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If you’ve been playing video games for a while, surely you’ve come across that one game that throws you over the edge, administering a serum into your veins that cause you to turn into Bane and smash every controller in sight. No? Well, then that’s just me. I will admit, I can’t handle frustrating games. Hell, Stuntman made me break more controllers than from playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s matchmaking did. Where am I going with this? Aero’s Quest uses very similar gameplay mechanics, in that they may very well get you to punch a hole through your monitor while yelling: “HULK SMASH!â€
Aero’s Quest is a game not meant for the short-tempered or ill-fated souls in the gaming world. The game uses a timer of a maximum of 50 seconds to traverse across each level while dodging robots and molten volcanic geysers. This type of gameplay may cause nostalgia for the childhood years of some gamers who sat around their T.V. playing Lion King on the Super Nintendo (SNES) or Aladdin for the Sega – Disney games were tough back then. Is this a bad thing? No, quite the opposite because even though I lose my temper loads more and want to crush my keyboard to a pulp, the game is meant to be challenging and does a damn good job at it. Aero’s Quest uses fairly simplistic mechanics with one simple objective – save the girl from the evil android. The only way to save her is to activate all the pressure plated switches on the floor and unlock the gate; only to find she has been teleported to another level – damn you toad! The levels gain more momentum, difficulty-wise, in proceeding through the stages, but the most frustrating part about this is that the timer never changes. 50 seconds is the maximum amount of time you get in every bloody level. Luckily, Aero’s Quest grants the main character, Aero, the ability to use power-ups – medium sized colorful balls. Each power-up makes Aero run super fast or jump incredibly high. Alas, these abilities only last 10 seconds, so timing is the key to winning.
The only problem I ran into the game – which didn’t help my raging – was that some glitches were present. I found myself grabbing a stealth power up and jumping into a ceiling only to see my body becoming trapped when the stealth wore off. There were some other very small glitches but nothing quite as bad. With a total of 100 levels to progress through and each one getting tougher than the last, the game will have you at it until you beat it. Even if you do conquer the game, a speed run mode can be found in the main menu – for those of who are completionists.
Now with the nostalgic gameplay aside – rage also – there is a story to Aero’s Quest, and it’s not immaculate to the eyes of some major titles but still manages to get the point across. Aero is a boy who falls in love with a girl, Ariella. Andraus is an evil android who also loves Ariella but realizes he can’t have her because of Aero. Instead of Andraus acting normally, he decides to be an asshole, steal her for himself and shackle Aero. Realizing he can’t have Aero be human anymore he also chooses to rip Aero’s limbs off and replaces them with mechanical ones making him a cyborg. Now Aero must travel through unknown lands to rescue his true love from the clutches of evil Andraus. The tale is classic Donkey Kong (original) in that a grotesque monster falls for a beautiful young girl where angry plumber tries to save her – oh wrong game, sorry. Or is it?
Here is where things get particularly gritty: the graphics. Visually, this game is not terrible but I did have problems immersing myself into this world. The graphics made me feel as though I was playing a web-based browser game and completely threw me out of the experience. I understand that this is supposed to resemble an old-school video game, but there can be at least some polishing to it – like Super Meat Boy or VVVVV. The audio kept Aero’s Quest feeling of classic games by finding memorable, catchy songs that enhance the sounds of you yelling profanities over them. Sometimes it did help to mute the songs because they might get on your nerves after listening to the same happy beat over and over again – like a merry go round from hell.
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One final thing to talk about is the price. I feel this game should cost a little less then it’s currently priced at. $8.00 seems a bit much for a game with 100 levels, a speed run, and subpar graphics. Low budget games are nice but only if it’s low enough for the consumer too. Albeit if you do love troublesome games and are a completionist then the price should be well worth it more than the casual gamers.
Aero’s Quest is a well-executed puzzle platformer featuring death-defying traps and mechanical enemies that attempt to stop you from reaching the girl of your dreams. Through sweat and screams, this game may cause you to curse under your breath, but it’s all for a good cause. Apart from the gameplay the story adds a sense of classic gaming nostalgia. Alas, the only thing keeping this title from being any better than what it already is the graphics may throw you out of the gaming experience. Also with minor glitches and a bit of a high cost it might put some gamers off, but if the frustrating gameplay is what you want then this is the game for you. I don’t have anger issues; I just can’t handle frustrating games.
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