Nerdicus SNES Review #9 : Aero the Acro-Bat 2

Title : Aero the Acro-Bat 2

Publisher : Sunsoft

Genre : Platformer

Players : 1 Player

Release Date : 1994

Estimated Value (as of today's date) : $6-$7

Yesterday we took a look at Sunsoft's newest mascot of the 1990's, Aero the Acro-bat. While the mascot was a little bit tiresome, the game itself was actually pretty enjoyable. Let me make this point known. I found the Iguana in the Iguana entertainment logo more of a mascot than Aero. I mean, seriously who wouldn't want to play as a surfer Iguana with sunglasses? Ecktor the Clown on the other hand is one of the scariest villains I've ever seen. I hate clowns.

Ahem, so while we played the first one on the Genesis, I figured we'd go ahead and try the second one on the SNES, which is my go-to system. 

Now the first one had it's problems, especially in terms of controls, but the gameplay was surprisingly good. The platforming elements and challenges introduced at the beginning of each level made it so the game wasn't just a straight forward point A to point B. 

The question is, was the second one able to to match the first one, or perhaps even exceed? Or does Aero the Acro-Bat fall to his doom and miss the safety net?

Right off the bat, you can tell the game is visually a bit better than the first one. Colors are crisper, and the animations are a lot more fluid. Unfortunately, while the game might look pretty, they didn't really seem to work on the controls like they should of. It's not as slippery as the first, but the jumping is so irritating in this game. 

You've got a jump, and then you've got a double jump. But the double jump doesn't go straight up. No, it goes in a diagonal. So you have to basically aim your jumps instead of just double jumping in a straight line. It gets frustrating, especially if you over shoot your double jumps. I know he's a bat, and he's supposed to glide, but at least make it easier to control the damn guy.

Another thing that was disappointing with this game, is that they did away with the level objectives. Instead, it's just as straight forward as some of the other platformers out there. The game is also way too easy enough as it is, and I felt like this just took away any challenge at all. I'm not even joking where I say I had about 30 lives by the time I got halfway through the first act. 

The only thing added to create some sense of diversity were the added little "sub-levels" like snowboarding oh a guess the cup game. What confuses me about the guess the cup game, is given to you by your nemesis? How does that work? He's helping you..Oh..and a freaky female bat named BATASHA. She's the most hideous thing in video game history. Just look at her!!! FEAR HER!

She looks like those female gremlins in Gremlins 2.

All in all, not a good sequel. I feel like Sunsoft took away everything that made the first one good and just pumped up the visuals. Goodbye, Aero. We barely knew thee. And I'm not complaining about it.

Final Score (out of 5) :

Until next time. Keep on Gaming!