Needless to say, Astro Bot exceeded my expectations by being nearly perfect in almost every aspect of the game. The story of the game isn’t all that compelling; however, the fact that it’s able to tell a story and make it understandable without a single line being spoken means something. The motivation of the game is to rescue the missing crew members of the now-broken PS5 mothership due to the damage caused by their nemesis. It’s nothing fancy, yet somehow it’s able to sneak in amazing interactions between the bots, and that just makes everything a lot better than I think it actually is. Astro Bot still takes advantage of the console’s power too, but not by dipping into photorealism or needlessly flashy spectacle. Incredibly smooth performance means I’m never taken out of the flow by frame hiccups.

It’s Super Mario Bros. for a new generation of video game fanatics, at once an introduction to common mechanics and also a significant challenge for seasoned players. If this, alongside new titles like Lego Horizon Adventures, signals a new and less stuffy direction for Sony, then I’m excited to see what the future holds. For now though, you’ll find me trying to 100-percent Astro Bot, cursing and laughing the whole way through. Team up with iconic PlayStation heroes to save the galaxy and experience the game’s immersive world through the DualSense® wireless controller.

Each aspect of the game is superb and should be taken as the gold standard of how to release a game. The stunning visuals, great sound design, interesting story, and amazing gameplay round out a near perfect release of a game. The gimmicks introduced in the game are reminiscent of Super Mario Odyssey’s level design, where stages have a central gimmick that you have to work around. These could range from dashes, magnets, extendable arms, or anything of the sort.

Enhanced Experience

Team ASOBI’s masterpiece claims the prestigious Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2024. Experience the revolutionary PS5 platformer that triumphed over acclaimed titles to win Video Game of the Year, along with Best Game Direction, Best Action/Adventure, and Best Family Game. Think of the character Astro Bot has in Sony’s version of Nintendo’s Mario or Sega’s Sonic The Hedgehog. 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. Click the link to find detailed information on where to find the Bots hidden in all the stages.

You’ll dash, swing, and rocket-punch through diverse planets, unlocking 15 new abilities, including using Barkster, the Bulldog Booster, to air-dash and smash enemies. Or, on the other side, celebrate wildly with validation when the game they like is recognized. So thoughtful and it pays such an awesome homage to PlayStation consoles and games over the years. It truly takes advantage of all the different features the PS5 remote offers and is just pure awesome joy.

Astro Bot is a showcase for the DualSense’s bells and whistles unlike anything since, well… Triggers tighten in your fingers and rumbles are sent through your thumbs. I found my whole body involuntarily drifting from side to side as I guided Astro’s ship with the motion controls. I’d also recommend turning your controller speaker volume up if, like me, you have it muted by default – you’ll be missing out on some fantastic audio flourishes otherwise.

There are 200 cameo characters in Astro Bot, most of whom first appeared in iconic PlayStation franchises. Unlocking all of them can be incredibly difficult, but not half as challenging as trying to figure out which games and series all of the cameo bots are from. 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.

Physical editions of Astro Bot come with a physical poster of the robots on their PS5 mothership, plus the preorder bonuses detailed below. In TG88 to the winners, The Game Awards contained its customary array of trailers, including first reveals for Witcher 4, a new Elden Ring game, Okami 2, and Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic. We have tons of follow-up coverage on the site, including deep dives into both Elden Ring Nightreign and Witcher 4 and lots more. Astro Bot is the most recent entry in the Astro Bot series and was released in 2024 for the PlayStation 5 in celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary. We’ve also outlined which character each of them represents, what series they’re from, and where to find them in the game. You can see that most of those are indies with fewer reviews counted, and the scores I omitted are for “definitive collections” or remasters which I’m not going to count.

Astro Bot Review: Sony’s Still Got It

These additions enrich the gameplay while further establishing Astro as a character. Seeing Astro take out and play his PS One or being frightened to death in a horror-themed stage adds to his charm in classic mascot character fashion. Team Asobi’s success with creating a game to showcase new PlayStation technology led to its next game, The Playroom VR. Similar to its predecessor, The Playroom VR was a free launch game for the PlayStation VR that functioned as a showcase for Sony’s venture into the world of virtual reality.

“Each level comes with a brand new Special Bot to rescue and, once that’s done, can be replayed in Time Attack mode with online rankings.” The biggest evolution of the cameo characters, however, is that four of them will actually lend you their weapons, which Astro needs to use in stages specifically designed for each one. Sony just never seemed to have an answer to Nintendo’s Mario or Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog.

But what I really love about Astro Bot is that it’s also just filled with bits and pieces. Stuff to roll around in, stuff that forms little piles that can be kicked about. I’ll open a chest and there will be lumps of gold rolling around at the bottom. In one completely dazzling level I was given a magnet, and soon I was vacuuming up metal bars by the dozen and spray cans by the hundreds, all ready to form a bait ball I could fling at a distant target.