Aero the Acrobat Review (Switch)

There are so many Super Nintendo games out there that it’s inevitable that not everything would appear on the Online service. It’s proving to be a goldmine for retro developers, and we’ve previously looked at the Top Racer Collection from QUByte and recently enjoyed working our way through the Jurassic Park compilation brought about by Limited Run Games. Fresh from an Evercade release, Sunsofts Aero the Acrobat is the next to make its way to Switch (and will soon be followed by its sequel).

Fairly well received upon original release, Aero the Acrobat fell into the second tier of Super Nintendo platformers behind the Super Marios and Donkey Kongs. It also shifted decent enough numbers for a sequel and spinoff game. We can also age ourselves quite badly by telling you there’s an original copy of the game sitting on the shelf. Honestly though, this is the first time we’ve really put a significant amount of time into it and it’s certainly good fun.

The thing that will take players the most time to adjust to is how Aero controls. We are so used to either Sonic or Mario style implementations that anything else just feels slightly off. Aero is probably closer to the more slip, slidey Sonic approach but after a few levels it all came together. The

It’s important to note that Aero can’t defeat enemies by jumping on them as well. He needs to do a jump and spin attack or use one of the many pickups such as stars which can be thrown. Even then there are a fair few enemies that are immune to your attack and simply need avoiding. There’s lots of objects around the colourful levels to interact with such as unicycles and trampolines as well which fit with the overall circus theme.

Levels themselves are loosely mission based with criteria needing to be met before you can exit. These normally require the player to search out platforms to disperse or a certain number of hoops to jump through. Most of the time this is fine but if you miss one there’s a strict time limit so it can mean a restart if you are not careful. In all honesty, the levels would be fine without these restrictions.

In terms of additions for this re-release there isn’t much in terms of the core game. You get the rewind and save state upgrades most retro revivals now seem to have and a few screen and filter options. However, you also get a host of gallery extras including the original instruction manual and a host of design and production stills. It’s a decent collection of museum items and something that could have easily been overlooked. It shows that little bit of extra effort that has been out in and it’s much appreciated.

Overall, we are glad to see one of the better and often overlooked games from the sixteen-bit era make its way to a new audience. Aero is well worth playing and is more than a simple clone of a bigger franchise. It’s not as slick as the big boys but it remains inventive and fun throughout. Now, if someone could just get hold of Skyblazer and Shadowrun that would be great.

Overall 7/10