Revisit the High Point of Mascot Platformers with the Aero the Acro-Bat Collection

Revisit the High Point of Mascot Platformers with the Aero the Acro-Bat Collection

A slice of history, without the fear of rabies.

Do you remember the great Mascot Platformer Wars of the 1990s? Wave after wave of cute l’il guys duking it out in living rooms across the world, vying for video game supremacy. No quarter was spared. And only a handful survived.

Sunsoft’s Aero the Acro-Bat Collection documents the determination and fury of not one but two mascots: the eponymous Aero, a bat, and his rival Zero, a squirrel. In addition to containing three of best-looking mascot games of the 16-bit era (as well as Aero’s handheld remake from 2002), the Aero Collection showcases video game design evolution in action.

Although all three titles included here (Aero the Acro-Bat, Aero the Acro-Bat 2, and Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel) belong to the same series, they all play pretty differently. The original Aero unfolds at a fairly leisurely pace, with massive levels that scroll in all directions and require players to go on the hunt for collectibles and other objectives in order to move along to the next stage. Aero 2 streamlines its level design, downplaying collection in favor of pure platform challenges. Finally, Zero speeds up the pace of the action while introducing more complex gameplay mechanics.

Thematically, the games demonstrate a similar shift. The first game plays up the “acrobat” pun in the title, with circus- and amusement park-themed stage designs. The sequel carries forward some of that imagery while expanding its settings into a wider variety of biomes. And Zero largely shies away from all of that, going for more of a serious adventure style. The characters reflect that in their appearances, skills, and powers: Aero is a pretty light-hearted and cheerful character who commands a sort of corkscrew diving attack with his wings and sometimes tosses magical star powers, while Zero is more aggressive, has a versatile dashing attack, and tosses bladed shuriken at foes.

You can really feel the 1990s taking form over the course of this trilogy... although, really, it’s more of a transition from “early ’90s” to “mid-90s”, since the three games originally shipped within the space of about 13 months, with Aero 2 and Zero debuting almost simultaneously a year after the first Aero. In that sense, it almost seems as if publisher Sunsoft and developer Iguana meant for the two follow-up games to present a “choose your own adventure” scenario. Do you prefer the pastel charms and upbeat music of Aero’s world, or do you want to get edgy and dark with Zero the antihero?

Of course, anyone who picks up the Aero the Acro-Bat Collection doesn’t need to worry about making such hard choices. The set puts the entire trilogy (and that handheld remake) within your grasp. No more choice paralysis for you lucky souls. Just adorable mascot characters fighting their way through dozens of surprisingly difficult stages of action.