This is a game that celebrates the entire history of video games and one of the few 3D platform games I’ve played that truly goes toe to toe with the best Nintendo has to offer. One of the biggest announcements during last week’s PlayStation State of Play livestream was Astro Bot, the full-fledged sequel to the excellent Astro’s Playroom that comes preinstalled on PS5. Just like Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot is a 3D puzzle-platformer that pays homage to PlayStation history and makes heavy use of the PS5 DualSense controller’s many unique features like haptic feedback and dynamic triggers.
Balan wasn’t great but each suit even for 80 to me went yeah I can sense each has a fair purpose even if not implemented well of the use cases, it still has a use. Like Rayman 3 did with it’s suits which is why I bought Balan, I still got my fun out of it besides how bad it is for sure. But I think this all the time with videos I watch/games I play/research and end up with large comments like this. I was sunder the impression that Astro’s Playroom especially blew their minds to people who never played the actual VR game. I will sound old, but kids today don’t understand how games like these would probably create much better gaming experiences and fun memories than most modern, grindy, live service trash.
What Is Astro Bot? And How Did The Internet React To It Winning Game Of The Year?
You tend to start writing lines in your head when compiling a review, and one that stuck with me early was to call Astro Bot ‘the best platformer since Super Mario Odyssey’. Then I played a little more and started to think ‘maybe it’s better’. All I know is Astro Bot is a contender for the all-time crown in a genre that has felt a little neglected (especially by Sony, who once nurtured it to greatness) in recent years. It’s so much more than a PlayStation history lesson, and in climbing above those expectations, becomes a piece of PlayStation history in its own right – with Astro Bot, the PS5 may finally have arrived. It’s not that the powers are cool, that it’s fun to blow into your controller, or that you get to meet Aloy. It’s that every inch of Astro Bot is designed to offer a fresh experience.
What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot? Mister Mosquito – Robotic Sucker
If you watch long enough, you’ll see that one of them is actually a generic bot. Eventually, you’ll find a platform that has a separate spiral platform to the right, a goop monster above, and a sand waterfall that’s covering a caged bot. To get in there and save the little guy, boost up, kill the blob monster, pull the lever it was sitting on, and jump down to rescue the bot. My only regret is that it’s a PS5 exclusive, and will probably always remain so. Astro Bot deserves a wider audience, but I’m not sure if that’s in the cards. I can’t imagine a game with such deep roots in PlayStation history would ever make it to other platforms.
Gorilla Nebula Hidden Bot Locations
Going back to the hub, where all your collected bots congregate, it slowly opens up to reveal new areas to explore and more features to enjoy. Puzzle Pieces are another collectible to gather, and they unlock new rooms, with one of them being the returning Gatcha Lab. The prizes you get here, earned by spending the coins you’ve collected, more often than not, are attributed to one of the bots you’ve found, like a specific weapon or object that gives them a fun interaction in the hub. Other prizes include cosmetics for Astro himself and his Dual Speeder, letting you customise his look with some iconic outfits. You can also unlock the Safari Park, a special zone to hang out in, but it also gives you access to a simple Photo Mode, then usable throughout the game.
Working in tandem with this are unique abilities specifically designed for each level, keeping each one feeling fresh. One standout being a Mouse power-up in a level titled Downsize Surprise. This ability sees Astro shrinking down to the size of a mouse and growing back to normal size at the command of a button. Not only does Astro’s height change, but the force perspective of the world changes with him. Allowing the tiny hero to parkour up leafy vines, ride floating bubbles, and zip across clotheslines that he would be too large to do at normal size. I found myself having ‘ah-ha’ moments repeatedly when it came to these power-ups.
For example, the Monkey Climber is an evolution of Playroom’s climbing ability, but the assistance of a small robotic ape with huge hands this time means rocks can be hurled and ground pounded to great delight. Laurels are never rested on either, with new ideas and gadgets introduced right up to the final encore. Although some mechanics are reused a little more than I’d like, when such powers are recycled in later levels they’re thankfully recontextualised and given slightly new uses. Critics praised the gameplay, level design, and content, with some comparing the game to Nintendo franchises, particularly the Super Mario series.
The image quality is superb, showing off the vibrant and detailed worlds wonderfully. While it doesn’t have the graphical heft of other first-party titles, it’s incredibly visually pleasing thanks to clean, consistent art direction. On rr99 of that is silky smooth 60 frames-per-second performance, with not one hitch spotted in all our time playing. Oh, and special mention must be made for the soundtrack, which is just excellent throughout.
It ramps up the platforming and combat sequences via an approachable but challenging incline and chains these little moments together in such a way that there’s never a lull in any level. Whereas many platformers may drill down on a key feature or small set of features, Astro Bot displays confidence by often disposing of exciting new tools shortly after introducing them. It expresses iteration in cycles of five minutes each, rather than iterating on one idea for five or more hours, which I find both refreshing and bold. The only other game I’ve seen that’s similarly willing to dispose of cool ideas like this is It Takes Two, and Astro Bot does it more often and with more enjoyable mechanics. In each level, the main objective is to rescue Astro’s crew, scattered throughout the game’s five worlds and twenty levels.
In my 2024 of Elden Ring and Stellar Blade boss-slaughtering, and Destiny and First Descendant live service shooting, a family-friendly platformer like Astro Bot was not something I thought I’d be diving into. Then, it became the highest-reviewed full game of 2024 and rocketed to becoming a frontrunner for Game of the Year. Like its predecessor, Astro Bot is filled to the brim with PlayStation references and cameos. The most visible ones come in the form of the Special Bots — bots dressed up as famous and obscure PlayStation family characters. Out of the 300 bots you can collect in the game, 173 are such Special Bots. The final puzzle piece is just after you use the flower lever on the inside of the hourglass, which you reach after boosting up past the arrows stuck in the wall.