It also features dozens of characters from first and third party PlayStation games from throughout the decades – although the way they’re handled is one of the game’s few failings. After the disaster of Concord comes the triumph of Sony’s Astro Bot, with a new single-player classic that is one of the best 3D platformers ever made. There is a second set of Tripcaster wires in the clearing with the Tallneck. Irritate some ground-bound enemies into following you, then hop into or behind the square enclosure (yes, there’s enough space for you to stand between the wire and the rock).

Robbit – Jumping Flash

If nothing else, I hope that the creative joy that permeates Astro Bot’s every pixel inspires a new generation of game developers to make the kinds of games they want, without fear, limits, or compromise. But then Astro Bot blew all expectations out of the water when it came out earlier this year. Reviewers marveled at its creative platforming, its level of challenge, and its relentless nostalgia for 30 years of PlayStation hits. The only major issue most critics reported was that the game was too short – they didn’t want Astro Bot to end. Thus, naturally, RPG fans would’ve settled with any of these games clinching the GOTY.

I know this OST is going to be in my regular rotation once it finally drops on Spotify, because it’s simply too good to leave locked within this game. Astro Bot has proven to be not only one of Sony’s most successful games but one of the most successful games of all time, at least critically speaking. There are three puzzle pieces in “Trapped In Time.” The first is before the level starts, the second is before you go inside, and the third is before you go back outside. Astro Bot may feature a simple tale, yet it is a gleeful game that absolutely nailed all the aspects of a platformer. It became the highest-rated standalone game of 2024 for a reason, right?

Past that, another level has you growing flowers to make your way up an ascending staircase of giant pots. There are musicals to play through, obstacle courses, giant robots to resurrect, and more. I could go on and on about every unique level, but the wonder of Astro Bot lies in discovery itself. It needs to be said that there’s a real emphasis on Astro Bot in not being punishing; there’s absolutely no penalty for losing a life, and the moment you grab a collectible, it’s yours — even if you respawn, you already have it.

Astro’s Playroom

A fantastically colourful and creative romp through a huge variety of settings, it’ll have your thumbsticks clicking, your heart racing, and even your lips blowing – yep, that’s a mechanic in the game. Each level across five main galaxies and one unlockable one features a swarm of bots (many based on beloved PS characters) to rescue, as well as jigsaw pieces and some secret black holes too. Here, you’ll find your one-stop shop for every single collectible in the game, and the Trophies too, arranged into each zone Astro blasts off into. Astro Bot is technically the fifth entry in the Astro universe, though it’s the series’ first fully fledged — and fully priced — installment. Astro Bot takes ideas from these earlier titles and compiles them into a focused 3D platformer with dozens of main worlds, a bevy of additional unlockable planets and a wide range of satisfying mechanics.

But despite being a museum to Sony’s past, Astro Bot is more concerned with looking forward, not backwards. I expected it to be a pretty fun little cartoon romp where the main draw would be pointing at the screen and going “Look! It’s Nathan Drake!”. What I got was one of the greatest platformers I have ever played, in terms of creativity, consistency, and cleverness, that just so happens to have a bunch of PlayStation mascots inside it. There are OK8386 in Astro Bot, making this one of Team Asobi’s biggest and most ambitious games to date. Between them, they boast well over 460 collectibles, including 120 Puzzle Pieces, 10 Lost Galaxy Warps, and 332 stranded Bots that are just waiting to be rescued. Playstation’s Black Friday sale is now live, offering sweet deals like $100 off PS5 consoles, savings on dozens of games, and much more.

A few of them demanded a deft diving ability the backpack is meant to offer, but it doesn’t have the same accuracy of other abilities in the game, which led me to whiff on some sections in a way that was unique to this level. It was manageable, but if any secret levels–which tend to be some of the game’s hardest–also use this mechanic, I expect them to become some of the game’s few frustrations. Like any excellent platformer, Astro Bot’s movement feels responsive and trustworthy. Despite the game consistently giving you new ways to traverse its puzzling pathways, you’ll almost always feel like you have a good grip on clearing gaps, timing attacks on enemies, and dodging bosses with expertise. The camera caused a few rare instances of what felt like selling me out, but the game’s checkpoints are so numerous and the load times are virtually non-existent, such that this never became a pain point for me. There are a lot of games nowadays that require you to be frugal with your purchases like Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Where it shines is the game’s level designs, unique gimmicks, and usage of everything the PS5 has to offer. It’s been quite a rough few weeks for Sony and PlayStation fans out there, and it’s great to know that it’s not all doom and gloom as Astro Bot is here to save the day. As a casual fan of platformers, Astro Bot blew me away and reminded me of the nostalgia and fun that is to be had with the genre. The last time to do this was Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey, which is a very high standard to beat or match in recent years.

The greatest tribute I can pay to Astro Bot is that you forget about all of the PlayStation stuff going on while you’re playing it. Sure, it’s cool to see some forgotten classics in there (Wild Arms made the cut!), but you could take out the Kratos costumes and the game would be as brilliant as it is now. Though the nostalgia or PlayStation love in will eke up the excitement for some fans (and even put some off), it’s not a pillar of Astro Bot, nor is it going to be the reason fans keep replaying this for years to come. Unlike all of the other Astro Bot DLC stages, Winter Wonder is accessed via the Galaxy Select screen.

Though completing levels will spawn new ones within the same solar system, there are also hidden mini-levels. You can unearth these by flying into the comets and meteors scattered around, especially once you’ve completed most of the bigger main levels in a zone. Astro Bot follows the tiny but brave Astro as his PS5 mothership is attacked by his galactic nemesis, scattering the crew throughout space. Only Astro can set things right, and he needs your help to rescue the stranded crew and rebuild the mothership on his biggest mission yet. When the PlayStation 5 mothership is attacked by ASTRO’s long-standing galactic nemesis, scrambling its wires and scattering the crew throughout space, only ASTRO can make things right!

It uses the opportunity to show its love for PlayStation history. 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.

Once the PS5 ship has crashed, Astro Bot will explore the space around the crash site. This is the hub world that allows you to unlock more of the galaxy map. You’ll track down a satellite-centric bot and it will ping the next destination. These are structured in a certain order, so you’ll need to beat each level to unlock the boss battle, something that requires a set number of bots to have been unlocked. Thankfully, should you return to a previously completed level, you can pay a small amount of PlayStation coin currency to have an assist bot show you where the remaining bots and puzzle pieces are.

It’s the best 3D platformer since Super Mario Odyssey hit the scene in 2017 and will be remembered as an all-time classic of the genre. Everyone with a PS5 should get their hands on this game ASAP, and hopefully, Team Asobi gets to continue making masterpieces. While some abilities are more fun than others, they nearly all work seamlessly. As Astro, you’ll strap on the ability and intuitively understand it. Stranded in space following an attack from a googly-eyed alien, Astro’s mission is to repair their ship and rescue all 300 pals scattered across five main clusters of planets, each composed of individual levels. Naturally, the story is not the focus here, and yet I was so immersed in the 15-hour game that I beat it in two long sittings.

The technology is important but the core design and what they do with it is what made me fall in love with the game. Firstly, when talking platform games, getting the basic move set and control nailed down is crucial. This has always been a strong point for Nintendo and Team Asobi as well have managed to pull it off. Astro’s basic running and jumping have a satisfying feel and rhythm to them.

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. The worst sin that a game like this can commit is repetition, and Team Asobi firmly understands that.