The microphone makes the wind more intense while the vibrations of the sand are felt as the controller feels like a sandstorm. But it’s not all suits and colorful levels to enjoy, there’s also a mountain of collectibles to find that tug on the nostalgic heartstrings of any PlayStation fan. The game’s 16 levels feature nasty little bots to defeat, and little secrets and character cameos to find, such as the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy 7 or Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima. Levels have Astro jumping on fluffy clouds in Memory Meadows, skating along the ice in Cooling Springs, or blowing up asteroids in a later level in SSD Speedway.

Jump onto the left-hand one, right it up, then Beam Glide to the block on the right. At this spot, look at the wall between the red and green level entrys to find a ramp heading to the basement floor of the Plaza, where many different Bots are hanging out. The Astro franchise is built upon the success of the PlayStation brand and became the de facto mascot.

The character is a White Cloak, unlocked by finding all the Symbols in the game, and the struggle against the snow refers to the famous snowstorm finale. After defeating link tg88 and reaching the start of Mt. Motherboard, look to the left to spot two fighters, one victorious over the other. The scene depicts the canon ending of the game, where Kazuya Mishima is victorious over his father Heihachi. About halfway into the level you’ll cross over a DualShock Cable that is then blown by a fan.

Puzzle Piece 3/4 – After sliding down the long cable, pull the next wire and go up the two platforms moving up and down. Every time I had fun with the game, it always ended in me encountering an area that is simply impossible for me to finish. This includes all the aforementioned key areas of levels with physical mandatory controls, but also some minor elements that appear briefly through the game. Further mandatory physical interaction with the controller includes blowing into the microphone and flicking your finger to launch Astro like a slingshot.

This references 1996’s Crash Bandicoot on the PS1, developed by Naughty Dog and often considered the PlayStation’s earliest mascot-type character. The dance is the Crash dance created for Japanese ads of the game (specifically the modified one from the N-Sane Trilogy on PS4), while the mask is Aku Aku, Crash’s protector. Immediately to the left of the Wires that start this level is a water tank showing a Bot in a shark tank that’s circled by two dangerous Pirhanas.

We awarded the game a 9/10 in our Astro’s Playroom PS5 review, describing it as a “love letter to PlayStation”. Take control of ASTRO and feel the world through your DualSense wireless controller. Every step you take, every jump you make and every enemy you defeat are expressed in ways never felt before thanks to new, cutting-edge vibration technology.

Once you do, these bots will be added to your collection of bots when you play Astro Bot. So often that’s where magic in video games happens, and that’s most certainly the case here. On its own, this is a beautifully crafted, exquisitely paced and absolutely gorgeous 3D platformer.

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When you get to the very end of the level, you’ll land on a Sacred Symbols rainbow bridge. Turn around and run to the start of the bridge to see two bots at the title screen of “Bot of War”. This title screen references 2005’s God of War for the PS2, developed by SIE Santa Monica Studio.

Puzzle Piece 2/4 – From the next checkpoint, go to the left to find a cave area with this puzzle piece. Puzzle Piece 2/4 – When you reach the area with the monkey bars, you can reach this puzzle piece to the left side of the second one. Artifact 2/3 “Playstation Portable” – After riding the rotating platform, there is a switch on the other side which creates a lily pad platform back to the right.

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Combined with the hardware it’s bundled on, it’s something very special indeed – and one of the best launch titles I can remember in an age. It’s a phenomenal thing, taken even further with adaptive triggers that provide meaningful, forceful feedback. It deserves a place among the greats though – Astro’s Playroom has the coherence, character and abundance of ideas, executed with real clarity, of the very best platformers. In Astro’s Playroom, the player has to complete 4 main locations divided into 4 levels.

But overall, in a free game, a slew of challenge levels to test yourself in is just icing on a near-perfect cake. In between each standard platforming level are dedicated sections to unique suits for Astro. Memory Meadow, for instance, Astro becomes a little roller ball that uses the Dualsense’s trackpad for control instead of the left thumbstick. Astro’s Playroom is a very simple and small in-scale and scope game. Every bit of platforming presents almost no challenge, and so do the enemies.

Pull up the two small wires, followed by the revealed large wire in the middle to get this artifact. Artifact 1/2 “PS Move Sharpshooter”– After jumping up through the two slanted glass panels, jump to the left to an area with a wooden box with a diamond on it. Artifact 1/2 “DUALSHOCK 3 Wireless Controller” – Continue left out onto the small island, defeat the three enemies then pull up the wires to find this artifact.

The platformer also paved the way for the successful Astro Bot, Team Asobi’s hit game from 2024 that earned numerous Game of The Year awards. While Astro Bot may have eclipsed Astro’s Playroom, it seems developers have not forgotten about the adorable Astro’s first adventure, as the robot’s first game recently received new content. What caught me off guard the most was the hub area, CPU Plaza, having surprise platforming sections along its walls that spring to life instantly. However, the gameplay highlights in Astro’s Playroom are the special suits of the four areas. A grassy plain looks stunning in 4K, only for the plants to be lead with PlayStation face button symbols rather than flowers. A rocky wall you need to climb has coves jutting out that… are actually recreations of trigger switches.

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PaRappa in particular is famous for being the first rhythm game ever created. They’re cut-outs because all the characters were 2D in their games. After the melting snow platform section down the river, on the right side you can see two Bots by a door with a Bot further on in a lab coat. This refers to 1996’s Resident Evil on the PS1, developed by Capcom. The two characters are Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, while the lab coat Bot is series villain Albert Wesker.