Astro Bot isn’t just perhaps the best 3D platformer to come along in some time, the game is also a celebration of the 30 year history of PlayStation and its impact on the industry, as well as a celebration of gaming overall.
While the previous two games were great in their own right, this was a massive step up in the way that games like Ori And The Will Of The Wisp outdid its predecessor. It stands very well against some of the best 3D platformers out there now and hopefully shows others outside Nintendo that the genre still has quite a lot to offer.
The game sees you playing as Astro as he and hundreds of other bots joyride through space inside of a giant PlayStation 5. A massive alien suddenly comes along, wrecks the PS5 (something you never do to a gamer) and all of the bots are sent flying into different worlds. Astro sets out to repair the ship and rescue all of the bots in the process.
From start to finish, Astro bot was an absolute joy to play. While it’s not the longest or most difficult game, it’s packed with content and nothing feels tedious about it at all
Pros
Immediately noticeable is how likeable Astro himself is. The character has so much charm that there were often times I’d just stop and see how he’d react to things. He waves at you when you face him and he actively responds to his environment. If you’re in an ice level he starts shivering. If you’re in a horror themed level he looks visibly scared. Even if you die he has some death animations that remind me of Crash Bandicoot, although not quite as cartoonish.
Astro is filled with personality and it shines throughout the game. However he isn’t the only character with personality. Out of the 300 bots you rescue throughout the game, many of them are cosplaying other video game characters, both well known and forgotten. While the standard bots you rescue are lively enough on their own, as you’ll often have to save them from a few funny situations, the VIP bots accurately mimic the characters they’re based off of.
The VIP bots are one of the best parts of the game as they celebrate PlayStation’s history of gaming in a great way. While expected well known characters such as Kratos and Ratchet appear, lesser known characters such as Sir Arthur from Capcom’s Ghosts n Goblins franchise and even long forgotten IPS such as Intelligent Qube make a cameo (Is Sony truly sure they don’t have enough franchises to draw from?). In the area where the PS5 ship crash landed, you’ll find the VIP bots just goofing off in ways that resemble their franchises such as Street Fighter characters sparring or parappa the rapper putting a show on. Interacting with them also triggers a humorous animation for each.
The game’s worlds themselves are also full of life. Levels are colorful and vibrant and even if some themes such as ice or horror may repeat a couple of times, no two levels truly look alike. They’re all well designed and accompanied by a great soundtrack to boot. Astro Bot nails its presentation in every regard.
On top of just looking nice, the games level design is excellent all around. While many of the games levels aren’t too hard, they’re all very fun to play through and offer a good deal of exploration as you look for the different bots, puzzle pieces as well as secret entrances in some levels that unlock other worlds. Astro Bot feels as well designed as Nintendo’s best platformers. Personally while playing through, I got vibes from Kirby And The Forgotten Land as well as the often overlooked Super Mario 3D Land. It more than stands on its own however and I’d say it’s even better designed than some Mario games.
The level design shines most in two specific types of levels however. The first being the levels based on some of PlayStation’s IPS. Astro will don the clothing of some of the VIP bots and also get some of their powers for that level. These levels range from current PlayStation mainstays such as God Of War and Horizon to long dormant IPS such as Ape Escape.
The best part about these levels is that they do actually manage to capture the spirit of those games from the humorous nature of Ape Escape to the epic feel of horizon’s giant robot animal battles. They’re even filled with their own challenges such as tracking down Odin’s ravens in the God Of War stage.
The lost galaxy levels are also where the game’s level design shines and while Astro Bot isn’t a challenging game for the most part, that changes once you do these levels as they’re filled with the game’s more challenging platforming sections. The levels are short but Astro can only take one hit by default and these levels feature no checkpoints. While these levels offer more challenge however, the challenge is by no means frustrating and I was never stuck on one for hours on end or anything or the sort. They function similar to the prankster comets from Super Mario Galaxy as you find them in the hub worlds.
In some levels Astro will get a power meant for that level’s challenges. These range from a set of frog gloves which extend his punches, to being able to slow time down, to being able to turn into a metal ball that makes him virtually indestructible and functions a bit like Samus’ morph ball from Metroid. Each power was a blast to use and the game does a good job of mixing them up and it never quite feels like you’re doing the same thing even if you are using the same power in a different level. They do feel like the various powers Kirby gets throughout his games in how they function, although Astro can’t lose his powers until the level is over. I only lament that a couple powers, including probably the most unique one only shows up once in the game. Occasionally the game will also offer motion control sections, though these can be turned off in favor of using the controller.
Astro Bot also has some excellent boss battles. Some levels will feature a mini boss of sorts which are fun in their own right, but each of the bosses in their respective galaxy were among the most enjoyable I’ve fought in a platformer. These bosses are all massive and have their own patterns to figure out, plus just like everything else in the game they’re all filled with personality and have great designs.
Astro Bot isn’t a very long game but it has plenty of content in it’s package. There’s various outfits you can unlock for Astro as well as items for the VIP bots which trigger their more hilarious animations I mentioned earlier.
The area of the crash site is also explorable and has parts that can only be accessed by saving a certain number of bots. It’s cool seeing all the bots come together and forming different things to help Astro out. There are also other things within the crash site such as a paint shop for the PS5 controller Astro rides around on and even a little animal safari which houses the wild life you see throughout the game’s levels.
Cons
Truth be told, Astro Bot is a game where I can’t fault it for anything. While I did find the lack of challenge a bit disappointing at first, that changed once you do the lost galaxy levels as well as the game’s true final stage which you get as a completion bonus.
Final Thoughts
If you own a PS5, then I do think Astro Bot is a must have for the system. Not only is it a fantastic platformer from start to finish with plenty of content for the 14 hours or so it takes to do everything, it’s also a love letter to PlayStation’s history and honestly even gaming as a whole. I honestly haven’t seen this many franchises represented in one game since Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and it was great that Sony even included series they don’t own, although some have a strong history on PlayStation as well.
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