Aro

Aro is a 2D platforming game released in 1996 by D'India Software, who published it themselves. The game is a sequel to ZipMan III, which is the 3rd entry in the ZipMan series created by Zipteam & the first in the Aro trilogy. It is a homage to early 1980s platformers before the likes of Super Mario Bros.

Gameplay
You play as the titular bird, traversing through multiple levels by running and jumping as well as collecting little tan orbs. Similar to that of old-school early 1980s platform games, you must avoid the enemies at all cost. Aro has no actual means of defending himself, but several potions can be found throughout the game, which can make his task of getting through easier.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Like its peers of the later years, it showcases new capabilities of the newest game technology at the time while keeping the spirit of old school platformers of the early 1980s in a respectful & incredible manner.
 * 2) The gameplay is very solid & unique while still maintaining that feel of those early 80s platformers:
 * 3) * Avoiding the enemies is a welcome mechanic of challenge as well for people who are used to just attacking the enemies with relative ease, especially since the enemies act differently from each other quite a bit.
 * 4) ** Slimes & fire are easy to avoid most of the time as the slime moves rather slow while the fire is stationary despite having fluid animation.
 * 5) ** The gray bird is seen at the far right, ready to swoop in & stab you with its needle-like beak. A jump is all what's needed to avoid it, but you can also find a good spot to hide for the bird to not attack you if you have the skills.
 * 6) ** The floating spikes go around in circles, so be careful when you encounter these ones when going across moving platforms! It's best to jump around while maintaining a good balance between you & the platforms.
 * 7) ** The jumper is rather hard to dodge as no one has identified a set pattern for the time it'll jump & the time it'll just stand there. Watch its movements so that you'll be able to figure out what to do around it.
 * 8) * The potions are a neat extra gameplay mechanic to still keep things fresh. The red potion can make you jump a lot higher than before; the green potion gives you anti-gravity physics to reach other places that it'll be needed; the blue potion allows you to fly across the area.
 * 9) * Sometimes, you would need a key to get to the portal to be able to go into the portal, or push some blocks on some lava in order to traverse safely into the next part of a level. Another great addition that helps shake up things later on.
 * 10) Creative & interesting level design throughout the game:
 * 11) * The first level is a simple, but effective introduction to how the game works without having to tell you anything.
 * 12) * The next few levels can be seen as training courses for how you would normally go through the levels as well as moving platforms, & even introducing secret areas.
 * 13) * The way the levels that introduce the red, green, & blue potions do it are very creative & well thought out. Instead of giving the potions symbols indicating what they do, the potions are instead placed right next to an obstacle to get across that seems impossible. You're wondering what to do in this situation, having no idea on anything. So you try the potion, use it for a bit, & then it clicks you. You realize that the potion gives you a powerup that lets you be able to surpass the very obstacle right next to it! Now THAT is genius game design!
 * 14) To further showcase new technology blending well with old school game design, the graphics are given a wild improvement over its predecessor:
 * 15) * For example, the animation is a lot smoother than before, with more frames of animation being added in to simulate subtle cartoony like physics.
 * 16) * The colors are varied exceedingly! Instead of the usual blues, greens, oranges, yellows, & whatever other colors, you get trailblazing colors all around with different variations of colors throughout, all drawn together to make out an incredible looking game with what they had to work with.
 * 17) * The backgrounds are very stunning as well, giving off a unique mood for each background you see.
 * 18) * The sprites are given better character designs, except for Aro, who stays the same as he already looks pretty good. The addition of extra animations especially help out making them look unique to each other. The fire is also improved a lot, with it going for what looks like 60 FPS for such a small little hazard you see throughout the game.
 * 19) * A subtle thing to note is the 2 different animations. For most of the enemies, you just get turned into a slime when you die, but when you touch fire, you get burnt instead.
 * 20) The music done by Sach Jobb & David Schupner is absolutely, & vividly amazing. Each background has its very own track that further sets the mood for them:
 * 21) * The music for the morning background, "P A T I E N C E", is a crazy awesome pop dance track that uses a "LET'S GO!" sample as well as a fast beat to indicate that it's the time in which people truly begin to wake up & do some cool activities while partying like wild!
 * 22) * For the afternoon background, "The Abyss" plays. This one has a slower beat compared to the previous one & is a bit more relaxed sounding, meaning that everyone else is finishing up what they're doing for the day & getting home while Aro is still running around, going from obstacle to obstacle & getting to his destination.
 * 23) * When the nighttime background is seen, "Shards of My Dream of Her" can be heard, which lets us know that everyone around is sleeping, except for Aro, who still creeps around in the night, taking every chance he can get so he can go towards where he wants to go.
 * 24) * The castle background levels include "A Full Circle", which exemplifies the fact that it's some kind of haunting fortress while sort of being a remix of the nighttime background music. The result is a pleasing tune to listen to while Aro must escape the castle grounds.
 * 25) * For the trippy background, "Flying" plays. It uses the same amount of force as "P A T I E N C E", but is much more trance sounding in comparison, as well as more acid trip like, showcasing that it's a trippy world turned upside down!
 * 26) It is an especially great game for speedrunning where skills can be taken to a whole new level, & new strategies are to be made.
 * 27) Nice presentation to go alongside it. You can load & save games, see credits, read about registering, go to the settings, or exit the game. Plus, the credits actually scroll!
 * 28) When you game over, you can just press enter to retry the level you were on, which is a great way to encourage players to keep going.
 * 29) There are no "lives" or time limits in the game, which can be quite a breath of fresh air compared to other games of the time. This means that you can take your time on a level when you're stuck, so that you can figure out what you need to do, especially if it's your first time playing the game.
 * 30) In the registered version, there is a level editor, which is always a welcome feature in any game!

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The registered version is seemingly lost to time as no copies are known to have surfaced as of 2022.
 * 2) Aro's voice is really dang annoying. It's best that the voice is turned off (which you can do in the settings).
 * 3) The game can sometimes slowdown, which is quite an annoying feature.

Trivia

 * While the previous game was developed & published by Zipteam, this entry was developed & published by D'India Software instead, likely indicating some sort of shift in design, including changing from Zipman to Aro. This might also indicate that the game would've been originally called Zipman IV as it revolves around the same character as the previous installment.
 * Before ZipMan III, there were 2 previous entries. Whether or not they fit with the Aro trilogy is unknown.
 * If you start a new game while the red, or blue potion is still in effect, a glitch happens in which the effect works permanently. Green doesn't work properly & is thus not recommended for that one.
 * Aro II was in development sometime in 1997 to 1998. While a demo is available, the game doesn't look to have been completed at all.

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