{"id":24853,"date":"2024-08-28T00:01:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T00:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=24853"},"modified":"2024-08-06T00:05:44","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T00:05:44","slug":"aero-the-acro-bat-ps4-ps5-switch-xbox-one-x-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/28\/aero-the-acro-bat-ps4-ps5-switch-xbox-one-x-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Aero the Acro-Bat (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X\/S)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Back in the early to mid 90s, 2D platformers starring a cartoony animal mascot with attitude were all the rage, thanks to the popularity of Sonic the Hedgehog.\u00a0 One of the more prolific ones was Aero the Acro-Bat.\u00a0 His game got a sequel, a spinoff starring one of the antagonists (Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel), and an enhanced port of the first game on Game Boy Advance many years later.\u00a0 I actually rented the first one back in the day, and I honestly didn\u2019t like it that much.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t remember much about it except the goals were a bit unclear.\u00a0 But at the time, I was getting pretty tired of all those mascot platformers (I didn\u2019t even like a lot of the Sonic games), and I really only got back into those kinds of games once Klonoa came around on the PlayStation.\u00a0 Plus at the time I was more into 16-bit RPGs (it\u2019s kind of the opposite now).\u00a0 But I\u2019m willing to give Aero the Acro-Bat a second chance, because now you can play it on all modern consoles (reviewed on PS4 here). I think this is the Super Nintendo version because of the Mode 7 bonus stages.\u00a0 \u00a0The cool thing is that later this year, we\u2019ll be able to play the other games in the series on modern consoles, too!<\/p>\n

So as Aero, you can run and jump like any mascot platformer.\u00a0 While in the air, you can perform a drill attack up or down diagonally to defeat baddies and get some extra air in your jump.\u00a0 Pick up power-ups like food items for points, an umbrella to glide down after a fall, the ability to fly for a short bit, throwing stars, and invincibility.\u00a0 In each level you are tasked with a specific goal.\u00a0 It might be to land on certain star platforms, jump through hoops, save your girlfriend Ariel, etc.<\/p>\n

So did I like this game any better after giving it a second chance?\u00a0 Unfortunately, no.\u00a0 The goals are still a bit unclear and the hit detection with your drill attack is spotty at best.\u00a0 Plus the game relies too much on instant death spikes for challenge.\u00a0 However, even though I still don\u2019t like the game, I did really like this port of it.\u00a0 How?\u00a0 Well, for starters, the cheat menu lets you have infinite lives and health, which is handy for those annoying and tedious challenges.\u00a0 You can even give yourself unlimited drill attacks and basically fly through the levels!\u00a0 I also really liked all the in-game artwork you can view.\u00a0 Fans of the Aero character will love that.\u00a0 Plus you get a full scan of the instruction booklet, which is handy for figuring out the controls and level goals.\u00a0 I really miss when games had instruction booklets in them.\u00a0 It really helped to have them when reviewing games.<\/p>\n

Even though I didn\u2019t like the first Aero game, I hope I get to review the rest of the series when they come out later this year.\u00a0 I would like to see how they improved, because I really did like the circus theme and music and such.\u00a0 And I think Aero could use a reboot or brand new game, too, with modern gaming sensibilities that could help iron out those problems. For instance, maybe a radar to find out where to go next to complete the goals in the levels (bats can use echo location after all).\u00a0 So don\u2019t give up on your creation just yet, David Siller! I think it still has potential.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kid Factor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aero the Acro-Bat is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence and Mild Blood.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t notice any blood.\u00a0 You can drill into enemies to defeat them, but they just disappear when you do.\u00a0 Aero has all sorts of Looney Tunes style animations when he gets hit, but I grew up playing these types of games and I turned out OK.\u00a0 Reading skill isn\u2019t needed, but younger gamers may find it too difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in the early to mid 90s, 2D platformers starring a cartoony animal mascot with attitude were all the rage, thanks to the popularity of Sonic the Hedgehog.\u00a0 One of the more prolific ones was Aero the Acro-Bat.\u00a0 His game got a sequel, a spinoff starring one of the antagonists (Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel), and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24853"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24855,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24853\/revisions\/24855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}