For Nintendo, however, platformers and mascot characters continue to be an essential part of its business and identity. While fans feared that Nintendo could no longer compete during the GameCube era and later the Wii U era, the house of Mario’s inventive spirit allowed it to make multiple comebacks. The combination of beloved characters and playful technology set it apart. The game also crashed on me twice, both times erasing more progress than I’d have expected since I assumed it auto-saves after each level, but I’d lost about three or four levels of progress in both instances.
Nebulax grabs Astro to try to take him down with him, but the crew take hold of Astro to try to pull him back. Refusing to let the crew sacrifice themselves for him, Astro lets go of them and falls into the black hole, which explodes into a supernova. The Astro Bot franchise first began back in 2013 with a collection of mini-games known as The Playroom on PlayStation 4. This collection served as a way to showcase the PlayStation Camera and DualShock 4 capabilities. Three years later, the idea would be expanded with The Playroom VR, which did the exact same thing for the PSVR. Players seemed to love it so much that it warranted a fully-fledged game, so Team Asobi did just that in 2018.
Astro’s adventure takes him to various galaxies full of planets to explore as he tracks down his scattered crew. This part of our Astro Bot guide goes over each and every level in the game, highlighting where to find all collectibles and more. Every level brings something new, and the controls feel perfect. The bright graphics and little PlayStation references make it even better.
The dioramas are especially fun, as they turn all your collected bots into animated statues, like one that shows Nathan Drake playing a game called Dude Raider on his couch. Even the most serious of characters are turned into caricatures, like a scene you can create in which The Last of Us’ Joel goes to throw a brick, but it slips out of his hand and bonks him on the head. All of the 169 cameo bots fill in the would-be barren desert sands like a virtual shelf of Funko Pops. My favorite aspect of the game is how it seems to read my mind. Every time I’d divert off the main path in search of a secret or reward, I would find one.
What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot?
One of the best mechanics–which I very much hope becomes standard in the genre moving forward–is a robot bird companion who can join you in any level you decide to replay. The bird pings for collectibles and leads you right to the remaining bots, secret Void levels, and puzzle pieces you’ve not yet found. This makes playing the game to 100% completion a joy and never a grind. I’ve never cared about PlayStation Trophies before, but I expect to unlock them all in Astro Bot, if only incidentally because I want to see and do everything this game offers.
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When you reach the branches, jump off and over to the disco ball. Hit the button to reveal the secret exit, which will unlock the Boxel Bust-Up level in the Lost Galaxy. You’ll find yourself in a hidden cave filled with diamonds and the giant disco ball. Run up to the ball and activate it to reveal the secret exit, which will unlock the Light Bulb Limbo level in the Lost Galaxy.
Despite minor flaws, it stands out as one of PlayStation’s finest platformers, with many calling it a Game of the Year contender. Astro is revived by his Dual Speeder, a smaller spaceship resembling the DualSense controller, and together they begin reactivating satellites and exploring galaxies to rescue the crew and rebuild the mothership. Along the way, he rescues V.I.P. LUCK8 (guest characters from other games) and explores planets based on Ape Escape, God of War, Uncharted, LocoRoco, and Horizon. The feel of Astro Bot is both incredible and incredibly frustrating, but not for the reasons you think.
But now that players have been treated to a fully-fledged platformer, it could feel reductive to go back to those smaller adventures. And while there are many routes that platformers can take, the way Astro Bot celebrated the brand really helped prop it up as something special. All of this accounts for just a portion of what makes Astro Bot so interesting and fun. The technology is important but the core design and what they do with it is what made me fall in love with the game.
They’re charming and often the real highlight of the experience. I just wish there were one or two more of them, but perhaps I’m being greedy. Even powers from previous Astro adventures are reinvented to great effect.