Astro Bot Review - A Whimsical Platformer Celebrating PlayStation’s History

Written by Brandon Hofer  on September 05, 2024

Reviews: Astro Bot is a really fun platformer that does a great job highlighting and celebrating Sony’s rich history in the gaming industry.

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Sony has been looking for a family friendly mascot for quite a long time now and it appears that Astro Bot from Team Asobi fits the bill. This platformer is a fun-filled homage to PlayStation’s history while also taking concepts from other popular games in the platforming genre to give fans a largely polished and adorable game. You don’t need to be knowledgeable about the history of PlayStation to enjoy Astro Bot, however, you will enjoy it much more if you understand the plethora of easter eggs that are present throughout the game. For those who have been with PlayStation for a long time and are aware of its history, this game is a love letter to many of the games and devices that Sony has released since the days of the original PlayStation.

Astro Bot starts with a charming cinematic that sets up the story for this adventure. A bunch of different bots are flying through space with a PlayStation 5 acting as their spaceship. Unfortunately an alien appears and rips the console apart, causing it to crash on a planet. The adventure begins here as Astro Bot tries to find and rescue all 300 of his friends that have been scattered throughout the galaxy. For those who have played platformers in the past, you largely know what to expect there from a basic gameplay perspective. Astro Bot is heavily inspired by Nintendo and the Mario franchise, so if you are a Mario fan, you will be familiar with a lot of what you see here. What that means is that this is a really fun adventure for the whole family to go through, even with a couple of rough edges here and there.



The Crash Site that I mentioned earlier has a few different biomes that will open up as you progress in the game. You can’t do it alone though and will require the help of your friends. One of these biomes requires that you have found at least 60 of your friends, for example, so they can help you cross the large gap between the main portion of the crash site and the new biome. Once you get to this new area there will be a few challenges to complete, once again utilizing your allies to do so. It is a fun way to do things and a great idea on how to incentivize players to really go out and explore the levels to find each and every robot in the game. With 300 robots to track down it will take a little while to do but most of them are easy enough to find as long as you thoroughly search each level.

The Crash Site also functions as your overall hub. Once you complete a level all of your found friends will appear there. Once you finish an area within the galaxy and recover a piece of the destroyed PlayStation 5, the Crash Site is where you will see it slowly being rebuilt. As you find different puzzle pieces throughout the game, new options will become available to the player. For example, there is the “Gatcha Lab” where you can get special bots, puzzle pieces, or accessories for the special PlayStation bots that are placed in the game. The way that Astro Bot travels from level to level is on a spaceship that is in the form of a DualSense controller. At the Crash Site you can pick the different colors your DualSense space ship will be, similar to how Sony sells different colors of the controller in stores. You can also wear different outfits as you find special bots in the game.



Speaking of the different levels in the game, the people at Team Asobi have done a great job creating whimsical, self-contained adventures in each one. Within the first system that you visit includes a garden level in the clouds with flamingos, swimming, platforming, and more. There is another level called “Creamy Canyon” that has the theme of an ice cream cone, and many more. After you defeat the boss of each system, you will come across a new PlayStation character that will unlock a new level in that system.During the first system you visit, which is “Gorilla Nebula,” you will discover a character from Ape Escape. After you beat the boss you will come across a new level dedicated to the Ape Escape franchise. This is a really great idea and will be a lot of fun for fans of the franchise. There is a special level like this in each different system. I will not spoil the other franchises that have a level dedicated to them but PlayStation fans will be really excited to see the characters and worlds that Team Asobi decided to highlight. Keep in mind if you miss a bot in a level you can always go back and replay it. There is even a special mechanic the second time around where you can hire someone to help you track down the bots and/or puzzle pieces you missed during your first run.

As you progress through the different levels, a number of different mechanics will be introduced. In one level, Astro Bot can turn himself into a big balloon so that he can float up to a platform that is too high for him to jump onto. Another level will allow Astro Bot to turn into a ball, similar to how you can do on Metroid. Yet another level has a time mechanic where you can temporarily stop time to help you get past some obstacles. Astro Bot offers a lot of variety in this area which means I was bored when exploring all of the different aspects each world had to offer. These new mechanics could be used in combat as well, not just for platforming or solving puzzles. One of the funniest examples of this is turning yourself into a ball and letting an enemy suck you into his mouth. Once he does that, he will explode a few moments later. I definitely chuckled a few times when I first realized what was going on.



