Astro Bot (2024)

I think it’s a bad sign that I want to find every item the first time I run through a level because I desperately don’t want to have to return and replay each level.

It’s very clear that this game resonates with people the same way Super Mario Odyssey resonates with people. I bring that up because Odyssey is probably one of the Mario games I enjoyed least. Even though a lot of it is quite fun and inventive, it doesn’t click with me, not like Super Mario 3D World or Super Mario Galaxy does. And so I find that I can understand why people like this game, while not finding it quite as much fun personally. I think all the parts are quite neat and novel, but as a whole it feels a bit like labour. It’s not enaging me in a way that I think will make a lasting bond with the game. It’s a good game, buts that’s the extent of what I feel for it. I can see that it’s a well constructed media work, but I have no afectual relationship to it. It just is, it exists, and is well made. It reminds me of a lot of contemporary mainstream media: polished, understands and executes a formula expertly, and is enjoyable while engaged with, yet wont make a lasting impression on me. It feels like yet another media work that’s diverting while I interact with it, but that I’ll put behind me and never return to when I’m done. It’s so very polished, yet so very empty. It’s flashy and cute and clearly a work of love, but it says nothing to me, nor to my heart.

Very charming, polished and fun so far, but also lacks the oomf that a lot of my favourite games had this year. It’s a pleasant game. It’s super cute, and makes great use of the PS5 kit, but it doesn’t really engage me in ways I’d like it to, especially not ways in which my favourite performers do. It’s much more of a Super Mario Odyssey than it is a Super Mario 3D World. And that’s perfectly fine, it doesn’t need to be the best 3D platformer ever made in order to be a good time. But after the year I’ve had it’s hard to see this as more than just a very good game because it doesn’t speak to my heart and mind the same way some of the other games from 2024 did.

I do think the exceptional reception this game had speaks volumes about the drought of fun titles exclusive to the PS5, which will naturally amplify people’s feelings about what is already a really well made and enjoyable game. Is this really 2024’s best game, or is it just a really good game that stands in stark contrast to Sony’s exceptionally safe and increasingly formulaic and tired AAA fare? I suspect it’s the latter.

I look forward to finishing the game (I’m approaching the midway mark now, but have to put it aside for some non-gaming events this weekend) and I’m sure it will be one of the games from 2024 that I’ll retain fond feelings for, but I’ll be surprised if it knocks anything out of my top list of favourites at this juncture.

Got my PS5 Pro and so far I've played a few hours of Astro Bot. What a wild surprise. It's difficult for me to say this, or to admit, as someone who has been a Nintendo fan since the Gameboy and GameCube era. This might just be my favorite 3D platformer of all time and to me, it tops Super Mario 3D World and Mario Odyssey.

I have to see how wild and deep the creativity in the level design and abilities, Astro Bot goes. But for now, I'm blown away by how gorgeous and fun this game is.

Wow.

What a fantastic game.

The look and feel of these worlds and the bits are just so joyous.

The controller is used properly and is actually exciting to use which is extremely rare for me in gaming. The mic stuff on the controller is good too.

The worlds are creative and beautiful. I could see adding more to explore or more details in future games but it’s so damn good as is. Specially the 8bit levels.

The baddies are fun and gives me old school Mario vibes, I could see them getting wild with even more fun creatures in the next game.

I did everything and had a blast almost the whole time, that final bonus level was a bitch. Took me so many attempts to beat but I finally did.

The collecting of the bots and seeing who you got is my favorite part, I also love the hub world and being able to explore it some and add items to the bots you find.

I see ways to sell the next gam but even then this game is damn near perfect.

The thing about this game is that it doesn't really do anything that I haven't seen somewhere else before. And at its core, it's just a basic platformer.

But with that being said, it's easily a 10/10 in my book. I'm about 70% complete and I have 9 hours in the game, but I've been smiling from ear to ear throughout, giggling like a little kid. The same feelings I got while playing LittleBigPlanet as a 12 year old, I got here too. This game has more than exceeded my expectations.

Really hope they turn this into a full-fledged franchise. I would buy an Astro Bot 2 in a heartbeat.

When the PlayStation 5 came out, there was no better game to show off its capabilities than the pack-in game, Astro Boy. Not only was Astro Boy a delightful platformer, it also showed Sony embracing their legacy with a quality game. Still, all these years later, Astro Boy remains one of the best games on the PS5, but now, Astro Bot expands what Astro Boy did so well in a game that's a nonstop joy from beginning to end.

Astro Bot is a game that put a smile on my face throughout, a celebration not only of PlayStation's impressive legacy, but of video games in general. For example, the opening level's boss is a very clear update to the classic Donkey Kong, while Astro Bot's movement is highly reminiscent of Super Mario Sunshine.

But what makes Astro Boy, and this entire series, such a success is the delight that it's clear the developers have in making this game. They love the games they're referencing, they love the legacy that Sony has, and they show that love through this game. The depth of references going on here is insane, from forgotten PS3 digital games, to characters that never came to the U.S., and of course, I always love good Jumping Flash or Parappa the Rapper references.

Which, I could go through the incredible boss fights, the level design that makes you want to hunt over every segment, and the unbelievable amount of secrets to find, but it's that love that makes Astro Bot so worth playing. You can tell these people had a smile on their face while making this game, and it's palpable for the player in every moment. Just a joy and I hope this series keeps going for a long time.

