In addition to the new platform-heavy level, players will have a new cameo bot to rescue and can earn a new Trophy called Rolling Rescue to fill out their collection. While more of an extension of its previous titles than something all-new, it sounds like Team Asobi has cooked another stellar game. With over 80 stages and more than 15 power ups, players that wanted more of Astro’s Playroom will unlikely be dissatisfied. It will also be interesting to see what kind of new experiences Team Asobi can deliver with its deep knowledge of the DualSense controller. 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. Today, PlayStation’s cinematic blockbuster titles still mostly cater to a mature audience, but Team Asobi is taking a different approach.

As the PS5 is still a platform with a relatively mature audience, Sony likely doesn’t have the intention to cement Astro as the system’s one and only mascot. A new iconic character representing your brand through top-quality games couldn’t possibly be a bad thing. Especially since a family-friendly 3D platformer like Astro Bot is also the type of game that the PlayStation’s library has been lacking.

Astro Bot is a platformer adventure game released on September 6, 2024, for the PS5, serving as a sequel to Team Asobi’s Astro’s Playroom from 2020 and the third game in the series. Players take on the role of the lovable Astro Bot, embarking on a space-faring adventure through diverse environments, including waves of sandy beaches, lush jungles, and fiery volcanoes. Along the way, Astro gains new powers and transformations to aid in the journey. Released in celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, the game pays homage to the brand’s legacy by allowing players to find and reunite with over 150 iconic PlayStation characters.

This became The Playroom, Team Asobi’s first game.The Playroom came preloaded with the PS4 when it launched back in 2013 and functioned as a showcase of what the PlayStation Camera and DualShock 4 controller could do. One of the mini games featured was AR Bots, a tech demo-like experience that made it seem as if 40 little robots were inside the DualShock 4. By swiping the touchpad you could throw them into the room and interact with them through the PlayStation Camera in AR, before sucking them back into the controller. It really feels like the developers thought of everything, and thanks to their efforts, Astro Bot is pure joy in video game form. I went into it with high expectations thanks to Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Astro’s Playroom, and it not only met my expectations, but completely exceeded them.

To talk around Astro Bot’s most entertaining of these surprises, I’ll mention that it will occasionally rethink its mechanics as a whole, nearly swapping genres at times, in ways that pay homage to PlayStation’s illustrious past. These special levels arrive toward the end of each galaxy’s main mission path and bestow to you a bundle of themed bots as well as yet another cool new mechanic not to be seen ever again in the game. Its soundtrack–already an array of bubbly earworms–reimagines familiar overtures from other games. In doing all of this for these most-special one-offs, the promise of its world comes into full view. Astro Bot swarms the player with bright ideas, sparking almost endless joy.

Selected by a combination of jury vote and public opinion, this is widely considered one of the most prestigious awards in the video game industry. The award was presented by last year’s winner, Swen Vincke, director of Baldur’s Gate 3, and accepted by the game’s director and Team Asobi studio head Nicolas Doucet. [newline]Doucet expressed his gratitude to the decades of platformers that came before Astro Bot, which also took home awards for Best Action/Adventure Game, Best Family Game, and Best Game Direction during the ceremony. You’ll pick up an awful lot of coins exploring all the planets in Astro Bot. At first, that huge trove of gold may seem useless, but once you’ve beaten the first boss in the Gorilla Nebula, you’ll unlock the Gacha Lab at the Crash Site. Here, you can spend coins to win up to 169 PlayStation-themed collectibles, including skins for the Dual Speeder. Later on, you’ll also unlock the Dual Speeder Garage, where you can personnalise Astro’s controller plane, and the Changing Room to switch up Astro’s look to outfits collected in the Gacha Lab.

Astro Bot Is Virtually Flawless And A Joyous Celebration Of Gaming

People can want presentation, charm, graphics, whatever level design/easy mechanics, no puzzles (unless platforming related I assume), etc. Dualsense use are be fine, level design/movesets look done before. @nicc83 I would say around the hour mark if you just do the main levels and that’s it, but if you want to see and do everything, likely 20 hours or more. Obviously it depends on how much exploring you do and how much you’re bothered about collecting everything — it’s a very meaty 3D platformer in my opinion and a really nice length. It’s a perfect recipe for a 3D platformer, encouraging you to explore every nook and cranny in search of those adorable little droids.

