Aero the Acro-bat is a three ring circus of bullshit with all the show-stopping trademarks of a failed mascot platformer: slippery momentum, uneven enemy hitboxes, a character that outruns the camera at full speed and runs into enemies you never saw coming, and an endless supply of one-hit-kill traps hidden off-screen. You will launch yourself out of a cannon and into a spike trap you had no way of knowing about dozens of times. You will have no idea how many hits some enemies take, or if they're even taking damage at all. And you will restart the multiple autoscroller sections again and again and again.

There are a few high points in the game, though. For one, the music is fantastic throughout. Nearly every level has a completely unique track, and they all have great energy and arrangement. Secondly, the game puts extra lives absolutely everywhere, almost as if they knew the general gameplay was unfair. Lastly, the final boss fight is genuinely exciting, with timed platforming and multiple phases that are checkpointed fairly. It does last a bit too long, but it's a high point to end an otherwise extremely middling experience.

Aero wants to be the next big mascot, but he's just another victim of the 90s "rad" era, with his sunglasses and moonwalking not being nearly enough to distract from a game that's just not all that fun to play. When it's not being outright unfair, it's just downright "okay." This star of the big top is a big flop.