Developed and Published By: Ratalaika Games
Categories: Retro, Platformer
Release Date: 08.02.24
Price: $5.99

I have an unbelievably amount of nostalgia for Aero the Acrobat, from reading about it in Nintendo Power to my friend always playing it on the SNES growing up. I think I played a small bit of it, but never past the first level. Thanks to Sunsoft returning and partnering with Ratalaika Games, I now have the opportunity to do so. And Aero sure is a 90’s mascot platformer.

To be honest, I expected somewhat of a standard level by level game, but with a cute Bat mascot. It’s kinda like that? Aero more takes on a mission based approach. Yes, the goal is to get to the end of the level, however, there’s always a objective to do first. Get rid of __ star block, go through all of these trick rings, track down keys and rescue your girlfriend, etc…The levels can be maze-like, they can be big, but I never found myself lost or overwhelmed. Backtracking is definitely a pain in the ass, but if you’re on your toes, you shouldn’t have to do too much.

What’s a platformer if not it’s controls? Aero plays and feels decent enough. You got your jumps, collecting stars can be used as a projectile, and you have these little spiral attacks you can do in air upwards or downwards. That last one can be a smidge tricky, but it feels good whether you are getting to a slightly out of reach platform or knocking an enemy out of existence. What doesn’t feel good is certain enemies who *can* die, not reacting to attacks.

Final Thoughts

We’re getting the whole series, huh? I’d honestly rather we get a collection as opposed to four individual releases, especially considering the GBA version of the first game. Regardless, I’m excited to experience all of these games and I hope Sunsoft continues re-releasing their retro titles.