazing feats while fighting off foes in the Big Top. Great graphics and animation are the highlight.

I'm not disappointed that I missed Aero back in the early 90's. The game's concept is good and all, but I want to be able to attack more often, and have the option to tone down the difficulty. This is a solid, colorful, platformer, but it by no means will knock off Mario or Sonic, as you can already tell.