As far as enemies and the overall combat in the game are concerned, there is quite a bit to work with here. Astro Bot does have standard melee attacks where you can walk up and just punch most enemies in the mouth. You will want to be careful here though as some enemies have spikes that will suddenly appear which resulted in me getting taken out on more than a few occasions. Other enemies can fire projectiles in your direction, sniping you out of the air, so you must exercise caution in those moments. In addition to the standard melee, you can also jump and hold down the “X” button to hover for a few moments. Similar to how Mario does it with water in Super Mario Sunshine, Astro Bot has a hover ability that can slice and dice enemies if you float over them at the right moment. Then of course you have the aforementioned mechanics that change from level to level, which will help you fight enemies in different ways.

In addition to all of that, the DualSense controller is also used in unique and creative ways. Sounds from the game will come out of the controller’s speaker, immersing players even further into the experience. When you rescue a bot in the game you can see on the screen how that bot jumps into the DualSense for safety. The portion of the controller that has the big touch pad opens up and allows the bots to jump inside. Once you have rescued some of these bots you can pause the game and see them standing there celebrating. If you tilt the controller to the left or right that section will close on the screen so the bots don’t fall out. If you want to have some more fun, flip the controller up quickly to send the bots flying up and out of the controller. It doesn’t really add anything to the gameplay but it is something fun to do and another nice touch by the development team.



Exploration plays a big part in Astro Bot, both within each level and even in space when you are flying from planet to planet. Explore the area around you and you might find some hidden levels or puzzle pieces that suddenly appear. Some of these hidden levels are mini-levels, such as “Retro Rampage 1.” This mini-level has more of a block-like retro feel to it, somewhat similar to Minecraft. All I have to do is fight some enemies and I pass it. Compared to the normal levels this only takes me a few moments to complete but it is a nice addition to everything and gives you a special PlayStation related bot to find. Unfortunately not all of the hidden levels are good.

Most systems will have hidden void levels based off of the PlayStation symbols. For example, one system will have a few hidden levels based on the triangle button, while another system will have levels based off of the square button. The iconography and spirit of these levels is absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, in this family friendly game, the difficulty spike in these levels is uneven and will frustrate younger or more casual gamers that haven’t played many platformers. I have played platformers for years and I even had a lot of trouble with these particular levels. What these levels require of the player, compared to what the standard levels require, is pretty different. I eventually made my way through all of them but not without a lot of frustration. I know there is a section of gamers that won’t be able to get through some of these and that is unfortunate for a game that is otherwise exceptional.



The difficulty spike in these levels is kind of insane, which leads into another problem in Astro Bot. Sony first party titles usually have a tremendous suite of accessibility features so that as many people as possible can enjoy their games. Unfortunately, Astro Bot bucks this trend with almost no options. The only accessibility options available include “Controller Tilt Assist,” “Visual Aid,” and “Camera Assist.” Astro Bot is not a tremendously complex game and it certainly isn’t something like The Last of Us. With that said though, some more options would have been appreciated so the experience can be a bit more fine tuned for those who might not have the experience needed for some of these optional levels. It is important to note that, yes, they are optional, and can be avoided entirely, unless you are a completionist. It still would have been nice to see more options to help out the diverse user base.

Overall, Astro Bot really is a whimsical, fun adventure that everyone should experience. My hope is that it eventually arrives on PC one day. Steam has DualSense support so the fact that the game heavily utilizes the PS5 controller should not be a barrier for a PC version. The level of care that Team Asobi obviously put into each level and all of the references to PlayStation’s past is a delight to see and experience. You don’t need to be familiar with PlayStation’s history to enjoy this game but it will certainly enhance the experience. The different mechanics are well thought out and the PlayStation characters that were given the star treatment with their own levels are absolutely fantastic. Astro Bot isn’t a perfect game as I mentioned above but it is an exceptional title that everyone must play. Astro Bot is heavily influenced by Nintendo and the Mario franchise but that isn’t a bad thing at all. Team Asobi might finally have given Sony the family friendly platform mascot that they have been needing for a very long time.