There was a period in the early to mid-’90s where pretty much every developer was trying to make a mascot platformer. The next Mario or Sonic were always, potentially, just one game away. Aero the Acro-Bat, originally released back in 1993, was one such title. 31 years later and Aero is back in this re-release developed by Sunsoft and published by Ratalaika Games. But does this game hold up after more than 3 decades?

“The powerful and eccentric industrialist Edgar Ektor has sworn to destroy the world of amusement as revenge for being banished from the circus when he was a kid after one of his pranks went too far and almost killed a circus animal. He started by invading a local circus with his gang of mad clowns and kidnapping all the circus staff to spoil the show. Now it’s up to Aero the Acro-Bat, the circus’s star performer, to rescue his friends and girlfriend Ariel, and put a stop to Edgar Ektor’s mad plans so everyone can enjoy the show again!”

Let’s not get into the story here, it’s a 16-bit platformer, and they were not known for their storytelling. The gameplay of Aero the Acro-Bat is what you want to know about. I remember being really impressed with this game back in ’93 due to its variety and the diverse talents of the main character. In 2024, I’m still impressed. The good news is that Aero the Acro-Bat is still a great game now and I really enjoyed playing through it for the first time in over 30 years. 

What you get are 4 stages with 5 areas in each. Starting in a circus, the basic aim with Aero the Acro-Bat is the same as pretty much every 16-bit platformer, to get to the end of the level. What separated this title from others at the time was that to get to the end of the level, you had to complete specific tasks first. Maybe you had to find and jump on X number of special platforms, jump through hoops, collect a key and more. Playing as Aero, you always had more to do than other games of a similar ilk. This added a lot of variety as you made your way to the end credits. Then there was Aero himself, he had a good move set that you need to master to get the most out of each stage.

Aero can jump (of course), he also has a double jump that works as an attack that will have you spinning towards the enemies. Along the way, you’ll have to help Aero walk tightropes, ride unicycles, bungee jump, dive off springboards and much more. Once you finish the first stage and leave the circus, the game takes you to various locations, including a fun fair where you can ride the rides, a forest that will see you riding the rapids and more. This is the variety that I mentioned and that keeps Aero the Acro-Bat feeling fresh. This is not a particularly long game – but is it really, really difficult. Old-school levels of difficulty with limited lives and continues. Honestly, I never could finish this game back in 1993 and now that I am older, slower and fast approaching the age of 50, my reactions are not what they used to be, and I could not finish this in 2024 either… not without some help.

As this is a modern re-release, you do get a handful of improvements to play around with. There are the usual screen options where you can make the screen bigger and smaller. Along with several screen filters to give you that old CRT look and such. There are save states and you can rewind for the many, many, many times that you will mess up. The biggest help comes in the form of several cheats that you can switch on and off as you please, which I had to rely on to get to the end credits. 

The good news is that Aero the Acro-Bat has a very low price of just £5 and it is a really great platformer, but the difficulty is very harsh. If I am being honest, I much preferred the sequel, as it refined and improved everything – the controls, Aeros’s moves, and the level design. Aero the Acro-Bat is good but really bloody hard with several issues that do make this a pain to play. Whereas Aero the Acro-Bat 2 is one of the best platformers released on the 16-bit machines. I do know that the other games in the franchise with the sequel and the spin-off, Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel, are also being re-released and coming soon. Personally, I’d have preferred that the trilogy was released as one package instead of splitting them up into separate titles like this. Still, Aero the Acro-Bat is a fun (but really difficult) platformer that may just be worth picking up at the bargain price of £5.