That’s why we keep seeing so many remakes and remasters, but Astro Bot doesn’t fall into the same trap. It feels like a celebration, with deep meaningful references that truly understand the quirks of the series it’s featuring. But on top of all those references, there’s a phenomenal game that forges its own identity and boldly does its own thing.
Astro Bot Review: A Charming Platformer With Surprises, Excitement & Nostalgia
Yet, the whimsical playfulness and cute charm was still there dancing perfectly in tune with another game without stepping on any toes. A PlayStation fiesta of characters and hodgepodge of borrowed game mechanics blend seamlessly. While it may sound as if the game just copies the homework of all the games that came before it, that is simply not the case.
It’s a riot of collectibles and hub world distractions, and it’s thought about your time, too, and how to make the best of it. It’s unlikely that Astro Bot will save the world, let alone be successful enough to appease a company chasing endless growth, but it’s a game that we so desperately need. I don’t read the PlayStation history references as brand advertisements so much as Team Asobi trying to remind Sony of what it has lost in the PS5 era.
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Grab the snowball from them and roll it around until it gets nice and big. Then look for a wall that has two little blocks on the side and an open spot in the middle. Once you land in the final room, where the normal exit appears on top of the lamp, turn around and climb up the stone wall behind you. At the top, break the pot and you’ll notice that the shards appear to float ahead of you. Walk out onto the invisible platform and look down at the sand below you. You’ll see the stone platforms many feet under Astro will start to glow while you’re above them.
However, this time, we’re getting a full-length game (with no microtransactions) that’s much bigger than Astro’s previous adventures. The game includes hidden levels that can pose a challenge even for veteran platformers, which makes it even more appealing in my eyes. For most of the gameplay, however, the difficulty is more balanced and generally easy, but this doesn’t detract from the almost childlike joy of completing each level. There’s plenty to do in the galaxies haunted by the green alien. I can’t wait to buy my own copy and work toward earning all the achievements in this charming game.
Some of the cameo bots even have a direct impact on Astro Bot’s gameplay. Each galaxy concludes with a special level themed after a PlayStation game, with Astro taking on the abilities of the hero from that game. For example, there is a God of War level in Astro Bot where Astro gets his hands on the Leviathan Axe.
They wanted me to laugh, like I suspect they did when designing it. It’s easy to recommend Astro Bot to anyone, both kids and grown-ups. I cannot speak highly enough about my experience with Astro Bot so far, its creativity in both gameplay and its sweeping nostalgia through the entire history of PlayStation in a way that can almost bring a tear to your eye.
Everything constantly moves around you, imbuing every level with life beyond the scraps you’ll engage in with the game’s enemies. Each level’s theme is brought to life with aesthetic assets and design ideas that strengthen their themes. That said, it’s rather easy to get sucked into the charm of Astro Bot and get lost in the nostalgia of it all.
But despite being a museum to Sony’s past, Astro Bot is more concerned with looking forward, not backwards. I expected it to be a pretty fun little cartoon romp where the main draw would be pointing at the screen and going “Look! It’s Nathan Drake!”. What I got was one of the greatest platformers I have ever played, in terms of creativity, consistency, and cleverness, that just so happens to have a bunch of PlayStation mascots inside it. There are 91 stages in Astro Bot, making this one of Team Asobi’s biggest and most ambitious games to date. Between them, they boast well over 460 collectibles, including 120 Puzzle Pieces, 10 Lost Galaxy Warps, and 332 stranded Bots that are just waiting to be rescued. Playstation’s Black Friday sale is now live, offering sweet deals like $100 off PS5 consoles, savings on dozens of games, and much more.
It’s these individuals or groups who are able to influence swathes of people, sway online opinion, and contribute to radical takes. The reaction to Astro Bot winning Game of the Year is a prime example of how the internet and gaming culture can divide people, despite their promise as forms of connection. GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links. And since good news flies in pairs, we are delighted to also announce that an updated version of the Astro Bot Limited Edition DualSense wireless controller is launching later this year! This controller was crafted by our techno-magician designers at Sony Interactive Entertainment. And since the first controller proved so popular, we have brought it back with a new joyful twist to the touch pad!
Each star system also has a level that’s specially themed around a popular PlayStation franchise, allowing Astro to make use of unique skills for a short while. Needless to say, Astro Bot keeps you on your toes, and sometimes challenges you to think outside the box in order to solve a problem or find a well-hidden secret. So, at this point, it’s fair to say that Team Asobi nailed the core game feel, the level design and the visuals. It’s a beautiful game that plays like a dream and offers things that manage to feel completely new and fun – and ultimately, as I think about my time playing Astro Bot, I can’t help but feel great about it. It’s pure joy and a reminder of what the first three generations of PlayStation embodied. It’s a game that perfectly combines technology, design and creativity into a singular, ultra-polished whole without any filter whatsoever.
@kcarnes9051 The main levels I would say are fairly straightforward to get through without much difficulty. However, as 789win play through the game, many smaller challenge levels will become available and these amp things up, testing your platforming and combat skills with short gauntlets. Generally speaking, it’s pretty easy breezy, but there are tougher challenges to find if that’s what you want.