The amount of collectibles and secrets there are to discover is also staggering; it’s enough to keep you playing for hours on end and keeps achievement hunters busy. Lastly, the game even has a ton of gameplay callbacks to their older IPs which pulls the nostalgia strings perfectly. Astro Bot is, without a shadow of a doubt, this year’s best platforming game. Hell, it could even be a contender for Game of the Year (GOTY) because of how complete the game is as a whole package.

One level has you transform into Kratos, Leviathan Axe and all, solving puzzles and freeing the likes of Thor and Freya from their snowy perils. When you become Drake, you get a pop gun for a completely fresh style of level that sees you finding hidden relics and climbing trees or shooting pirate skeletons to save Sully and Sam. Astro Bot also does some things I’ve never seen other games use well, or even at all. Even blowing into the controller to create bubbles or sound a horn, though obviously a bit of a gimmick, fits perfectly into the level each time Astro Bot uses them.

Studio Spotlight – Team Asobi

And while it is fun to go around and interact with the bots here, there is a small chance that you will recognize every single one of them. If I have one complaint about the game it is that the record keeping system that keeps track of the bots collected, does not break down who the special bots are and the game(s) they are from. It was tempting to spin a narrative around Balatro’s chances, especially after we at Polygon selected it as our own game of the year. It had the reviews, and by indie standards, it was very widely played. The last time an indie game appeared to seriously challenge for Game of the Year at The Game Awards was Hades’ run in 2020.

At this point, I should also mention the amazing capabilities of the DualSense controller. When our robot walks on a metal surface, we can feel it through the controller. When we launch our little ‘spaceship,’ we experience resistance on the triggers.

At your base, you can also use coins in a vending machine to unlock items for these themed bots, giving them little motifs that you can interact with. While Astro Bot is on the shorter side than most other games, with the main campaign running only around 12 hours, this is still an experience that players shouldn’t rush through. The levels throughout Astro Bot are some of the best platforming in all of gaming; players should take as long as they need to take it all in. Every stage is crafted with intent, as nothing feels out of place.

Or rather they’re normal bots cosplaying as characters from other games. These cameos are far more extensive than we expected and include not just deep cuts from Sony’s back catalogue but references to games from Activision, Konami, Embracer Group, Atlus, Bandai Namco, Capcom, and others. Each of the 11 levels can be found by finding a secret exit in various other levels throughout the universe. Not to mention the challenges and speed runs they will be adding in the next few months. I have bought £70 games which have bored me within 3 hours and £15 games that I play for years. Price point is fine and if not it will be on sale within 6 months…no one is forcing you to buy it day one or at all for that matter.

In doing all of this for these most-special one-offs, the promise of its world comes into full view. Astro Bot swarms the player with bright ideas, sparking almost endless joy. The new game, simply called Astro Bot and developed (like the others) by Team Asobi, kicks off when a group of robots’ PS5 mothership is attacked, scattering the robots throughout the galaxy. Your job as Astro is to go around to all the planets and collect your friends. The games have lots of fun platforming to execute, with grappling hooks and hover-jumps and all kinds of fun things. There are also plenty of alien and robotic enemies and bosses to take on.

There is, for instance, a God of War stage – I don’t want to spoil the others, most of which I liked even more, but Kratos has appeared in marketing materials thus far so I felt like the best choice for showing an example. The reason we hesitate over the score is that in terms of the actual platforming the game is rather basic. Astro has far less moves than Mario, which reduces the options in terms of level design. The main levels, and even the bosses – which are otherwise very imaginative – are also very easy. While ruminating on the game’s score, which is finally balanced between an 8 and 9, it’s the force feedback and audio design which pushed us over the edge.

Astro Bot Construction Derby Gameplay

I’m not a trophy hunter and usually just move on after it gets grindy. That being said, I will buy this for sure, but I won’t spend a penny over £30. I can’t even say hey this Sega Rally like Indie should have more to it. Because the audience of players are too nostalgically stupid to care. Read the review, research what the game is, decide if you want to play it or not.

If you’re curious about some of the most obscure characters, we have a guide to 21 of the more tricky ones, with details on where you’ve seen them before. This year has been a very special journey for us at Team Asobi, and we thank you for joining us. Until next time, we wish you a very relaxing and restful end of the year, full of gaming of course, but above all, full of good health and happiness all around. I’ve played all of the GOTY nominees, except FF VII Rebirth, this year.

Other times, the layout of getting from Points A to B involved a vast spectacle for players to witness and interact with. Astro Bot reaches towards perfection as it somehow flies close to the sun, with no fear of melting wings. It’s the type of game you would typically have no choice but turn to Nintendo for. A welcome to the PlayStation family, that normally pushes out more mature content.

Gameplay Programmer, Akira Ishii speaks on this better than I ever could. He explains, “This ASTRO BOT is a love letter to our game fans…We created this game with love, and we hope the love letter reaches everyone”. That love and heart that the developers bled into the game, left me with a smile on my face the entire time. And after obtaining the game’s coveted platinum trophy and moving on to something new, I couldn’t help but feel as if I had said goodbye to a dear friend. As I reflect on the memories shared with the bot, I could not view Astro Bot as anything other than a masterpiece.

It also provided a look back at previous PlayStation releases, including beloved characters and hardware of varying popularity. As I journeyed through Astro Bot’s gorgeous worlds, I was constantly blown away by the clever new hook each level introduced. While a traditional 3D platformer collect-a-thon at its core, Astro Bot is always throwing in a new gimmick to make each level feel fresh and distinct from all the others. Oftentimes, these gimmicks add a new exploration tool, in turn giving the developers the freedom to build levels in completely different ways. The sheer variety Astro Bot delivers is breathtaking, and like I said, there’s not a bad level in the bunch.

There are some repeats in terms of power-ups that Astro Bot is given, little devices or creatures that give them new moves. For example, the dog power-up lets you charge straight ahead and smash through walls, the clock lets you slow down time, a penguin gives you a quick dash through water, and a monkey holds cymbals that let out a massive shockwave. Even though these power-ups appear across multiple levels, they’re always used in tandem with that level’s unique design, making them feel fresh. https://tr88z.com/ on variety also applies to the game’s visuals and aesthetics, with the game painting a huge swath of memorable locations — from ghoulishly haunted mansions to arid desert settlements and vast space stations.