Astro Bot is not only for youths. Crew Asobi clearly designed it for gamers of all ability ranges, and that features kids and newbies, however at its core Astro Bot feels purpose-built for online game followers. It’s a skill-driven celebration of the whole lot that makes the format so memorable and joyful, and on the similar time, it’s a superb introduction to the language of video games. With exact and responsive controls, cute characters, and an thrilling number of mechanics and environments, Astro Bot is definitely probably the greatest video games that Sony has ever produced.
Astro Bot is technically the fifth entry within the Astro universe, although it’s the collection’ first totally fledged — and totally priced — installment. It follows The Playroom (a 2013 mini-game assortment for PS4), The Playroom VR (a 2016 PlayStation VR jam), Astro Bot Rescue Mission (a 2018 PS VR platformer starring simply the bots), and Astro’s Playroom (a 2020 DualSense demo that’s pre-loaded on each PS5). Astro Bot takes concepts from these earlier titles and compiles them right into a targeted 3D platformer with dozens of principal worlds, a bevy of extra unlockable planets and a variety of satisfying mechanics. On high of this, the robotic protagonists are tremendous cute in each state of affairs. The truth that among the characters and settings in Astro Bot are recognizable from well-liked video video games solely makes the entire thing sweeter.
Gamers are on a mission to rescue all 300 of their robotic mates after an alien intercepted their spaceship, a super-charged PS5, and scattered the crew throughout six harmful galaxies. Perched atop a lone DualSense, Astro scours 50 complete planets and collects different bots by punching or kicking them — you recognize, in a pleasant method — after which storing them contained in the touchpad of the on-screen controller earlier than dumping everybody on a safe world. On the similar time, Astro is trying to find the lacking components of the PS5 spaceship, that are being guarded by bosses in every galaxy.
The hub world, the place the ship and rescued bots dwell, has customization portals for the DualSense and Astro, a gatcha machine with objects that convey your bots to life, and a safari zone the place you possibly can take photos with animals you discover. There are additionally small areas to repair up with further puzzles for Astro and his mates. Exterior of the hub planet, the sport’s baseline loop entails gathering cash, puzzle items and bots by finishing platforming challenges and surviving Koopa-like enemies, however new risks and even-trickier environments seem at each flip.
Most of the planets that Astro lands on introduce new mechanics, equivalent to spring-loaded boxing gloves that appear like frog faces, an octopus that blows Astro up like a balloon, a mouse backpack that shrinks him at will, a penguin-propelled swimming booster, and a stopwatch that freezes time for a short time. Phases are designed round these distinctive mechanics and the range on show is spectacular, from a spooky fort crammed with toxic-green ghosts and invisible platforms, to a deconstructed area station in a tasty cosmic setting, and a complete planet constructed out of large, neon-lit on line casino props.
Even earlier than selecting up any cool new toys, Astro has a laser-propelled hover means that lets him destroy enemies whereas leaping over them, plus an ordinary punch and a rechargeable spin transfer. These three skills, plus no matter device he picks up, are everything of Astro’s arsenal. This mechanical focus allowed Crew Asobi to excellent every transfer after which apply all of them in a thousand alternative ways, and the result’s a rewarding and sturdy platformer. All of the cuteness is simply an added bonus.
Astro Bot is just not punishing, nevertheless it’s not simple both. Loads of phases require endurance, consciousness and a excessive diploma of platforming ability, although resets are beneficiant and failure would not price something apart from your time. Completionists could have a good time with this one — there are so many secret passages and hidden bots to search out, most of them cleverly tucked away and simply missed except you’re actively searching for them. On the flipside, speedrunners ought to take pleasure in Astro Bot as nicely, because it affords planets of platforming challenges with extremely responsive controls.
There are 300 bots to search out, and plenty of are pulled from the broader world of gaming. Loads of the branded bots originate outdoors of Sony’s steady, with huge hitters from Capcom, Konami and Sega represented nicely — a couple of of them undoubtedly made my accomplice yell in pleasure, which was cute in its personal proper. A few of the extra memorable ranges stem from well-liked Sony franchises like God of Warfare, with Astro wielding Kratos’ ax on one planet. Crew Asobi actually mined Sony’s vaults, far past easy Crash Bandicoot callbacks, and into strange video games like LocoRoco and Vib-Ribbon.
And now, enable me to actually gush. Astro Bot is gorgeous, and never simply in a cartoony type of method. Its landscapes are sharp and alive with interactive particulars, and it looks like each pixel has been polished to perfection. Nevertheless it’s the sport’s physics that energize the whole lot — when Astro lands on high of an enormous inflatable daisy, the fabric buckles beneath his little ft, indenting with every step and sway, and making the whole scene look totally squeezable.
When skating within the snowy ranges, Astro picks up velocity and pivots on a dime, and the DualSense responds with the sounds and vibrations of a pointy knife slicing by means of thick ice. (Aspect word: I may fortunately play a complete recreation of simply ice skating… so long as it’s not known as Astro Glide.) Piles of tactile objects like sprinkles, cube, skulls and glass stars are scattered across the ranges, and working by means of them is just not solely gratifying in an ASMR sense, nevertheless it typically uncovers a brand new secret. When rain hits Astro’s clear umbrella hat, the sound is mirrored completely on the DualSense, together with the sensation of raindrops on the grips. Every stage has background music to match, funky or huge band or synth-y, and all the time with a catchy hook. Astro Bot’s sound results, haptics, graphics and physics harmonize flawlessly, reworking each floor right into a playground. It’s magical.
On the lovable facet of issues, Astro reacts to his environments with endearing animations like shivering within the chilly, quivering in worry and tapping his tiny steel ft in pleasure, and his bot mates are equally expressive. When Astro boops his head on an impassable ceiling, he makes the sweetest little flinching movement. The bots flip round and shake their booties at Astro proper earlier than he punches them into the DualSense. On the pause display screen, you possibly can flick all your collected bots out of the digital controller they usually flail in mid-air earlier than touchdown safely again contained in the touchpad. Just about the whole lot the bots do is charming.
Astro Bot highlights the significance of play. It’s Tremendous Mario Bros. for a brand new era of online game fanatics, directly an introduction to widespread mechanics and likewise a big problem for seasoned gamers. In each instances, Astro Bot radiates pleasure. If this, alongside new titles like Lego Horizon Adventures, indicators a brand new and fewer stuffy route for Sony, then I’m excited to see what the long run holds. For now although, you’ll discover me attempting to 100-percent Astro Bot, cursing and laughing the entire method by means of.
Psst: Astro Bot has now joined the hallowed ranks of our favourite PS5 video games information. You’ll be able to view all of our picks — 21 on the time of writing — at The most effective PS5 video games for 2024.
