Other than these gameplay examples, the special bots in the game also have unique and special animations that you can unlock in the game’s Gacha Lab, which adds even more personality to the already amazing-looking models. It’s not all that different from other platformers out in the market right now, yet it’s able to stand out from the rest with its fun and unique gimmicks, amazing level design, and amount of content. When comparing the game to something like Super Mario Odyssey, you could even say that Astro Bot may have taken a lot of inspiration from the Nintendo exclusive.

Team Asobi has shipped the kind of polished product you expect from the best developers – refined to a fine sheen, excellent performance and clever solutions for every possible rough edge. Loading between levels never robs you of control and is super fast. It feels finely tuned from top to bottom and I think that’s something to commend.

Awards

While the protagonist may seem plain in design compared to a mustached plumber or chilidog eating hedgehog, Astro is memorable in his own rights. I have said a lot of words, but none truly capture the emotions of curiosity and bliss felt while playing. Gameplay Programmer, Akira Ishii speaks on this better than I ever could. He explains, “This ASTRO BOT is a love letter to our game fans…We created this game with love, and we hope the love letter reaches everyone”.

These short sprints are littered with fast-moving objects, numerous enemies, and precise gaps to hop across that are designed to trip you up. Throw a complete lack of checkpoints into the mix as well, and these are easily some of the toughest tasks in Astro Bot, with a final level that’s a real tough nut to crack. It’s a non-stop gauntlet of quickfire threats that made me piece together everything I had learned up until that point in a frantic, but still fun test. Unlike ASTRO’s Playroom, ASTRO BOT is a standalone, full-sized adventure that offers over four times more worlds, 300 bots to rescue and dozens of new powers and features to discover.

Astro Bot

Astro Bot levels are beautiful, brought to life by genius art direction and some of the best graphics on the PS5. It all feels so alive thanks to how the DualSense controller reacts to what players see on the screen, with Astro Bot making great use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and speaker. It’s a shame that most other PS5 games don’t even come close to utilizing these features to their full potential. For those hoping to get as much playtime as possible out of the package, Astro Bot packs in plenty to do. There are secret levels to find, puzzle pieces in each level, a gacha machine filled with outfits, and a home base that evolves into a full-on playground over time.

Camo Cosmos Hidden Bot Locations

The monkey power-up lets you scale walls, while the mouse ability shrinks you down to access tiny spaces. There’ vz88.com -esque F.L.U.D.D power that uses liquid to move Astro around. The sequel to a simple pack-in game is a flawless love letter to both PlayStation’s history and video games in general. Carefully jump onto the invisible platforms above the other sunken stones in the desert until you reach the other side (remember to use your booster dog). Open it and take the secret exit to unlock the High-Suction Hero level in the Lost Galaxy.

After reaching 100% completion you will have close to 15,000 coins if you don’t spend them on satellites. If you don’t have enough coins you can always replay levels to get more. Players have long expected more DLC, however, as a number of unreleased bots appeared in the Astro Bots credits. Featured here are licensing credits for Rayman, Worms, Assassin’s Creed, Beyond Good & Evil, Croc, and Tomba, potentially revealing which five special bots will be released alongside these levels. That being said, Armored Hardcore is almost certainly a reference to Armored Core, while Cock-A-Doodle-Doom is likely Doom, so bots from these franchises are also likely.

Even a project by Behaviour the Dead by Daylight devs (me I know fro Scaler/Wet) had a car in some sci-fi worlds. The fact things are so simple these days that that’s amazing because realism/simplicity of using things. As you collect Bots, you will return to your home base, a sand planet where your PS5 ship crashed, which is full of its own manner of secrets you can access as you get more and more Bots to help you. Out in space, you will run into hidden challenge levels like arena fights and pretty difficult death-defying one-life runs gauntlet that are the hardest content in an otherwise very chill game. I mean, it is meant to be for kids, as much as adults can enjoy it.

There are secret exits in several Astro Bot levels, all of which will unlock a new stage in the mysterious Lost Galaxy nebula. To unlock them all, you’ll need to scour certain levels and even solve some mini puzzles. Pulling together tips and tricks for a game that is so welcoming to all types of players feels a bit odd. But, because Astro is a silent protagonist and a lot is inferred rather than explained outright, some of the game’s elements left to the player to decipher may not be all that obvious to all. Team ASOBI has crafted a next-gen platforming experience that showcases everything the PlayStation 5 has to offer, from stunning visuals to innovative DualSense features. From incredible Astro Bot speedrun records to creative gameplay challenges, our community continues to discover new ways to enjoy this beloved platformer.

Easily the best missions are the final ones of each “nebula” where you will take on the persona of a famed PlayStation character with a unique ability. The Kratos/God of War level is the best one I’ve played in the entire game, where you have his ice axe to melee with and throw. At one point where you scoot through a tight wall space, I laughed out loud. Similarly, the Uncharted level where you wield a (colorful ball-shooting) gun and swing through a jungle is amazing.