Astro’s adventure takes him to various galaxies full of planets to explore as he tracks down his scattered crew. This part of our Astro Bot guide goes over each and every level in the game, highlighting where to find all collectibles and more. Every level brings something new, and the controls feel perfect. The bright graphics and little PlayStation references make it even better.
Despite minor flaws, it stands out as one of PlayStation’s finest platformers, with many calling it a Game of the Year contender. Astro is revived by his Dual Speeder, a smaller spaceship resembling the DualSense controller, and together they begin reactivating satellites and exploring galaxies to rescue the crew and rebuild the mothership. Along mb66 , he rescues V.I.P. Bots (guest characters from other games) and explores planets based on Ape Escape, God of War, Uncharted, LocoRoco, and Horizon. The feel of Astro Bot is both incredible and incredibly frustrating, but not for the reasons you think.
Yes, I can, and for scaling it to the very top I’d find coins to spend on cosmetics. “What if I peek over this ledge?” There’s a hidden cave below, hiding another puzzle piece used to open shops in the game’s hub world. Whenever I’d wonder if my intuition was leading me to something valuable, I’d find I was right.
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It’s not just movement though, as the creak of Aloy’s bow and arrow, while aiming in the Horizon level, is insanely satisfying and much better than in the actual game it’s based on. Bafflingly though, none of the characters are ever named – not the first party Sony ones or the third party ones. Instead, Ratchet, for example, is referred to merely as Tooled-Up Mechanic and Jill Valentine simply as Alpha Female. There’s also a character called Pro Skater, which we assume is Tony Hawk, but perhaps it’s one of Sony’s forgotten extreme sports games – it’s impossible to tell. However, two of these levels are based on dormant Sony franchises and if you can avoid having it spoiled for you what they are beforehand, they’re amongst the highlights of the game. They both replicate the mechanics, and audio, of the original games exactly and are an absolute joy, that will instantly have you wishing that they’d get full-blown sequels on the PlayStation 5.
Astro Bot is the first PlayStation exclusive since then that truly believes in that mission statement. As I wistfully reflected on that, I was hit by a pang of bittersweet sadness. Most of the colorful mascots I was reuniting with simply don’t exist anymore. Over the past 10 years, PlayStation has entirely narrowed its focus on a few key franchises. God of War and The Last of Us have become standby franchises, while the Crash Bandicoots and Ape Escapes of the world die out. You can count the first-party PS5 games geared toward kids on one hand — and two of them are Astro Bot games.
It feels finely tuned from top to bottom and I think that’s something to commend. As for the audiovisual aspect, this is where Team Asobi has truly outdone itself, delivering a somewhat candy-colored but beautiful graphic design, with each planet offering a unique visual style. Familiar pop culture motifs frequently appear in the game, but they never feel repetitive, always introducing something new and fresh. The music, while occasionally repetitive, can also pleasantly surprise at times.
I played through nearly the entire game while covering it and found exactly one moment in which the frame-rate saw a minor hiccup where physics and effects monetarily overwhelm the engine, but that’s it. Again, it’s virtually flawless and I didn’t encounter a single drop anywhere else in the game. Preorders also let you immediately unlock the Lovestruck Lyricist in-game outfit for Astro, which is based on Parappa The Rapper, immediately at launch. You’ll receive two PSN avatars–one of Astro in his normal outfit and another of him wearing the Parappa getup–and the Glorious Graffiti skin for Astro’s Dual Speeder vehicle. These items can be unlocked in the game without preordering, but buying one of the physical or digital editions early lets you access the outfits and avatars from the jump.
Sony proves with Astro Bot that the company can still put out charming action platformers, but the love letter to PlayStation fans fails to include features that made previous games of the genre so fun to replay. Even within a level, an ability is used in several different and creative ways, but always stemming from its singular mechanic featured in that level. 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.
People can call me crazy, I don’t care, Astro’s Playroom is still one of my top 5 favorite games on PS5 and I had very high expectations for this. Have to play it to find out for sure but I’m very encouraged by these reviews as it’s grading ahead of even some of Nintendo’s best. Would not be surprised of this gets the highest overall rating for a game this year. But then I remembered that communication between player and developer is not only what to do but also what to feel. And suddenly, it felt like they were hovering just over my shoulder, holding back their laughter as a dear friend would while they waited for me to get a joke.
That controller is still not available for preorder, though Sony said it will launch later this year and that it would have more information to share soon. And since good news flies in pairs, we are delighted to also announce that an updated version of the Astro Bot Limited Edition DualSense wireless controller is launching later this year! This controller was crafted by our techno-magician designers at Sony Interactive Entertainment. And since the first controller proved so popular, we have brought it back with a new joyful twist to the touch pad! We’ll have more information to share soon, so be on the lookout for future updates.
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Based on what I had seen I knew this was going to be a banger but a 94 on metacritic sheesh. Won’t be surprised at all if AB wins though which is great for Sony! @UltimateOtaku91 Yeah I love Rebirth and Helldivers as well but I’ve never played Balatro. Not exactly my jam – but it would seem this, like other games before it, are fun to be had by anyone.
The different levels Astro explores have themes that you’d expect. There’s a jungle planet, a volcano planet, and worlds of pirates, ghosts, and gardeners. Some worlds require special powers to navigate, and those, too, are pretty standard in function if not in form. The monkey power-up lets you scale walls, while the mouse ability shrinks you down to access tiny spaces. There’s even a Super Mario Sunshine-esque F.L.U.D.D power that uses liquid to move Astro around.
By paying respect to PlayStation’s heritage in new interactive ways, Astro Bot also seems like the perfect game to mark PlayStation’s 30th anniversary. “For Astro’s Playroom, there have mainly been two types of audiences,” says Doucet. They’re mostly the type who crave more colorful games and want to go back to 3D platformers. These players are also happy to see how we treat the PlayStation heritage.
Put simply, just about anyone can appreciate Astro Bot’s strengths, not just seasoned gamers or astute, wizened audiences. “Each level comes with a brand new Special Bot to rescue and, once that’s done, can be replayed in Time Attack mode with online rankings.” Sony is releasing another stream of Astro Bot expansions, the first of which is available today, February 13, adding a total of five new levels and as many special bots. This is joined by a PlayStation 5 Pro patch, which allows the best resolution while running at 60 frames per second.
Stuff to roll around in, stuff that forms little piles that can be kicked about. I’ll open a chest and there will be lumps of gold rolling around at the bottom. In one completely dazzling level I was given a magnet, and soon I was vacuuming up metal bars by the dozen and spray cans by the hundreds, all ready to form a bait ball I could fling at a distant target. Customers find the PlayStation 5 console to be an incredible value for money and report that it works perfectly. The build quality receives mixed feedback, with several customers noting that it feels flimsy. The hardware quality is also mixed, with one customer reporting no marks or scuffs on their unit.