Astro Bot (2024)

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.

@Sir_Laguna, I think this is a discourse that actually kind of rubs me the wrong way, and one I'm seeing coming from some journalists:

Astro Bot Has One Level That Puts Mario To Shame

PlayStation’s ‘Astro Bot’ Beats Mario at His Own Game

Astro Bot is the ultimate PS5 platformer — and its rivals even Mario's best games

I know that Walker's piece (first link) is tongue-in-cheek, but I've seen the sentiment that Astro Bot gives Mario games a run for their money from multiple outlets, and I can't help but feel that this type of discourse feeds into the ongoing console war mentality. Instead of being excited that we have multiple fun games to play, there is this steak of competition that undercuts any kind of platform-agnostic celebration of gaming. It's not enough that Astro Bot is a fun game, it has to be better than Mario, or provide competition to Mario, to be worthwhile. I find that kind of comparative evaluation limiting, and even shortsighted. I know that comparing platformers to established platformers is a shorthand method of communicating to readers, but I think it restricts the discourse around the game to comparisons rather than more robust analysis.