It’s great to see ASOBI showing this level of appreciation of what has come before, but it also shows Sony’s very apparent inability to leverage what built them up in the first place. Pre-installed on every PlayStation 5, Astro’s Playroom is a 3D platformer that perfectly demonstrates the power of the PS5 and the unique features of the DualSense controller. If you’ve played it you’ve got an idea of what to expect from Astro Bot; think of it as a precursor, if you will. And if you’ve not played it, go and do it right now; it’s only short, and it should you hate it for any reason, there’s not really any point in considering picking Astro Bot up because you have no soul. Team Asobi has announced that five new levels are coming to Astro Bot as weekly drops, starting on Feb. 13. (That’s today!) As with previous additions to the Game of the Year winner, the new levels are free to download — and, of course, each comes with a new Special Bot to rescue.

Astro Bot Gameplay

As of now, the direction Team Asobi has in mind for this franchise is not entirely clear. This game served as a celebration of the brand and was built around repairing a PlayStation 5. While the studio could just do that again, it would risk coming off as repetitive.

My wife and I enjoyed It Takes Two but some of the one off I was glad to get rid of. My kid on the other hand hated how you kept learning new stuff only for it to be dropped and never return again, just like this review, and I was getting this for them for their birthday. I just watched the ACG review on YT and this game looks phenomenal, lots of things that remind me of the Mario games and lets be honest, there is not a better platformer out there to take notes from. Also the advantages or lets say unique features this game has over the Mario series are way better graphics and for Playstation gamers all the Bots that remind you of well known games. The game on ps5 i’ve been waiting for since i got one basically… The switch has remained my most played platform after all these years because of the lack of games like this, for me the essense of gaming…

Oftentimes, these gimmicks add a new exploration tool, in turn giving the developers the freedom to build levels in completely different ways. The sheer variety Astro Bot delivers is breathtaking, and like I said, there’s not a bad level in the bunch. Astro Bot is also meant to be a DualSense showcase, and it certainly does a lot there, though I continue to feel like the controller’s most passionate fans are within the company itself. In OK8386 where the hero isn’t wearing an ability, the game still finds ways to reinvent itself. But once that awesome level was finished, I never saw the mechanic used again. Astro Bot feels like it’s showing off at times, but never in a way that pats itself on its back.

Astro Bot Serpent Starway Rescued Bots

From Astro Bot Funko Pop figures to limited edition collectibles, show your support for Team Asobi’s masterpiece. Feel every moment through the DualSense controller with advanced haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and motion controls. You’ll dash, swing, and rocket-punch through diverse areas like volcanoes and jungles, unlocking 15 new abilities, including using Barkster, the Bulldog Booster, to air-dash and smash enemies. Across my 25 hours fully completing the game and earning the Platinum (it took 11 hours to reach the main ending), I could count on one hand the amount of times I died and felt it was the game’s fault, not mine.

The image quality is superb, showing off the vibrant and detailed worlds wonderfully. While it doesn’t have the graphical heft of other first-party titles, it’s incredibly visually pleasing thanks to clean, consistent art direction. On top of that is silky smooth 60 frames-per-second performance, with not one hitch spotted in all our time playing. Oh, and special mention must be made for the soundtrack, which is just excellent throughout.

Astro Bot has proved incredibly popular for PlayStation, having sold 1.5 million units in its first two months on sale and earned a 9/10 in IGN’s review. “A fantastically inventive platformer in its own right, Astro Bot is particularly special for anyone with a place in their heart for PlayStation,” we said. “Unlike our last update Winter Wonder, which was a walk through the Xmas park, this new update features harder levels to test your jumping skills,” said director of developer Team Asobi, Nicolas Doucet. While it may seem simple enough, there are a lot of things to do in the over fifty levels Astro Bot has to offer. Check every corner, hit every object or look below every platform and you may find a secret cord or passageway to a Puzzle Piece, Bot or even a Vortex to a secret world! Master Onion is the secret 301st bot, the last one you’ll unlock in the game.