Aero the Acro-Bat 2

The Game

Aero the Acro-Bat 2 was developed and published by the same team that made Aero the Acro-Bat, so there isn't much more to say about them here, and I think we'll have the same situation when it comes to the people that worked on the game. Iguana seemed to be loyal to their staff and keep them working on their games.

Gameplay

The core gameplay remains the same, but I'm very happy to say the issues I had with the first game have mostly been tightened up and fixed with this game, there's a fairly coherent story told by cut scenes between levels, and while it does get a bit strange, it's nice to have a reason for what you're doing. It takes place straight after the first game and has Aero rescuing a female bat that is very heavily implied to have been held as a sex slave, who turns out to be a double agent, finding his band (apparently he's in a band as well as an acrobatic circus troupe), rescuing his circus friends, and fighting the game's main antagonist at the end to round things off.

The weird slippery feeling has been fixed, and while the game does still feel a touch too fast at times, especially later on when enemies can literally just pop up out of the ground, it definitely feels a lot better. The attack is the same angled corkscrew attack, but it feels more responsive this time thankfully, and the worlds aren't anywhere near as long winded as the first game.

That said I do feel like the game outstayed its welcome slightly, the final world felt like one world too many, but this is someone from 2026 talking about a game released over 30 years ago, maybe if this was the only game I was going to get for 6 months I'd want it to be as long as possible, but the last worlds had a fairly big difficulty spike, and one that felt almost unfair, multiple enemies appearing out of the ground on the same screen, enemies that spew fire at you that you can barely jump high enough to get over, platforms that spew fire, one hit kill swinging spiky rocks, it just all got really hard very suddenly, when everything before it was a nice challenge, but an enjoyable one.

Gone are the Battletoads like auto scrollers, spikes aren't an instant kill anymore, pretty much everything I didn't like about the first game was fixed in this game so the game deserves a higher score, it's just a shame that there's still something about it that doesn't quite gel with me. When I play a Mario game, every time I finish a level I'm excited to see what the next level brings, I want to move on to the next world and see what the theme is, I'll replay levels for collectibles, I had none of that feel with this game, I can't even put my finger exactly on why, that desire just isn't there for it.

Graphics

Once again however, the game is absolutely fantastic to look at, even more so than the first game. Really nice parallax scrolling effects, the characters, the enemies, the levels, they all look fantastic. The art used for the "cut scenes" is really nice too, although I do think Aero in "cut scene" form does look really bizarre, but I think that's maybe just a personal preference.

Varied enemy sprites throughout the whole game this time, levels vibrant and colourful with music themes, caves, a moving train, they all look fantastic. My favourite world was the music themed world, it reminded me of the music themed world in Rayman, running along sheet music, jumping on CD platforms, it's one of the best looking platformers on the system for sure.

Sound & Music

Once again when it comes to the sound there isn't too much to say, typical platformer noises, pretty fun but standard stuff. Thankfully they changed the noise made when you collect an extra life for it, and it now sounds like a good thing when you get one.

The soundtrack is miles better for this game, over an hour long with 18 tracks definitely gives you a much better average length of the tracks, and while some do have a loop, you don't really notice while you're playing because the tune is put together so well. I'm not sure, but I felt like some of the songs were based on real life songs, but I could never quite put my finger on which ones. Head and shoulders above the "I hope you like circus music" theme of the first game, and a soundtrack I could happily have on in the background when not playing the game, which is the scale I use on whether I think the soundtrack is good or not. So a strong win here.

The People

As I thought, there isn't really much more to say here, if you want to know who was behind this game check out the review I did for Aero the Acro-Bat if you haven't already because it's pretty much all the same people, including Fox Productions on the music, and all I can think is he had a lot more time to create the soundtrack to this game than he did for the first game.

Box art

Strong start with the front of the box, cool mascot character front and centre, cool looking enemy just behind, throw in some gears and some musical instruments for some reason and you're good to go! Okay so it's maybe not as good the longer you look, but it's definitely eye catching, and would've been something I went to look at in the video store, just the surrounding details that are a bit odd. The art is nice and Aero looks so much better there than he does in the "cut scenes".

The back brings back my favourite feature, bullet points! You've also got your standard 4 screenshots, with a good selection of shots, and I like how they're laid out, much more spread out than usual surrounding the main villain of the game who I think has a pretty decent design. Let's look at the bullet points and see what the game claims to offer.

• 45 levels of wild acrobatic fun including: Bonus rounds, chance stages, and hidden chambers. - I didn't count I'll be honest, but it sounds about right. There are bonus rounds, follow the cup chance stages, and hidden bonus levels too, so that's all very accurate.

• New villains and original digitised character voices. - Now this is odd, because I can't actually remember digitised voices, and it makes me think I either missed it with the volume down, or it happens at the very start and I forgot, so I feel like this one might be on me and so I won't hold it against the box, unless I find out at a later date that it's BS, then I'll be back!

• Password feature allows you to return to any level! - That is certainly a feature, although at this point it should hardly be an advertised on the back of the box feature, if your game doesn't have saves then a password should be a given.

• Chillin' snowboarding stage adds a new twist to Aero's style. - The closest thing to an auto scroller level this game had but it was so much more enjoyable and less stressful.

• New moves and fighting techniques for Aero's attacks. - I think you could screw attack straight down in this rather than always at an angle, but I never managed it, could be on me again, but as far as I know that was the only new attack move, so advertising "moves" and "techniques" might be a bit of a stretch.

So because of that last one I'll drop it from Accurate to Mostly Accurate, can't pull the wool over my eyes at the last minute Iguana!

The Press

GameFan Magazine:

Everything I said about the Sega version applies here. Except...this version has great music! Same Company...not the same music. The SNES also provides a lot more color. Finally, a SNES platformer that out-does the Sega one.

95/100

GamePro (Genesis Review):

The original Aero was a blast to play. With the new visual look, new moves and an overall new feel, Aero 2 makes you feel like you're playing a completely different character altogether. If you were a fan of the first Aero, you're sure to enjoy this nicely improved sequel. Batter up!

4/5

Electronic Gaming Monthly (Genesis Review):

Aero 2 is a good action game for the Genesis. It looks good and plays well. It may lack the variety that Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel has, but this one is still very decent. The control has been tweaked somewhat from the original game. The audio is easy to listen to and above average. If you've been looking for an action title on the Genesis, you might want to try checking out Aero 2. I enjoyed this one.

31/40

Game Players (Genesis Review):

All in all, Aero II isn't that bad. To be totally honest, I don't think I would shell out 50 bucks for this one if I was on a budget, but it is worth a rental on a rainy day.

70/100

Had to go with a couple of Genesis/Mega Drive reviews for this one, there wasn't too much available for the SNES version.