It’s a mark of how confident the game is that its personality shines so clearly through the costumes it dons. It can be tough to critically gauge how ‘good’ a platformer is sometimes. With the exception of the truly bad ones, most of them achieve a decent baseline level of fun, because fun is all they’re going for.

Astro Bot puts it in the final treat that you only get to even play if you beat every other level, including all the secret ones (and boy, are there a lot of secret ones). Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a 3D platformer where players control Astro Bot, a small robot navigating various levels using a DualShock 4 controller. The game is designed for VR, so players experience the game world from a first-person perspective, essentially becoming a giant robot that interacts with the environment. This includes actions like smashing walls with head-butts, dodging attacks, and using the headset’s microphone to blow petals around.

It came pre-installed on the PlayStation 5 when it went on sale in 2020. It was easily one of the best games available on the system at launch. To this day, its creative use of the DualSense controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers showcase what the controller can do better than pretty much any other game. 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.

Playstation Innovation

Now Team Asobi has been given the chance to unleash all that expertise in playfulness on Astro Bot, a full-scale game that exists for its own ends rather than to serve a Sony marketing plan. When we award the Polygon Recommends badge, it’s because we believe the recipient is uniquely thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive, or fun — and worth fitting into your schedule. If you want curated lists of our favorite media, check out What to Play and What to Watch. Across my 25 hours fully completing the game and earning the Platinum (it took 11 hours to reach the main ending), I could count on one hand the amount of times I died and felt it was the game’s fault, not mine. Most of the Astro Bot cameo characters are pretty easy to identify, but there are a few VIP Bots who are obscure and thus can be difficult to place.

What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot? The Hunter – Yharnam Tourist

Astro Bot begins with a PS5-shaped spaceship traveling the stars when its crew of 300 Bots suddenly encounters a mischievous alien who breaks the ship and scatters its pieces and crew across multiple galaxies. As players take control of Astro, they’ll work to repair the ship and rescue their crewmates. Astro Bot is a platformer adventure game released on September 6, 2024, for the PS5, serving as a sequel to Team Asobi’s Astro’s Playroom from 2020 and the third game in the series. TD88 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.

This is one of the only PS5 games that really feels like it was built around the DualSense, and it shows. Plenty of stages require patience, awareness and a high degree of platforming skill, though resets are generous and failure doesn’t cost anything other than your time. Completionists will have a great time with this one — there are so many secret passages and hidden bots to find, most of them cleverly tucked away and easily missed unless you’re actively looking for them. On the flipside, speedrunners should enjoy Astro Bot as well, since it offers planets of platforming challenges with incredibly responsive controls. These are just three examples, but quite literally every level in the game has some kind of unique idea or design.

Players guide Astro Bot through dynamic environments filled with moving platforms, enemies, and interactive objects. The game encourages exploration, rewarding players for finding hidden collectibles and secret areas. Astro Bot’s abilities, such as high jumps, hovering, and special gadgets, allow for creative movement and problem-solving.