It tells a lot about the era of gaming that was the 90s that Aero the Acro-Bat got a sequel. Seriously, as much as I have a fondness for the original game, it’s objectively not very well done, as we recently revealed in a review for the modern port. It’s awkward on purpose, it has a weird setting even for the time period (who the hell was into calliope music?) and the character is mostly forgettable. But there’s something there that made SUNSOFT say “Yes, let’s keep this going.” Maybe it was gumption, maybe it was sheer hope, maybe it was that pile of cocaine that dwarfed Gassan on somebody’s desk, but we kept the party going. Shockingly, it worked, and players have a better title, the unimaginatively titled Aero the Acro-Bat 2.

You may not have liked the original, but the sequel is here to be completely off the wall with its approach to the story. Picking up right where the original left off, Aero decides to poke around instead of heading back to his home carnival and, as a result, gets sucked into a magical door. This door brings him first to an ancient castle, but will be responsible for him getting tossed into the frozen tundra, inside a musical nightmare, deep into a factory that makes mad science and beyond. Why? Why would Aero do all these things and put himself at further risk? Perhaps it’s his sense of adventure and heroism. It could be it’s to help introduce a future game spinoff character, Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel. But the real reason is to inject that sorely missing element from the first game: a hypersexualized bat lady to lust after.

This is a bit of a hard sell because there’s nothing about Aero the Acro-Bat 2 that is going to convert an atheist into a believer, if that makes sense. The game certainly has a lot of improvements to touch upon, including new movement mechanics, better world design, and stronger soundtrack choices. Since the biomes are different, there’s plenty more to see and attack, a lot more secrets to try and ferret out, and plenty of complexity in terms of navigation (for better and for worse). Yet this isn’t the redemptive story of something like Titanfall 2 or Grand Theft Auto 3 where the changes totally disrupt your expectations. Instead, it’s the same bat with a fresh coat of polish, and that just…I mean, it’s better, but it’s still not great.

For example, some of the worst aspects of the game have been amputated, much to my relief. There’s no more timer for the levels, making it significantly more enjoyable to experiment and also to feel forgiving about difficult spots to reach. In the same vein, there’s also no objective from level to level anymore; simply find the exit by any means necessary. There are still pickups for points and health, as well as the stars for ranged attacks, but now you can do a downward strike to hit enemies directly beneath you, which is super helpful and needed for boss fights. Lastly, you can grab the letters to spell AERO and then get a super easy cup game at the end of the stage to win an extra life. It’s really helpful and makes the idea of collecting things a bit more palatable.

Not to mention that there’s some really inspired stupidity in this game. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, it was a big news story, I remember watching some of it on the news with my parents. Don’t ask how old I am. Aero the Acro-Bat 2 came out in 1994, and everything in my soul screams that this didn’t have a five year development cycle. 

Which means someone had to seriously say “I think Aero should fight Soviet soldier animals in spite of there no longer being a Soviet Union,” and other people agreed with them. Or “I think Aero needs a new foil who’s got the name “kamikaze” in their title but has NOTHING to do with the concept at all” and it was greenlit. I get it, you need some reason for all this to come together, but why the hell did it have to be at the expense of my brain cells trying to piece this together?

Weirdly, despite being a newer title, Aero the Acro-Bat 2 looks worse than the first one, and I think that’s because of the art styling that changed over those years. The initial Aero was more targeted for the SNES, but the success of the Genesis sales meant pivoting to prioritize Sega for the sequel. I know people have a fondness for the rougher cut of the Genesis visuals, but I don’t think they work for Aero. It’s a step backward that makes avatars not pop as much and generally don’t have the same level of charm. I suppose players who want a darker, grittier look to match the story have a better vibe, but it’s the inverse of my issue with the games of Rocket Knight.

Also, before anyone gets too confused by the direction of this review, I still don’t think that Aero the Acro-Bat 2 is necessarily a great game. The controls are pretty rough, with a lot of float to both the jumps and Aero walking. You take a moment to start and a moment to stop, and your momentum can fling you wildly if you’re trying to do anything aerial-based. There are plenty of hazards that are instakills that you may not be ready for and there’s no wiggle room when it comes to your punishment. Moreover, a lot of the game seems to demand that you get overwhelmed by enemies at any given moment so you end up dying and respawning, and I hope you copied down that bizarre password between stages because death comes on clown-sized shoes.

I think Ratalaika knew this game was going to be exceedingly tough without the fond memories to help people forgive it, so I really appreciate the extra touch they lent to the overall experience. Beyond a copy of the manual and some achievements that seemingly come out of nowhere (and I bet are a hoot for anyone not playing on the Switch), the cheat codes are ready to be activated at any point, and you should if you want to save your sanity. Just turn on God Bat Mode and go to town, stomp some heads, and enjoy a pretty ridiculous story. Once you remove the pressure, you can have a surprisingly fun time with the action.

Once again, I’m in awe that Aero the Acro-Bat 2 was crafted, and I think I’m grateful for the ideology. Clearly, the devs saw something in the game that players did not, and they were able to craft a second one. Sure, Aero may have been “best new character” of 1993, but they were also giving away the game to anyone who sent them a postcard, so it’s a tossup as to what the success level truly was. But this sequel is better in all directions, so my hat is off to them. When my brother went from making a dinner that caused me to vomit to crafting a meal that just tasted bad, I acknowledged he had improved substantially. That doesn’t mean I wanted to eat at his house anymore, it just means things got better. 

 

Graphics: 5.0 The roughly hewn design doesn’t make Aero look cooler or stronger, it just creates an unpolished look that stands out as something unfinished. Biomes are interesting but levels get repetitive in look which leads to confusion and getting lost.	Gameplay: 6.0 Better decisions for attack and also for stage approach. Removal of the timer makes for infinitely more enjoyable play from game to game. Don’t love the controls for the most part, but the downward attack improves confrontation with several enemies. Making collections optional is far more relaxing.
Sound: 5.0 Music is all over the place, with jazzy tracks and poppy synth that feel wildly out of place at times. Nothing is offensive or terrible, but the soundtrack feels more like a bunch of stuff that was lying around instead of crafted specifically for Aero.	Fun Factor: 5.5 As just a standalone game, it’s rough and challenging without feeling rewarding. But the story is strangely interesting and the variety makes for a spicy viewing. Ratalaika’s cheat codes save the day and turn this from a chore into an actual game, albeit a strange one.
Final Verdict: 5.5

Aero the Acro-Bat 2 is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Aero the Acro-Bat 2 was provided by the publisher.