Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe's guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo's download service. Written by Sam C Gittins.

More off-beat platforming in this installment, if you got any enjoyment out of the last VC release then this update will surely please you. Anyway enough from me and on with the game!

Available for download this week we have...

• Aero the Acro-bat 2

Points: 800
Publisher: Sunsoft
Developer: Iguana
Released: 1994
System: SNES

After finding moderate success with their original platform title featuring an acrobatic... bat... the developer went about making a sequel by tweaking all that was wrong with the first game in the hope that it would make for a much more clear and concise playing experience. It's both a joy and relief that they did because this reworking of the formula reaped rewards for the company as the game ended up doing a lot better than its predecessor could have ever hoped for.

Essentially the game retains the playability from the first as you have the same moves plus a few new ones to boot so you'll still be jumping and spinning like before but instead of swinging from a trapeze you'll now get to swing on bells not to mention bouncing off beds in addition to trampolines. It all helps to diversify the gameplay and manages to nicely break away from the circus theme of the first title to an extent as it shifts slightly onto bigger, better, brighter and bolder locations.

From disco-dancing to snowboarding and even train-driving... Aero gets to try his hand - or should that be wing? - at a much wider variety of activities that lend themselves well to this type of game making for a more random but enjoyable experience. Couple this with the abolishment of the annoying limitations of the first title and you have a sequel that far surpasses the original in many ways.

Graphically the game is even that much more stunning and shows off the unique visual style very nicely indeed not to mention the slick accompanying animation which in conjunction with the catchy and more varied musical score really helps to breathe new life into a game series that before wasn't destined to go very far beyond being a decidedly average affair at best.

Variety is indeed the spice of even virtual life it would seem as this superior sequel proves by breaking away from its simple circus routes to become so much more than fans could ever have hoped for going by the average first game. Everything has been improved though and makes this platform title very much worth owning indeed, even if you haven't played the first title you'd be better off forgetting it and purchasing this instead as it's much more worthy of your points and is a very enjoyable experience from start to finish.

Verdict : Aero ascends to new awe-inspiring heights in this spectacular sequel.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!

Sam Gittins
[email protected]

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