Platform(s): PS5
Genre: 3D Platformer, Platforming, Collect-a-thon

3D platformers used to be the king of gaming. Nowadays, the genre has more or less been relegated to indies and Nintendo games. Some of gaming’s most enduring mascots have been from platformers, including Mario, Sonic and Crash Bandicoot. Many games, despite not being platformers, also have some kind of platforming in them. Team Asobi’s new Astro Bot game (which is actually the third entry in the series) is everything great about 3D platforming, celebrating the past, present and future of the genre, as well as the history and power of the PlayStation brand.

One Small Step For Astro

Just like any other great 3D platformer, the gameplay mechanics in Astro Bot are simple enough for gamers of all ages to pick up and play. Essentially, Astro can attack (by pressing Square) and jump (by pressing X). By holding Square, Astro Bot can charge up for a spinning attack not unlike Crash Bandicoot’s. By double jumping, Astro Bot has lasers shooting out of his feet that can not only damage enemies, but is also a great tool for showing you where you’ll land.

What spices up the gameplay and makes it even more fun are the different special power-ups that Astro can get in the game’s levels. These power-ups are found specifically on the levels that they’re designed for, so you can’t really choose or experiment with them on other levels. Each power-up can be activated by using the L2 and R2 trigger buttons. When you do get these power-ups, the mechanics are always exciting. For instance, one power-up is a boxing glove that extends. Of course, the obvious thing you can do is punch enemies from a distance but it also interacts with certain enemies and certain environments in a certain way.

There’s one enemy type that you can punch and your glove gets into its mouth, so you can toss it around like the Hulk did to Loki in 2012’s The Avengers. The boxing glove can also be used to swing across or pull parts of the environment. That’s how versatile one power-up is, and it’s always fun to see what they can do beyond simply just one thing. Besides the boxing gloves, other power-ups include a jetpack in the shape of a chicken that launches upwards vertically and a jetpack in the shape of a fog that launches onwards horizontally, while others let you slow down time and one allows you to float around like a balloon.

Other than the platforming and the power-ups, Astro Bot also makes a lot of use of the PlayStation DualSense controller’s gyroscope and motion controls. It’s nice to see this in a game because most other developers tend to ignore the DualSense’s motion controls, probably because it’s hard to implement in a game. However, in Astro Bot, you’ll be using it and it’s mostly usually fun.

The game uses motion control to control your DualSense-shaped spaceship called the Dual Speeder, to control robot hands while repairing the PS5 mothership and control the environments in a level sometimes. There is perhaps only one instance where the motion controls became frustrating and that’s during a level where Astro Bot gets a power-up that gives him monkey hands to climb up like mountain climbing. If you played 2020’s Astro’s Playroom, you’ll remember this one because it’s annoying to play, since you have to climb in sync while moving the controller in motion. Thankfully, it seems like the developers realise this, so the monkey hands power-up ONLY happens once in this one level and never again in any other level in the entire game. That being said, kudos to the developers because if you dislike motion controls as a whole, you can just disable it via the options and replace it with the left analogue stick instead.

The best part of Astro Bot is definitely the exclusive PlayStation-themed levels. There are several of them in the game, and they’re always the final levels of a given galaxy or system (the levels are presented as planets in a galaxy or system). These PlayStation-themed levels offer the best mechanic and gimmick of all; Astro Bot gets the powers of the main character from that PlayStation exclusive. The PlayStation-themed levels include Ape Escape, Uncharted, God Of War, and Horizon Zero Dawn. For instance, in the God Of War-themed level called Bot Of War, Astro gets to use Kratos’s Leviathan axe. Pressing the L2/R2 trigger will throw the Leviathan axe just like Kratos’ would, and pressing the button again will have it return to Astro Bot just like Kratos’ would. A lot of love and painstaking effort went into ensuring that these PlayStation-themed levels have so much detail.

For instance, each level will have the iconic theme of their original games playing in the background. That’s not even mentioning the sheer amount of other easter eggs and references. For instance, remember how you had to kill glowing ghost crows in the God Of War games? Team ASOBI actually put that into the God Of War-themed level and you even get a trophy for doing so.

Every level contains a set number of Bots. which Astro has to rescue. There are 301 Bots in the whole game. Half of those are generic Astro Bots while the other half are the interesting ones, the characters and easter eggs from other games, ranging from Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper to more obscure games like Rogue Galaxy. Technically, you only need around 200 Bots to finish the game but part of the fun is searching for these Bots and finding one that you recognize from another game. One great accessibility mechanic I would like to point out in Astro Bot is that after you play a level for the first time, you will get the option of paying 200 coins (the game’s main collectible and currency) to get a bird to accompany you on subsequent visits to that level. What this bird does is help you pinpoint where the Bots and Puzzle Pieces (another type of collectible) are in that level.

In addition, the aforementioned coins you collect are mainly used to be spent at the Gatcha machine. After rescuing Bots from the levels, you can get their special objects (which usually is a special easter egg piece related to the particular games that they’re from) by spending coins at the Gatcha machine. Doing so will unlock them and they will appear on your home hub planet (called the Crash Site).

As for the difficulty level in Astro Bot, most of the main levels that you need to complete to progress through the game are pretty easy, and clearly designed for gamers of any skill or age. However, there are some optional levels that you’ll have to unlock by exploring the different galaxies/systems, as well as finding lost levels. The lost levels are also pretty easy for the most part after unlocking them. The most challenging levels in the game are the special levels related to the four PlayStation symbols (Square, X, Circle, Triangle). These usually took several tries for me to complete, and some even had me dying many times because these special levels don’t have checkpoints. As a result, not only are the levels difficult enough, you’ll have to get through to the end in one go without dying.

Ultimately, it took me around 20 hours to fully complete the game and obtain the Platinum trophy. That’s a great length for a 3D platformer. If you truly spend time with the game, you could arguably spend a lot more than 20 hours if you take your time exploring and spending time just soaking in the levels. That being said, the post-game Grand Master challenge is no easy feat and I’m proud to say that I completed it. I’m sure many gamers will enjoy it too.

One Big Leap For Astro Bots

Team Asobi’s Astro Bot is proof and evidence that the best 3D platformers are timeless and will always be fun when they’re well-made with passion and love, and that’s exactly what Astro Bot is. If you’re a long-time PlayStation fan who’s been with the brand since the original PS1 days, there’s no way Astro Bot won’t make you relive your best nostalgic memories and make you feel like a kid again, in all the best ways.

PROS

• The controls are simple but feel divine to play (the platforming, etc.).
• The variety of power-ups and using the power of PlayStation characters spice up the gameplay.
• Charmingly beautiful visuals and animation that’s full of life and details.

CONS

• Might not completely gel with players who aren’t in-deep with PlayStation gaming & culture.

FINAL SCORE: 90/100

Review copy provided by the publisher. Astro Bot launches for PS5 on 6 September 2024.