In the mid 2000’s gaming lost a little something. After years of a never-ending rotating cast of platforming mascots of the week, Sony decided to take a grittier, more grounded approach with the PlayStation. While this led to a wealth of wonderful titles and sad dad adventures, a little sparkle left us that only Nintendo has been content to cater to.

With the surprise success of the delightful PS5 pack-in Astro’s Playroom, hope seemed to loom on the horizon that we may one day see a grand return to form of the mascot platformer atop Sony’s stars. Could its beefed up successor, Astro Bot, complete the trek back up to the perches once held by the likes of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Jax and Daxter? Keep reading to find out!

The Good

The World Coming to Life

There’s a cartoony shine to everything that really makes the world feel alive and realized. Just seeing little robot monkeys climbing up trees or dolphins playing with a nearby hoop breathes life into everything. This especially leaves its mark when the planets themselves make massive transitions like in one particular highlight level where you free a trapped giant bot to turn the rainy gloom into a beach bonanza.

Replaying Levels

In total, there are 300 bots, 120 puzzle pieces, and 10 secret exits to find across the 50+ planets of the game, meaning you are going to be replaying a decent chunk of levels if you want to find them all (and I highly recommend you do so). Astro Bot has a splendid way to ensure this process does not become a slog. Once completed, at the start of each level, you can choose to pay 200 coins to have a tracking bird join you. It will basically beep hot and cold as you near a collectible, which greatly improves your scavenging skills while also still requiring you to do some puzzle solving/exploration, so it does not become too easy.

Themed Planets

Following the major boss battle of each Nebula, you unlock a themed planet that provides a unique power up and cute outfit specific to (mostly) large PlayStation franchises. These all add a ton of variety to things and truly felt like the developers were showing off. Additionally, for the trophy hunters out there like myself, they also all contain fun hidden challenges. I apologize if this sounds a little vague, but I do not want to spoil the fantastic choices for the themed levels beyond what ads and the title screen have already done (more on spoiling further down).

Bosses

Often times, bosses are among the most underwhelming aspects of big 3D platformers (I’m looking at you, otherwise perfect Super Mario Odyssey), but that could not be further from the truth here. The unique combination of power-ups and move sets for each boss keeps you on your toes and continually provides a unique experience that goes beyond the usual hit three times and succeed approach often found. Additionally, their massive scales also bring a level of epicness to the proceedings to elevate the experience even further.

Making the Most of the DualSense Controller

It is somewhat remarkable that four years in to its lifespan, the DualSense controller has been best utilized by the two Astro games. While there are definitely some gimmicky things the controller can do, no series has been better about turning the controller itself into a fundamental aspect of the sensory experience of playing the game. Whether it’s raindrops tapping, using your mouth to blow leaves away, or screwing in hardware components to your busted PS5 ship, Astro Bot continues to find fun ways to maximize the controller that no one else seems interested in attempting.

Everything Works Like You Would Expect

To complement how well Astro Bot utilizes the DualSense, I never stopped being amazed every time I got a new power-up or discovered some environmental puzzle element that I immediately knew what to do with based on context. Everything feels like it should and just works instinctively from some really clever design.

The Unabashed Joy of It All

I guarantee that you will smile at least 1-2 times per level. This is easily this year’s analogue of Super Mario Bros. Wonder that was just so lovingly crafted that it is bursting from the seams with unbridled joy. Astro Bot is a true love letter to platformers and the PlayStation itself.

Unknown Nostalgia

The PlayStation ecosystem has been in my life for 29 years, yet I did not realize just how much nostalgia I have for its five generations. Every few levels, I suddenly found that I was a kid again as my nostalgia heartstrings were properly tugged on by everything from deep pulls to major characters.

The Actual Platforming

While I compared Astro Bot to Super Mario Bros. Wonder earlier for its sense of joy, the gameplay itself is more akin to Super Mario Galaxy. The many varied individual planets were clearly inspired by those in Galaxy, and the platforming is just as tight thanks to simple abilities like a hover with your glide combined with amusing power-ups that never overstay their welcome. For the most part, save some particular challenge planets you’ll hear about later, there is not much difficulty to be had, but it never comes across as too easy. Rather it just feels utterly satisfying effortlessly hopping from one adventure to the next.

The Crash Site Hub

At its very big heart, Astro Bot is a collect-athon. This could easily fall flat and be monotonous if not for the excellent hub area where your collected items spring to life with imaginative accessories and help you solve puzzles to unlock even more goodies. Thanks to the changing demands of the number of bots needed throughout, it helps maintain a goal that keeps your momentum going in your quest to find them all.

The Finale

Perhaps the biggest single moment of nostalgia in the entire game, the finale really nails bringing together all those machines and characters for an exhilarating change of pace that feels like a reward for making it to the end.

The Final Bot

After collecting every bot and puzzle piece, you unlock a new challenge in the Crash Site which just so happens to be the hardest level in the game and has no checkpoints. The reward for climbing this mountain is the 301st bot, and the character they selected for it made me laugh so freaking hard. It was just such a perfect choice that again highlighted the developers’ love for the nearly 3 decades of PlayStation.

The Mixed Bag

Level Length

This is surely a weird thing to complain about, but during my initial playthrough of each level, I wished that many of them were a little tighter. This is mainly because you are searching every nook and cranny trying to get as many collectibles your first time through as possible. The second time through, though, when you are more tackling the critical path of the level with only minor detours for the remaining collectibles ends up feeling just right lengthwise.

Challenge Planets

Each region has several challenge planets without checkpoints that are either fighting a lot of enemies, making enemies fall through breakable ground, or, in the most arduous cases, lengthy platforming gauntlets that can often be maddening. To be clear, I am quite glad they exist, and I think once Astro Bot adds speedrunning functionality in a planned update these will become among the best parts of the game. As they stand now, however, they can sometimes feel like a weird tonal shift from the breezy nature of the rest of the game. Thankfully, they are optional for anyone who may not want to attempt the difficulty spike.

Audio Levels

Astro Bot takes advantage of the speaker on the DualSense controller. This is great for making things even more fun and toylike while upping the immersion level. Unfortunately, as a result, some of the audio coming from my speakers felt drowned out if I did not raise it well past where I usually do. In game, there was no good way to adjust this, but hopefully in the system settings themselves there is a way to optimize this.

The Bad

The Cute Astro Controller Keeps Going Out of Stock

Listen, I really need to grasp for straws here to find some things to fill out the “Bad” section. There is a very cute PS5 controller for Astro Bot that is pretty much impossible to nab before it goes out of stock. It almost makes me want to rejoin Twitter so I can follow Wario 64 to get a leg up on the scalpers.

Not Wanting to Spoil Surprises

The game is filled with tons of wonderful little surprises and nods to PlayStation’s past. Since I blasted through the game in essentially a weekend, I found myself stuck not wanting to ruin the surprises for others by talking about all the cool moments that happened. Instead, conversations needed to focus purely on gameplay.

The Verdict

In every measurable way, Astro Bot is an unequivocal success and proof that the mascot platformer did not have to die along with the hundreds of goons left in the wake of characters like Nathan Drake. From graphics to gameplay to the sheer nostalgia and joy of it all, Astro Bot deserves to be in every PlayStation owner’s collection and belongs firmly in the mix for this year’s GOTY. It takes advantage of the hardware and our love of video games unlike anything in recent memory, and I hope this is just the beginning of Astro’s moment among gaming’s giants.