Game #61/225 Astro Bot is a game that truly seemed to appear out of nowhere. I caught wind of it after seeing it as the highest rated game of 2024 on Metacritic, and was vaguely familiar with Astro's Play Room as a PS5 tech demo but had no idea what Astro Bot was otherwise. I skimmed the Internet a bit and saw that it was a 3D platformer (which is up my alley) and that it had over 150 cameos from previous PlayStation titles, so connecting the dots, determined that it was an attempt from Sony to recapture the glory of the N64 era "collect-a-thons" and perhaps directly challenge Nintendo's recent Mario titles while also celebrating its 30 year history of PlayStation.

While "love letter" games typically always fall short of the mark of their predecessors, Astrobot is a notable exception. I would put it right up there with the all-time greats -- perhaps not as good as Banjo Kazooie or Super Mario 64, but pretty close -- it is so successful as a platformer that it surprised me that this was the first "real" title in its series. I'll start with the visuals, which were absolutely stunning. The colors and textures are magnificent. It is one of the best looking games I've seen, with gigantic boss battles and huge levels with unprecedented design. The level that will stick with me forever, from a visual and mechanical point of view, is the shrinking level where you become mouse-sized to solve simple puzzles. The seamless transition from normal to small size is nothing short of a technical marvel. It's truly automatic and you have full control of when/how you want to shrink. Seeing the enemies grow larger in front of you in real time is a visual treat.

Many other levels feature gorgeous locales and quite varied themes. You have a birthday present level, for example, as well as Japanese bath house stage. You've got your volcanoes, deserts, and beaches too, which are standard in platformers like this, but they all have so many unique twists and turns that nothing looks too familiar. Each level also features a variety of powers, some of which you'll see more than once, but they range from pretty creative (the time slowing power or the Samus-like iron ball) to derivative (a horizontal boost or a vertical boost). But each level is so well-designed that you'll be enraptured by the game's gorgeous visuals while platforming using these powers or your standard abilities. There is a good variety of enemies too and some great boss battles, as mentioned. The condor boss is particularly fun, during which you fight a large bird flying through the skies while on his back. The effect of many of the levels and bosses is a larger-than-life feel where it seems like you're breaking the limitations of what is possible in a video game.

There are challenge levels, which are actually decently difficult, but the overall difficulty of the game is on the easy side. I would say it's very easy for experienced players. Nonetheless, the joy of exploring each stage, linear as they are, and hunting down secrets never gets old. You'll find Astro bots scattered in each stage, some of which are nicely hidden, and sometimes they'll be wearing a costume like a video game character (Joel from the Last of Us, Jak and Daxter, ALUNDRA, Lara Croft, etc. etc.). Some of the obscure ones were an excitement to find and reminisce on. Also, you'll find secret levels which are often a lot of fun to play and there are stages where you gain the power from a past Sony protagonist and run through a themed level (there's God of War and Ape Escape, for example).

There's also a hub world where you gather your collected Astro bots to solve simple puzzles and collect more bots. The game also has some notable sequences where you utilize the full range of the PS5 controller's capabilities, which are also visually fun. There's a gacha machine too and some other small but enjoyable things to do in the hub world. It can be quite addicting to collect bots in stages, use them to collect more bots, and then play the gacha machine to see what you get (generally an accessory for your bots based on the game they come from).

As an overall experience, Astro Bot is pretty phenomenal. It reaches close to the heights of the genre through its meaty, fat-free gameplay, beautiful and colorful worlds, stellar level design and inclusion of many fun-to-collect secrets. It's a game well worth playing; and honestly a must-play if you're a PS5 owner.

I had a sneaking feeling this article would make it into this week's issue of Critical-Distance.

Astro Bot's Soulless Devotion To The Sony Brand Is A Real Problem

[I]t’s possible—and worryingly likely—that Astro Bot will be taken as another win for IP-first, art-by-committee video games, its critical and commercial success attributed not to its savviness nor its economical scope but its willingness to play to expectations. Risk-taking, in this era of protracted development cycles, inflated budgets, and constant mass layoffs, is not usually the operative mode of publishers like Sony. There are good games coming out of the first-party space, sure, but how many can really be called meaningfully subversive or formally audacious? When was the last time Sony put out something that actually looked and felt new?

Astro Bot, it pains me to say, does not qualify. For all its competence, for all its spirit, I’ve played it before. The game is largely a compilation of Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy’s greatest hits, with a smattering of truly distinct ideas (the shrinking power-up, which only appears in one level, is good enough to carry a whole game; the stopwatch isn’t far behind). Novelty certainly isn’t a prerequisite for quality, far from it–it’s partially because of its established format that Astro Bot is able to hone in so acutely on the fundamental joys of 3D platforming design. But if we’re going to continue having conversations about what first-party publishers could be doing to nurture artistry in video games, we need to resist equating polish with innovation.

I don’t think Astro Bot is asking for anything quite as insidious as brand loyalty, but it’s somewhere in that ballpark. Brand appreciation? Brand wistfulness? A desire to see its old IPs resurrected, and its current ones sustained? I balk at that almost as much as I do at the fanservice itself. Yes, of course I’d buy a new Dark Cloud day 1–but we should demand more from this industry than familiarity. The next Masaya Matsuura is already out there. So is the next Kaz Ayabe, and the next Hideo Kojima, and the next Kazutoshi Iida, and the next Fumito Ueda. They won’t show up unless we let them work.

I've been having an absolute blast with this.

I'm pretty picky with platformers and tend to prefer the 3D ones like this over sidescrolling, but this might be the first that I ever actually finish.

It's just so charming and feels great to play. The controls are seamless and comfortable and the feedback/sounds from the controller are fantastic. I love feeling Astro's footsteps as he runs around; so cute.

The challenge levels are definitely just that. No checkpoints and unforgiving, fast-paced obstacles. I was getting really frustrated with one of them yesterday, but the designs are just so good that even I, one who doesn't seek out super challenging gameplay, found joy in struggling through it.