You won’t find the first bot for a little while in this level, so proceed past when you get the chicken and first lift the platform out of the ground. Instead of taking the normal exit, look to your right and you’ll see a platform with jewels raining down on top of it. Past that platform, you’ll see another covered in the same jewels. Jump to the far platform and use your spin move to push some of the gems away. You’ll see a wooden floor underneath, so use your cannonball backpack to slam it, which will launch you into the sky and up to a rumble wall. Lure it to the pillar to your right or left, which you’ll notice is an unelectrified platform.
Easily the best missions are the final ones of each “nebula” where you will take on the persona of a famed PlayStation character with a unique ability. The Kratos/God of War level is the best one I’ve played in the entire game, where you have his ice axe to melee with and throw. At one point where you scoot through a tight wall space, I laughed out loud. Similarly, the Uncharted level where you wield a (colorful ball-shooting) gun and swing through a jungle is amazing.
This is when you learn that there are not only special bots, but each galaxy has a special level completely inspired by a PlayStation game or series. These unique one-off levels also see Astro transmogging his abilities and appearance by borrowing an item from the character who inspired the special level. There were so many surprising elements that I was utterly confused as to how they pulled it off. Somehow, you were no longer playing Astro Bot, but were fully immersed in whatever game the developer wanted you to be in.
While the protagonist may seem plain in design compared to a mustached plumber or chilidog eating hedgehog, Astro is memorable in his own rights. I have said a lot of words, but none truly capture the emotions of curiosity and bliss felt while playing. Gameplay Programmer, Akira Ishii speaks on this better than I ever could. He explains, “This ASTRO BOT is a love letter to our game fans…We created this game with love, and we hope the love letter reaches everyone”.
The most alluring feature, though, is its PlayStation-themed collectibles. Every level has a set of hidden bots that Astro needs to rescue. That would be a charming Easter egg hunt, but Team Asobi isn’t just investing in empty references.
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Not bad for a company whose CFO just publicly stated that the platform holder doesn’t have enough original IP. To gather console components and rescue our robo-friends, we must unlock specific galaxies and then the planets within them. Typically, when we land on a planet, we are provided with a tool that introduces new gameplay mechanics, offering fresh ways to complete each level.
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Astro Bot levels are beautiful, brought to life by genius art direction and some of the best graphics on the PS5. It all feels so alive thanks to how the DualSense controller reacts to what players see on the screen, with Astro Bot making great use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and speaker. It’s a shame that most other PS5 games don’t even come close to utilizing these features to their full potential. For those hoping to get as much playtime as possible out of the package, Astro Bot packs in plenty to do. There are secret levels to find, puzzle pieces in each level, a gacha machine filled with outfits, and a home base that evolves into a full-on playground over time.
Puzzle pieces are used to create images of objects that then become additional buildings for players to interact with in the hub world. The first one players build is the gacha machine that they will remember from Astro’s Playroom, and that’s where the majority of one’s coins will be spent as well. Items from the gacha machine fill the hub world out further, and it soon becomes an interactive monument to PlayStation history. It seems odd to say I don’t want to spoil a game that effectively has no story, but some of the game’s best secrets really must be discovered with your own eyes.
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But it’s the temporary abilities that come with each level that make things truly exciting. The Twin Frog gloves are a particular favourite, with their sticky tongues flinging out to provide a grapple swing option. They’re also spring-loaded, meaning any incoming projectiles can be sent back from whence they came, exploding in an enemy’s face. I also very much enjoyed the mouse mechanic, which reduces you down to a super small size, effectively turning on a “Toy Story” mode that lets you clamber up oversized shelves and leaves in search of secrets. For 30 years, Sony has given us a vast library of top-quality PlayStation games, but there has never been a mascot platformer among them to rival the heights that Nintendo’s Mario regularly reaches. Packed with dozens of colourful levels and experimental abilities, Astro’s latest outing thrusts him onto centre stage, joined by a supporting cast of PlayStation’s past heroes to provide hours of pure joy.
The dioramas are especially fun, as they turn all your collected bots into animated statues, like one that shows Nathan Drake playing a game called Dude Raider on his couch. Even the most serious of characters are turned into caricatures, like a scene you can create in which The Last of Us’ Joel goes to throw a brick, but it slips out of his hand and bonks him on the head. All of the 169 cameo bots fill in the would-be barren desert sands like a virtual shelf of Funko Pops. My favorite aspect of the game is how it seems to read my mind. Every time I’d divert off the main path in search of a secret or reward, I would find one.