This is Team Asobi’s take on God of War, and the developers add a good bit of humor and fun. This extends to the level’s unique Bots, which are yupitoto all God of War characters with additional quirks and inside jokes that fans will get. Team Asobi brought their signature flair to the mix by making Astro Bot’s levels and platforming stand out. Although the game contained the standard gameplay and stages (such as a fire and water level) that are expected of every platformer game, Team Asobi found a way to make these mainstays feel new and fresh. It was as if the developers asked themselves what typical elements were expected of a platformer, then found a way to organically incorporate them into the game. Sometimes, it’s with fantastic power-ups like the Time Stopper, which beautifully slows down time to let Astro Bot jump on platforms and evade obstacles.

Players take on the role of the lovable Astro Bot, embarking on a space-faring adventure through diverse environments, including waves of sandy beaches, lush jungles, and fiery volcanoes. Along the way, Astro gains new powers and transformations to aid in the journey. Released in celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, the game pays homage to the brand’s legacy by allowing players to find and reunite with over 150 iconic PlayStation characters. The PS5® mothership has been wrecked, leaving ASTRO and the bot crew scattered all over the galaxies.

Besides his moveset, he is capable of picking up and throwing objects to attack his foes, destroy obstacles in his path or activate switches. Not only that, but he can wear an inflatable life ring to swim on the surface of the water with ease. Inflatable life rings can be located in some water or underwater levels. The second highlighted moment comes after Mighty Chewy has been vanquished. This is when you learn that there are not only special bots, but each galaxy has a special level completely inspired by a PlayStation game or series. These unique one-off levels also see Astro transmogging his abilities and appearance by borrowing an item from the character who inspired the special level.

Astro Bot Turtles In Trash Bots & Puzzle Pieces Locations

Thanks to its simple, clean design and effective anti-aliasing, the game’s image quality is really never an issue and it holds up well without any ghosting reconstruction or other image stability issues. It presents very cleanly, which is so important for legibility in a platform game – and Team Asobi got it right. We’ve discussed that in a separate boxout, because none of that affects the game, but it is all very odd – and gives the distinct impression it was shoehorned in halfway through development.

Astro Bot Guide: Collectibles

There are 300 bots to find, and many are pulled from the wider world of gaming. Plenty of the branded bots originate outside of Sony’s stable, with big hitters from Capcom, Konami and Sega represented well — a few of them definitely made my partner yell in excitement, which was adorable in its own right. Some of the more memorable levels stem from popular Sony franchises like God of War, with Astro wielding Kratos’ ax on one planet. Team Asobi really mined Sony’s vaults, far beyond simple Crash Bandicoot callbacks, and into weird and wonderful games like LocoRoco and Vib-Ribbon. Platformers have so long followed in the footsteps of Mario, with so many titles trying to emulate what the mustachioed plumber has achieved.

“Team Asobi’s studio is just across the street from our building, so they were always the first to prototype with our hardware,” says Senior Principal Product Manager Toshi Aoki, product director for the DualSense controller. But utilizing the uniqueness of hardware is something that Team Asobi has always been good at – arguably more than any other PlayStation studio. In addition to the winners, The Game Awards contained its customary array of trailers, including first reveals for Witcher 4, a new Elden Ring game, Okami 2, and Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic. We have tons of follow-up coverage on the site, including deep dives into both Elden Ring Nightreign and Witcher 4 and lots more.