Back when the Super Nintendo and Genesis were dueling it out for the top spot, there was another war going on. This war was not about who has the best console, but who can create the best mascot. There were numerous platform games that came out in the early-to-mid nineties such as, Earthworm Jim, Aero the Acrobat, and myriads of others. Since that day has long past, gamers have been receiving ports of these excellent games on the Game Boy Advance. Unlike some of the other ports Aero The Acrobat proves to be just as good as its console processor!

The story begins with a young spoiled kid named, Edgar Ektor, who loved to play practical jokes and attend the circus. One day he decided to pull a prank on one of the performers, the joke got out of hand and nearly cost that person his life, so the enraged manager threw him out and banned young Edgar from the circus forever. From that point on he plotted revenge against the circus, which he loved so much. As the years pass he becomes a rich and powerful Industrial CEO, who never forgot what happened to him. The day has finally come for Edgar to carry out his plan for revenge against the circus.

Aero The Acrobat is the star performer in the cirrus, as he does many feats of bravery. There are many clowns jealous of all the attention that Aero receives and they agree to join Edgar to help take over the circus. Aero will have to use his wits to help him get to the bottom of who is behind this nightmarish scheme. He will have to fend off other circus freaks such as the fire-breathers, knife throwers, and other crazy people. This is one adventure that Aero will never forget, and it will be the greatest performance of his life!

Atomic Planet did a great job with the controls of the game, the animation is tight and fluid, and it makes controlling Aero easy. The control pad makes Aero move right or left, and pressing down makes him duck. Pressing A will make him jump, gamers will be able to jump in three directions, left, right, and up. To do a drill attack, Aero must be in the air, then press A button and the direction players wish to do this attack to. Another means of attacking enemies is by throwing Stars at them, but these must be collected. To cling on an object press the R button and than he will go below the wire and cling to it, pressing R will make him go above it once more. In the air, press the R button and Aero will use his wings to hover.

Aero will face many challenges while going through each level. To help him, he will have access to all of the circus props. Balloons will take Aero to hidden places or the dreaded spikes. The moveable bubble machine will spurt out bubbles, which will help him get to hard to reach places. Players cannot stay on the bubbles long or they will pop. While on the high wire, sometimes there will be the unicycle, while on it Aero will be invincible. Trampolines will help players soar though the air to collect various objects. Trapeze is always in motion and Aero will have to swing from one to the other to avoid the deadly traps below. Cannons will help players reach hard to get places, to shoot there is a bar on the side to show how powerful the blast will be, the higher the bar the farther in the air you will go. The last item he will use is the seesaws that will propel him in the air; the trick is to learn how to use them since there is only one person.

Besides the use of all the props, there are many items to aid him on his quest. People that fled the circus have left food laying around, collect these to raise your final score. There is a parachute icon that will float Aero down. Wings will allow you to fly around for a short distance. Clock icons will add an extra minute to your time. A lighting icon allows Aero to do a double drill. Also there are health icons, extra lives, and invincibility stars. Players will need to use all of these items wisely if they wish to defeat the malicious Edgar Ektor.

Aero the Acrobat is rated E for everyone for mild violence. The game also has a battery save for three slots.

Gameplay: 8.3
Aero the Acrobat controls are really great. Aero has fluid animation, which makes controlling him, and the execution of his moves perfect. The level designs are unique because they offer an assortment of challenges that are not found in other platform games.

The only bad thing is that certain places are extremely cheap, such as the placement of spikes and enemies. An example of this is sometimes you might die and an enemy will always want to fly by the resurrection point, and you will always take damage, this can get irritating, but nothing that seriously hampers the rest of the gameplay.

Graphics: 7.9 
The graphics are a little updated from the SNES and Genesis counterparts. The backgrounds have more animation going on and the animation is slightly smoother. The added cut scenes are a nice touch to the game. Atomic Planet did a nice job when making the transition to the GBA screen.

Sound: 7.3
The sound used in the game is faithful to its console brethren, but it doesn't make full use of the GBA sound capabilities, the music feels blurred at times.

Difficulty: Easy
The game is easy, before each level they will show you exactly what you need to do in order to pass it. There are enough power-ups scattered throughout each level, anyone will be able to press on with out the aid of using a continue.

Concept: 8.0
Aero the Acrobat has a unique concept: save the circus from a tyrannical multimillionaire. The central idea of Aero is interesting as he can glide and use his acrobatics to help save the day, which is shown through each interesting level he will go through.

Overall: 8.0
Aero the Acrobat proves to be one of the better platformers released for the Game Boy Advanced. It has solid controls, good graphics, and most importantly it is a blast to play. Even though the game is on the easy side, it still has enough challenge to keep the players coming back for more. This is a great game that any person would be proud to own in there expanding collection!