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. 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. Bursting to the seams with charm, Astro Bot is an inventive, nostalgia-fuelled platformer of the highest order. One power-up — which I won’t describe beyond saying it’s really cute since figuring it out is a big part of the fun here — truly captures the essence of Astro Bot.
It seemed useless; I felt silly for getting stumped by what had been, up until that point, an incredibly simple game. Astro Bot typically displays a little tutorial box for how to use it, but this time, it deliberately left me hanging. Playing a game is like being in a conversation with its developers without the ability to speak directly, and it felt like communication had broken down. Every stage in Astro Bot provides its own challenges, forcing players to think outside the box or make use of unique power-ups.
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The developer teased in a blog post that completing the new galaxy “might lead to something really cool,” so players will have to dive in and see what surprises are in store. Outside of bosses and minibosses, there initially doesn’t appear to be a great range in enemy types. Sure, some are coated in different colours of paint or dressed to fit in with their surroundings, but they are all vanquished via the same few fundamental jump and hit combos. Later on, though, the design book opens up and introduces some of my favourite foes. These include an anthropomorphic playing card that flings a hand of clubs and spades your way, which you can then jump on to make your way towards the enemy to deal a killing blow of your own. It even feels like some popping candy has smuggled its way into your controller as it fizzes and pings away, sweetly reacting to whatever is happening on screen.
Your job as Astro is to go around to all the planets and collect your friends. The games have lots of fun platforming to execute, with grappling hooks and hover-jumps and all kinds of fun things. There are also plenty of alien and robotic enemies and bosses to take on.
Astro Bot Guide: Trophies
To proceed, all I have to do is run forward and rub a magic lamp by moving left and right. When I slowed down, though, I began to appreciate just how much I could play with in the little town before moving on. I could knock over a stack of buckets, sending hundreds of bolts into the sand. I jumped on a clothesline and watched as I skidded over towels, which fell from their wooden pins with a satisfying cartoonish twang. I saved a hidden bot after spotting a group of enemies off to the side, suspiciously gathered around a defenseless monkey.
If there were anything to criticize about the game, it may just be the game’s difficulty and its exclusivity. While the former may be alleviated with its already announced free DLC challenge levels and speedrun mode, the latter may be something that might not be addressed. Everyone should be able to play this masterpiece, but maybe the PS5 should actually get more games to play.
When you hover over a level it shows how many collectibles it has and how many you still need. You can also hover over the Nebulas to see how many total collectibles there are in the sub-levels. The hub area ‘Crash Site’ also contains bots and puzzle pieces, which you obtain by interacting with the blue markers to call your bots for help.