Aero the Acro-Bat

Developer: Iguana Entertainment
Publisher: Sunsoft
Release: 1993
Platform: SNES (played), Genesis
Genre: Platformer

“Aero the Acro-Bat” doesn’t sound like a name that could sell games, let alone an entire publisher’s image; but Sunsoft (like everybody else at the time) had their pitch at sporting a cool mascot around their logo, and nothing better than a badass bat in sunglasses—right before the Iguana (also in sunglasses, you may think it was trending in 1993) developer logo—to get the job done. It’s silly today, but actually it already was a bit too goofy for its own good at the time—and the CG character portrait in the game’s cover didn’t help a bit either.

Yes, the game could be called anachronistic, but not only for being wrongly sold as state-of-the-art stuff through last-decade puns, but also for being an early collectathon specimen a good 2 or 3 years before the term was even coined.

Firstly, a good chunk of that explore/collect process is mandatory: every level demands finding/interacting with objects scattered along the huge maps in order for its exit to open. Secondly, exploration is encouraged: level design itself is inviting and bonus lives are afforded to those who perfect ‘em.

Even double-jumping—which became a staple of later 3D exploration games—is a core mechanic here both for maneuvering and combat purposes and fit the premise well.

Meanwhile art direction overall is very cohesive and smart when it comes to making the most of the game’s assets. A spring board mechanic is reused to simulate bungee jumping (another very 90s trend for sure); early tightropes become electric wires later on; repositioned trampolines lend some levels a pinball-ish feel; and so on. Sound design is remarkable too: the game’s music is effective and unique in the same measure (that alone is quite a feat given the contemporary “action soundtrack” cheesy standards) and some sfx have randomized pitch, a technique that wasn’t common back then.

The SNES version took advantage of Mode 7 to great effect.

Unfortunately it suffers from the same “curb your enthusiasm” syndrome that other fast games of the era (Sonic being the most iconic one) did: the ability to traverse the levels at lightning-fast speeds negates a player’s urge to take their time to explore—and vice-versa.

Such a game could benefit immensely of more modern tweaks like revisitable levels, comprehensive maps, some completionist’s inventory or, to say the bare minimum, save files. That said, Aero should be ahead of Bubsy anytime of the day.