Aero the Acro-Bat

From Sega Retro

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AtA Title.png

Aero the Acro-Bat
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sunsoft
Developer:
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US
$49.9949.99[1] T-15056
Sega Mega Drive
EU
T-15056-50

Aero the Acro-Bat is a platform game developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Sunsoft for the Sega Mega Drive and SNES in 1993, with a port for the Game Boy Advance released in 2002. In 2010, the SNES version was made available on the Wii's Virtual Console service. In the game you play as the bat Aero, who needs to stop the mad scientist Edgar Ektor who is trying to rid the world of amusement and fun.

The game was reasonably successful, and therefore saw a sequel, Aero the Acro-Bat 2.

Gameplay

The game features 4 worlds, The Circus, The Funpark, The Woods, and the Museum. All worlds except for The Woods have 5 acts and a boss act. Most acts require the player to accomplish a certain goal before finding the exit, such as falling through a number of magic hoops or rescuing a captured circus performer, although a few only require Aero to find the exit before advancing to the next act. It is another '90's platformer trying to latch on to the popularity of Sonic or Mario.

Aero's main method of attack is the drill jump. It can be aimed up by pressing Up + C to hit reach enemies and platforms above him, or aimed down with Down + C to attack enemies on the ground. Stars can also be collected and thrown at enemies with a press of the B button.

Certain levels have a pick-up that when found, will take Aero to a bonus stage once the current act is completed. In these stages, Aero attempts to dive into a tank of water while falling through as many hoops as he can as Zero, Ektor's henchman, tries to blow him off course with a giant fan.

Production credits

  • Original Design: David Siller
  • Design And Layout: Nigel Cook
  • Additional Design: Team Aero
  • Aero Team Leader: Carl Wade
  • Aero Programmers: Richard Cowie, Carl Wade, Jeff Spangenberg, Darrin Stubbington, David Brevak, Dave Crummack
  • Aero Artists: Johnathan Casco, Adrian Ludley, Matt Stubbington, Jools Watsham
  • Character Design: David Siller, Justin Siller, Nigel Cook
  • Music and SFX: Fox Productions
  • Producers: Jeff Spangenberg, J. Moon
  • Executive Producer: David Siller
  • Director: Nigel Cook
  • Art Director: Matt Stubbington
  • Chairman: Masama Meada
  • Vice Chairman: Tad Shimamoto
  • Executive Vice President Coproducer: Rita Zimmerer
  • Director Sunsoft Japan: Kiharu Yoshida
  • Coproducers: Justin Siller, Rene Boutin, Dan MacArthur
  • Technical Manager: Al Artus
  • Director of Marketing: Karen Shadley
  • Game Manual: Alison Quirion
  • Executive Assistant": Nanette Hyssong
  • Game Testers: Sam Patel, David Luszcz, Darin Horgan, Matt Ross, Jake Harman, Geoff Gillis, Steve Gerkhe, Laura Luszcz, Ryan Siller, Team Iguna
  • Thanks To: Kazuaki Goto, Masato Kawai, Akito Takeuchi
  • Customer Service: Errin Berry, June Ekert, Kaz Harman, Jamie Jorgensen, Julie Williams
  • Special Thanks: Kenji Toshioka, Bruce Reilly, Cathy Juby, Martha Hart, Karen Lillie, Mark Luszcz, Toko Okano, Connie Perez, Sherry Ross, Wunderman, Cato Johnson, Torme Co
  • Very Special Thanks: Debra Siller, Beth Spangenberg, Bo
Source:
In-game credits

Promotional material

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Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #49: "August 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
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Print advert in VideoGames (US) #58: "November 1993" (1993-1x-xx)
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Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #58: "May 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
90 №35, p111
76
76
85 №51, p64/65[1]
68 №10, p12
81 №34, p113
59
70 №16, p54
84 №9, p14/15
79 №2, p74/75/76
80 №15, p112-114[2]
95 №45, p80/81
65 №7, p86
80 №50, p94/95
84 №27, p38/39
72 №15, p66/67
Sega Mega Drive
78
Based on
16 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
80
[3]
Alaab Alcomputtar (SA)
80
[4]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
83
[5]
Consoles + (FR)
90
[6]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
76
[7]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
70
[8]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 5 (RU)
70
[9]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
85
[10]
Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL
68
[11]
Joypad (FR)
81
[12]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
59
[13]
Mega (UK) NTSC-U
70
[14]
Mega Action (UK) PAL
84
[15]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
92
[16]
Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U
78
[17]
Mega Machines (UK) PAL
79
[18]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U
70
[19]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U
80
[2]
Player One (FR)
95
[20]
Power Unlimited (NL)
92
[21]
Score (CZ)
65
[22]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
65
[23]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U
82
[24]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U
84
[25]
Sega Zone (UK) NTSC-U
72
[26]
Sega Force (SE)
72
[27]
Todo Sega (ES)
76
[28]
Tricks (RU)
78
[29]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
77
[30]
Video Games (DE) PAL
73
[31]
Sega Mega Drive
78
Based on
30 reviews

Aero the Acro-Bat

Mega Drive, US
AtA MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Aero The Acrobat md us Cart.jpg
Cart
Aero The Acrobat MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
AtA MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
AtA MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
CRC32 a3a7a8b5
MD5 50f04f5c4c10158b757856f3d6845858
SHA-1 438fec09e05337a063f986632b52c9d60dd03ba1
1MB 1993-06 Cartridge (US)
Sega Mega Drive
 ?
CRC32 1a3eaf57
MD5 dcab366c82c65fe8c463aac9f5c7a469
SHA-1 0a4c99a31e507bcee5b955e4bf3773f4ded827b6
1MB 1993-06 Cartridge (EU)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 File:GamePro US 051.pdf, page 68
  2. 2.0 2.1 File:MeanMachinesSega15UK.pdf, page 112 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega15UK.pdf_p112" defined multiple times with different content
  3. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 12
  4. Alaab Alcomputtar, "" (SA; 1995-06-xx), page 80
  5. Aktueller Software Markt, "September 1994" (DE; 1994-08-08), page 125
  6. Consoles +, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 111
  7. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "January 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 46
  8. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 286
  9. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 5, "" (RU; 200x-xx-xx), page 10
  10. GamePro, "October 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 66
  11. Games World: The Magazine, "April 1995" (UK; 1995-0x-xx), page 12
  12. Joypad, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 113
  13. MAN!AC, "04/94" (DE; 1994-03-09), page 45
  14. Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 54
  15. Mega Action, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-30), page 14
  16. Mega Force, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 98
  17. Mega Fun, "01/94" (DE; 1993-12-22), page 72
  18. Mega Machines, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-09), page 74
  19. MegaTech, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-21), page 52
  20. Player One, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 80
  21. Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 2, Nummer 1, Januari 1994" (NL; 1993-12-29), page 32
  22. Score, "Říjen 1994" (CZ; 1994-10-01), page 55
  23. Sega Magazine, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-06-16), page 86
  24. Sega Power, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-02), page 94
  25. Sega Pro, "Xmas Special 1993" (UK; 1993-12-02), page 38
  26. Sega Zone, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-23), page 66
  27. Sega Force, "4/94" (SE; 1994-06-01), page 12
  28. Todo Sega, "Febrero 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 42
  29. Tricks, "Vypusk 7" (RU; 1996-xx-xx), page 22
  30. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 6
  31. Video Games, "1/94" (DE; 1993-12-19), page 92