As a matter of fact, I sold Elden Ring (which was a horrible experience for me – but I’m glad some people are enjoying it) to buy this little gem. Buying at Full Price for £55 to support more of these kind of games. The fact that it is rated so high for the limited type of game that it is, just tells me that the review scores are unreliable and steers me away from it because it is scored so high. For reference, Baldurs Gate 3 was also given a 10 by Push Square, and there is literally no way this game is of the same calibre of a game that is the best RPG in living memory. If you didn’t buy the game (which I’m guessing is the case) they don’t owe you anything.

Psychonauts

Many platformers have done a lot over the years in abilities/level design/marketing not reaching people, more dialogue/combat/other crap & level design/movesets taking a hit. @Bluetrain7 Nearly every level has at least one Bot to rescue, including the challenge levels and secret levels. In order to get the Platinum, you need to rescue every Bot and get every Puzzle Piece. @rjejr I personally wouldn’t describe any of it as gimmicky; if I could compare it to anything, think of Super Mario Galaxy.

Some are on the linear side, testing your platforming skills, but others are more open, giving you some freedom as to how to achieve your goal. You might find yourself equipped with gloves that allow you to pummel enemies at range, for example, or a bulldog strapped to your back with which you can charge into heavy items and send them flying. As previously mentioned, anyone that has played Astro’s Playroom will have a good idea of what to expect here.

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. 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. While some of these are repeated, these same gimmicks are mixed with more interesting overall level designs to keep things fresh.

I only hope my friend is ready to collect some well-deserved trophies of his own. Astro Bot succeeds in so much of what it does that it feels traditional in both the best and worst ways. Back during the era of the platformer, when everyone was taking a swing at things, this was a point in gaming that hadn’t yet approached making certain aspects of its design built around accessibility.

While it’s beautiful to see people celebrating online, it is a shame when a moment of joy, such as a less well-renowned title like Astro Bot winning Game of the Year, is tarnished by a negative swell. Combine this with the fact that extreme views increase the number of likes a post gets, and therefore how much it’s seen, and what you’re left with is an environment that’s set up to prioritize strong opinions. An interesting study reported by Scientific American showed that one of the elements that drives online polarization are influencers. As the piece explains, in network science, an influencer is someone who is connected to lots of other people.

Playstation Releases Wrap-up 2025 Recap, Here’s How To View Yours

That might be disappointing to some, but it’s an intentional design choice that works in the game’s favor, as Astro Bot is much more focused on the “experience” and wants players to have pure, unfiltered fun. There are optional challenge levels that open up later on, however, for anyone who might be craving that. Astro Bot just got a brand new update, adding five new challenge levels complete with their own new special bots to unlock.

Astro Bot’s ‘gacha’ Covered On Coin

You’ll need a minimum of 15,000 Coins to unlock a total of 150 prizes, and that’s not including any duds you get from the Gatcha Machine. To open the Changing Room on your Crash Site, you will need to collect 16 Puzzle Pieces to unlock it, or a total of 48 overall. To open the Dual Speeder Garage on your Crash Site, you will need to collect 16 Puzzle Pieces to unlock it, or a total of 32 overall. Once you have completed the puzzle for the Gatcha Lab (total of 16 Puzzle Pieces), the next 16 you collect will automatically fill in the Dual Speeder Garage puzzle and the Dual Speeder Garage will appear at your Crash Site. To open the Safari Park on your Crash Site, you will need to collect 16 Puzzle Pieces to unlock it, or a total of 64 overall. To open the Gatcha Lab on your Crash Site, you will need to collect your first 16 Puzzle Pieces to unlock it.

After spending time with one and getting used to it, players will find themselves in a different level using the same ability in a completely different way. For example, in one level Astro needs to turn into a metal ball in order to roll across beds of spikes, while another uses the ball ability to prevent Astro from being crushed by the jaws of a crocodile. To assist with his mission, Astro can use over 15 new abilities offering unique play styles. Combined with improved n188com , these new powers take the Astro platforming experience to new heights while remaining accessible for all.

Like Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot is not just a game that PS5 owners can play themselves, but also one that they can share with their less-experienced loved ones. Will this new adventure bring Astro even closer to mascot character status? If the father and son Doucet saw at Yodobashi Camera is an indication, Astro could very well be on his way to familiarize a younger audience with the PlayStation brand. According to Jamie Smith, Team Asobi’s Principle Animation Director, the animations of Astro and other characters in the game have been drastically increased. 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.

The levels are well designed and mostly linear, with small open range areas here and there. The controls are extremely simple, with Astro having a double jump and the ability to glide short distances, similarly to Yoshi’s flutter jump, with his little jet boots. The latter can be used to damage enemies from above or Astro has a basic punch attack – all of which is exactly as it’s been in previous games. Astro bot Rescue Mission (VR ONE) is still the MOST transformative game I’ve played in my adult life. If you’ve become jaded or gaming bores you, it’ll legit make you feel like a kid playing games for the first time again. That feeling that desentized adults have to take drugs to feel, I kid you not.

Use the checklists below to help fill in those gaps and track what you need to collect to work towards Platinum. There is prototyping for games, and there is what Astro does is pull inspiration from the games… Anyway, I bought it, to support the team, and I’m eager to play it. Because, in Rescue Mission, you’ve got genius ideas everywhere AND one of the best uses of VR I’ve ever played.

For what it is, though, Astro Bot is incredible, and that is worth celebrating here and now. I just can’t help walking away from the experience with a bittersweet taste in my mouth and a hope that someday soon, we don’t have to look to gaming’s past for the best bits of it all. This review of Astro Bot was facilitated with a code provided by the game’s publisher. As of now, Sony does not have a PlayStation 6 on the horizon, nor does it seem to have any other major new hardware coming soon. Because of that, Astro does not have anything new that he can try to repair across multiple galaxies.