Like its predecessor, Astro Bot is a love rr9988 letter to PlayStation–not just its current make-up, either, but its illustrious history. From first-party icons like Kratos and Ellie to third-party heroes tied to the hip with Sony’s gaming past, such as Lara Croft and Leon S. Kennedy. There are 195 hidden cameo characters in Astro Bot’s dozens of levels, and part of the fun is tracking them all down. Astro Bot is quite literally this year’s best game yet, and it being a single-player platformer makes it all the more special. It checks all the boxes of being a complete package with its visuals, story, value, audio design, and most importantly, gameplay.
Setting off on his biggest mission yet, he needs your help to rescue the stranded crew and rebuild the mothership. It’s like It Takes Two in how frequently it throws out a new idea, lets you enjoy it, then takes it away before it gets boring. But, unlike It Takes Two (a great game in its own right), Astro Bot doesn’t feature a single dud.
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Astro Bot takes every lesson these previous works taught, and precisely refines them with both overwhelming charm and genre re-defining innovation. The DualSense controller becomes an extension of the game as its haptic feedback technology allows the player to feel every step and jump Astro takes, with the sensation changing on every surface. The controller’s built-in speaker acts as surround sound to the world. Upbeat audio tracks, audible footsteps, interactive and combative noises all blend into a symphonic atmosphere that pulls you through each level. Pay the 200-coin fee, then pull on the wires to reveal a robot bird.
I mean, when there are so many collectibles and elements going on, it may seem like a lot. As I had a head start on playing the title (and absolutely loved it), I’m here to relay eight tips and tricks that’ll make your playthrough that much more fun. Astro Bot might be the best game out right now to make use of the DualSense special features. The use of haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and gyro controls makes the game’s simple mechanics shine even more as it adds so much to the gameplay.
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Sure, some are coated in different colours of paint or dressed to fit in with their surroundings, but they are all vanquished via the same few fundamental jump and hit combos. Later on, though, the design book opens up and introduces some of my favourite foes. These include an anthropomorphic playing card that flings a hand of clubs and spades your way, which you can then jump on to make your way towards the enemy to deal a killing blow of your own. That soundtrack scores levels that seem simple at first, but soon unfurl themselves to reveal tantalising depths and secrets. Most are fairly linear, but some go the extra mile and are enjoyably knotty, providing sandbox-like areas to hunt for collectibles in. There’s never the openness found in the large-by-comparison Mario Odyssey levels, but enough nooks and crannies to get stuck into nonetheless.
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Now, I’m sure the gamers who haven’t tasted the sweet joys of Astro Bot yet will agree with me once they get their hands on this PlayStation title. So, congratulations on your well-deserved award and success, Team ASOBI. I’m indebted to you for pulling me back into the world of platformers. Instead of leaping to the boss fight, approach the large snowball that’s being nurtured by two penguins — after you defeat all the enemies.
It’s clear from the very first frame of Astro Bot just how much love and reverence Team Asobi has for the history of Sony’s consoles and their library of games. You choose a new save file by selecting one of three original PlayStation memory cards and are then thrust into a scene taking place on your PS5-shaped mothership. That mothership crash lands on a desert planet after an evil alien attack, and Astro must now travel the galaxy searching for its missing parts and crewmates. Some of those biggest unexpected treats are the new powers that Astro gets along his journey. The basic movement of our little robot pal is great, with his jump, double jump, and hover hitting that sweet spot between floaty and finely tuned.
And when it all collides, you are presented with some of the best moments the game has to offer. Players venture across six galaxies and over 80 levels, from lush forests, sandy beaches, hot volcanoes to more surprising locations such as a gigantic hourglass or the canopy of a singing tree. During this epic adventure Astro will reunite with over 150 iconic heroes from PlayStation history, helping to kick off celebrations for the 30th anniversary of PlayStation.
Platformers like Kirby and the Forgotten Land are at their best when they’re introducing new ideas that consistently surprise players. They tend to lag in their back halves when they’ve played all their cards, but have more levels to go. Even Astro Bot dips into that in its final world as it begins repeating power-ups and enemy types. It doesn’t have trouble keeping its double dips to a minimum, though. Whether I’m platforming up a singing tree’s branches, freeing a giant robot from its restraints, or busting through glass walls with my bulldog jetpack, I feel like I’m always discovering something new in almost every level.
Knocking a Rescued Bot out of a Bot Wall will unlock the Wall Buster trophy in Astro Bot. At the Crash Site, you can call on your Rescued Bots to help unlock new areas or find new Bots and Puzzle Pieces. Sometimes the Rescued Bots will stack on top of each other to transform into a Bot Wall that you can walk up. Press down on the D-Pad to emote while standing in front of Crash Bandicoot. Give Astro Bot a chance to complete a full dance with Crash Bandicoot to collect the Let’s Twist Again trophy.
The hardware quality is also mixed, with one customer reporting no marks or scuffs on their unit. But what I really love about Astro Bot is that it’s also just filled with bits and pieces. Stuff to roll around in, stuff that forms little piles that can be kicked about.
After reaching 100% completion you will have close to 15,000 coins if you don’t spend them on satellites. If you don’t have enough coins you can always replay levels to get more. Players have long expected more DLC, however, as a number of unreleased bots appeared in the Astro Bots credits. Featured here are licensing credits for Rayman, Worms, Assassin’s Creed, Beyond Good & Evil, Croc, and Tomba, potentially revealing which five special bots will be released alongside these levels. That being said, Armored Hardcore is almost certainly a reference to Armored Core, while Cock-A-Doodle-Doom is likely Doom, so bots from these franchises are also likely.
In recent years, major video game publishers have abandoned that idea. While Nintendo still reveres that power, once great sanctuaries for kids have crumbled as publishers have set their sights on courting “mature” audiences through photorealism and weighty themes. Video games are richer for that change, but young — and young at heart — are getting left behind, stuck wandering the vast desert of Roblox games with nothing but their parent’s credit card in their pocket. There are also small regions to fix up with extra puzzles for Astro and his friends. A lot of modern entertainment, including video games, has a real problem with nostalgia bait, playing off people’s memories and trying to capitalize on that, without making anything new or original in the process.