Vibrant colors make me feel like I’m in a cartoon, but Team Asobi doesn’t flatten its environments or skimp on detail. In one level, I start by walking across swaths of bright green foliage. I feel the crunch of the grass between my metal feet and hear the sound from my DualSense’s speakers. Then I move on to a metallic checkerboard floor, where I hear my legs lightly click-clacking on the tiles.
One of them is a set of cymbals that moves the platforms of the world around that other, lesser games might build their whole universe around. Astro Bot puts it in the final treat that you only get to even play if you beat every other level, including all the secret ones (and boy, are there a lot of secret ones). But it’s not just PS1 reminiscing that makes Astro Bot so great—not by a long shot. A true audiovisual tour-de-force, Astro Bot makes full use of the PS5’s DualSense controller, utilizing it in ingenious, but also somehow obvious, ways to maximize enjoyment. And “enjoyment” is certainly an apt descriptor, as few modern games are capable of evoking the sense of childlike joy that Astro Bot excels at, regardless of player age. Strong and varied platforming mechanics are other building blocks of Astro’s gameplay, allowing for exhilarating and unexpected interactive opportunities.
As you would expect from an Astro game, these take full advantage of the DualSense controller, its haptic feedback and adaptive triggers so you can feel every little step along the journey. [newline]Combined with improved Astro controls, these new powers take the Astro platforming experience to new heights, while remaining accessible for all. We can’t wait for you to get your hands on these and let us know how they feel. These occasionally repetitive enemies are also an important part of Astro Bot’s difficulty. The main levels are never too tough – the real challenge is finding all the bots and collectibles – but there are special secret levels that test your skill. These have no checkpoints, so they’re not for the faint of heart.
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Feel every moment through the DualSense controller with advanced haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and motion controls. Like everyone else, I was thoroughly impressed with the game itself, not to mention all the free content it’s gotten since launch. But even if I think Astro Bot was every bit as deserving, I had my proverbial money on Elden Ring being the first game to win GOTY twice, with secret hopes for Balatro to pull an indie upset and turn the Game Awards on its head. [newline]Still, I can’t deny that Astro Bot deserves every bit of praise it gets.
They even announced that the game will be receiving free DLC in the near future. If there’s one thing to criticize, it’s the exclusivity and the need to buy a PS5 to experience this masterpiece. Everyone should be able to experience this kind of fun, as with the amount of games there are, it’s only a few games that really go the distance. As a platformer, Astro Bot is definitely the best to come this year. The fun factor is unparalleled for a game of this genre, despite it’s obvious simplicity. The biggest thing to take away from the game is how well it uses the DualSense to its advantage.
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There are a few different reasons for this, the first of which is that Astro Bot’s core gameplay is as solid as titanium. If you’ve played any other Mario-esque platformer, you know what to expect here, but Team Asobo has really created a game that feels astoundingly satisfying to play, even in the most minute ways. You have absolute control of Astro’s jumps and punches, with smart features like lasers that come out of his feet opening up even more options for gameplay. Astro Bot received universal acclaim from both critics and players.
They are used to seeing the PS5 struggle with unreal engine 5 games, so a platform game that renders low quality cartoon textures at a fast rate but only occasional dips below 60 was a surprise. I am playing now with my daughter and I find something that team Asobi are geniuses. Here Astrobot has the talent & the polish but are the mechanics/moveset actually as good as the forgotten platformers nope. Splatoon 2 was good to me early this year, grapple/other details were simple but great QOL over 1 & the guns as grapples, etc. were fair & the level design was great. Pre-ordered as I have no idea when or what the next Sony game is I’ll get. Will be playing this next week after getting through the Blops 6 beta this weekend.
Astro Bot Rescue Mission was a VR game that had players explore multiple worlds in search of Astro’s lost crew. luck8 became one of the highest-rated VR games, so naturally, the franchise did not stop there. Astro’s Playroom would launch in 2020 pre-installed on every PS5, and once again served as a tech demo for the studio’s latest controller. Then, in 2024, players were treated to the full-length critically acclaimed platformer Astro Bot. So, at this point, it’s fair to say that Team Asobi nailed the core game feel, the level design and the visuals. It’s a beautiful game that plays like a dream and offers things that manage to feel completely new and fun – and ultimately, as I think about my time playing Astro Bot, I can’t help but feel great about it.
All I hope now is that Team Asobo is given quite literally anything it wants to make its next game because I’m already there for it. Astro Bot doesn’t care about such baggage, but if it did you’d probably use your mechanical arms to throw it at a giant robotic ape before smashing in said ape’s teeth and propelling yourself into its soon-to-be exploded head. Astro Bot only cares about fun, and I genuinely can’t think of a single moment it made me wish something had been handled differently, tweaked to be easier, or expanded upon.
Sony intentionally disabled CD support on both the PS4 and PS5, so inserting a standard CD into the console simply doesn’t work out of the box. This focus also affected the platformer’s story, as the game has fewer than 13 minutes of cutscenes. Astro Bot’s best moments take inspiration from some of PlayStation’s biggest games while adding a unique twist.
Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a 2018 virtual reality platform game developed and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4’s PlayStation VR headset. It stars a cast of robot characters first introduced in The Playroom and The Playroom VR. In the game, the player plays as Captain Astro, who aims to rescue his lost crew scattered across different worlds. For $59.99, this is quite literally the best platformer out in the current year. There’s so much to collect, levels to conquer, and secrets to discover that it actually feels weird that it’s not charged at the normal AAA premium.
Balan wasn’t great but each suit even for 80 to me went yeah I can sense each has a fair purpose even if not implemented well of the use cases, it still has a use. Like Rayman 3 did with it’s suits which is why I bought Balan, I still got my fun out of it besides how bad it is for sure. But I think this all the time with videos I watch/games I play/research and end up with large comments like this.
For audiences to be ‘simple’ or devs really are just those types of people with no good ideas to think deep up to prototype them. Their skills, their time, their visions, their publisher demands, whatever the case. Does it have unique enough mechanics like older platformers nope. The ears look cool, no mechanic, small size theme/cosmetic, sigh.
Gameplay revolves around a variety of platforming challenges, with extensive utilization of PlayStation technology such as virtual reality and the DualSense controller. Levels and stages are based on PlayStation products, while some of the supporting cast, introduced in Astro’s Playroom, are influenced by existing PlayStation franchises and mascots. Stephen has been part of the Push Square team for over six years, bringing boundless enthusiasm and a deep knowledge of video games to his role as Assistant Editor. Having grown up playing every PlayStation console to date, he’s developed an eclectic taste, with particular passion for indie games, arcade racers, and puzzlers.