Astro Bot Review - A PlayStation Platformer Masterpiece

Astro Bot is a 3D platformer that truly elevates the PlayStation 5 experience. As a first-party PlayStation title, it exudes pure joy, embracing a simple concept - a game designed to put a smile on your face while immersing you in the charming adventure of an adorable robot. Developer Team Asobi showcases simplicity and creativity, ensuring every moment spent with Astro Bot feels rewarding. This game is undeniably one of PlayStation’s finest offerings in recent years.

An Intergalactic Rescue Mission

Anyone who owns a PS5 is familiar with Astro’s Playroom, the delightful 3D platformer that has been pre-installed on every PS5 since the system’s release in 2020. Astro Bot builds on that foundation, delivering a fully realized experience that doubles down on its predecessor's charm. With over double the content, it retains the simple, addictive platforming gameplay while introducing unique level designs and creative power-ups.

The story is straightforward: Astro Bot and his friends are cruising around the galaxy on their PS5-themed ship when an alien attack damages their craft, and the invaders steal a crucial chip. The ship crash-lands, scattering Astro Bot's friends across the galaxy. Your mission is to rebuild the ship and rescue as many of Astro Bot’s friends as possible. Along the way, you collect puzzle pieces that unlock new features in the game’s hub (more on that later).

Greatness Found in Level Design

From the very beginning, Astro Bot’s level design stands out. Each level is uniquely themed and visually vibrant. There’s never a sense of repetition that weighs the game down, as every stage has something distinct that makes it memorable. Whether it’s a platforming segment that requires the use of Astro Bot’s punching tool to clear the way to the next area, a time-slowing tool that makes incoming projectiles platforms for a limited time, helping a giant robot chained to a planet, or transforming into a metal ball immune to spikes and heat, there’s always something new to discover. 

Beyond these unique levels, there are also stages themed around iconic PlayStation franchises. You’ll get to play as a Kratos-inspired Astro Bot in a God of War-themed level, an Aloy Bot in a Horizon-themed level, or explore a deep cut from PlayStation’s history, such as an Ape Escape-inspired level where you’ll capture loose monkeys with a net. It’s all topped off with each franchise's iconic musical score, slightly altered to fit the Astro Bot feel, but still noticeable by trained ears.

Astro Bot travels through lush jungles, a galaxy casino, snowy planets with crazed snowmen, ancient ruins, and even violent volcanoes. Every level is so fun and engaging that I felt compelled to explore every nook and cranny. Even my fiancée noticed how much I was enjoying myself, pointing out the weird facial expressions and reactions I made while playing. The attention to detail—whether in enemy design, environments, or the musical score—shows the care and thought put into every aspect of the game.

Impressive Detail Around Every Corner

The enemies in Astro Bot are full of personality. You’ll face everything from stationary robotic birds that attack with their heads only to get stuck in the ground and expose their weak point, to robots that try to suck you inside their vacuum only to panic when you turn into a metal ball, causing them to clog and explode. There's even a hidden door that displays a "><" expression when you pull it open. The game is consistently expressive, reminiscent of 3D Mario games, particularly Super Mario Galaxy.

This level of detail didn’t make Team Asobi sacrifice graphical quality as visuals are stunning, with no noticeable bugs or issues to detract from the experience. Astro Bot runs smoothly at 60 FPS, without the usual graphical or performance options found in most modern console games. Instead, it maintains a consistent visual flair that showcases its charm.

Boss battles are a particular highlight. They are animated with great facial expressions and provide a decent challenge. Astro Bot gives players two additional lives, as you usually die from one hit on most levels. Like classic Mario boss fights, you need to hit them three times. The cartoony manner in which these bosses are exposed, with over-the-top reactions to being hit, reminded me of old Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Initially, I was concerned about the game's difficulty, but the boss battles soon alleviated those worries. I then discovered these short levels that are so difficult I spent 30 minutes on one, side level hidden off the main path, as it offers a surprising challenge, requiring precision and a deep understanding of Astro Bot’s abilities. While it’s not Super Meat Boy levels of difficult, you could find yourself leaning forward to focus.

Rescuing All These Astro Bots Was Worth It

The Astro Bots you rescue populate the Crash Site, the temporary home of the PS5 ship that also serves as the game's hub, a base that you return to after your travels to rebuild your PS5 ship. Each group of rescued Astro Bots has its own unique spot—like the Metal Gear Solid Bots on one side, the Ape Escape Bots on another, and the Death Stranding group nearby. As the hub grows, it slowly evolves into an Astro Bot playground. This hub is like a level of its own, expanding as you rescue more Astro Bots. For example, an area requiring 50 Astro Bots to access will have them form a human bridge to cross to the other side, while another needing 100 Bots will have them lift a structure from the sand.

The hub continues to grow and gain new features as you collect puzzle pieces. The Astro’s Playroom gacha machine also makes a return, letting players spend their in-game coins to unlock new cosmetics, poses, and animations for the unique Astro Bots. You then can even dress Astro Bot in iconic costumes. I had my Astro Bot wearing the Bloodborne costume for the rest of the run and changed my controller ship’s color to fit my preference.

It’s a PlayStation World After All

Ultimately, Astro Bot is a love letter to PlayStation, with nearly half of the rescued Astro Bots resembling iconic video game characters and PlayStation icons. You'll see Astro Bot versions of various known titles that have appeared throughout PlayStation’s history from the latest characters to the ones we saw when it all started. Major franchises have their own dedicated levels and tools for Astro Bot, but there are also hidden gems that will delight even the most hardcore PlayStation fans.

Astro Bot also remains the best showcase for the DualSense controller since Astro’s Playroom, with its precise rumble feedback and adaptive trigger effects that perfectly match the actions on screen. While these features enhance immersion, they aren’t essential to the experience. Personally, while I appreciate the effort, I’m not a fan of these features as a standard. For instance, I often prefer to play with the vibration turned off. It’s just how I play games nowadays. However, it does show that studios outside of the PlayStation umbrella are not maximizing the controller’s features, as there’s a lot you can do with a controller like the DualSense.

A Platformer Worth Every Minute

It took me roughly 9 hours to reach the conclusion of Astro Bot, and spent additional hours after the credits to go back and rescue the friends and collectibles I missed while unlocking more side levels. Completionists might spend around 15 hours to fully complete the game base. Some may find this a bit short, but I think it’s the perfect length, featuring over 50 levels ranging from 6 to 15 minutes each, depending on your playstyle. There is no sense of recycled content, with each level feeling fresh and unique.

Astro Bot is a phenomenal 3D platformer, and I genuinely believe it has the potential to become a beloved PlayStation franchise. I never thought an expressive, happy-go-lucky robot like Astro Bot could evoke such pure joy, yet here we are. Astro Bot may seem like the odd one out compared to characters like Kratos and Nathan Drake, but in my view, he deserves to be PlayStation’s true mascot.

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Verdict: 5 / 5 (Exceptional)

PROS

• Unique level design found in each level 

• Fun Astro Bot tools that deliver memorable sequences and smart gameplay elements

• Challenging and expressive boss battles

• Top performance and impressive visuals to be found in each environment

CONS

• Short runtime could turn off some players

What I’ve Played 

• Finished the game at the 9-hour mark

• Completed all major galaxies and located all lost levels

• Collected 256 of the 300 Astro Bots you can rescue as of this writing

• Played a good amount of the lost levels and challenging levels 

*This review is based on a PS5 review copy provided to the reviewer

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