Today, PlayStation’s cinematic blockbuster titles still mostly cater to a mature audience, but Team Asobi is taking a different approach. The studio’s roster of delightful robots and the inventive gameplay with which they and players interact have been compared with the Nintendo way. While today PlayStation’s headquarters may be located in San Mateo, California, the history of Sony’s beloved video game console brand started in the early 1990s in Tokyo, Japan. Ken Kutaragi – who would later become known as the father of PlayStation – had been working together with Nintendo on a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo. When this got canceled, Kutaragi went to Norio Ohga (Sony’s CEO at the time) with the proposal of making Sony’s own console. It’s Super Mario Bros. for a new generation of video game fanatics, at once an introduction to common mechanics and also a significant challenge for seasoned players.

Oh, and special mention must be made for the soundtrack, which is just excellent throughout. Astro Bot also manages to find the right balance of difficulty. There are some levels in here that almost had me pulling my hair out (in the best sort of way). But regardless of the difficulty scale, you feel so cool when you figure out the latest mechanics or platforming puzzle. It’s structured in a way too where if you want to dig into the difficult stuff you can, but if you want to keep things simple with the main campaign, you can also do that. I grudged having to play through my most anticipated game of the year before getting to play more Astro Bot – that’s how good this game is.

All of this would be for nothing though if Astro Bot’s controls were a mess. He runs, jumps, and hovers with absolute grace, and honestly, it is hard not to crack a smile watching this adorable protagonist run belly-first into whatever platforming challenges may lay ahead. Young Holidaymaker is the fourth bot found in Balloon Breeze inspired by Boku in the Boku no Natsuyasumi video game series. Use the lasers coming from your double jumps to split the log in two and then pull the revealed cord to show the hidden puzzle piece. The level players will encounter the Mouse power-up in should send them into glee. The level in question is called Downsize Surprise in Astro Bot and it will give players the ability to shrink upon command or regrow.

Regular enemies are wearing reindeer antlers, and many animal bots are bobbing along to the music and enjoying the festivities. It’s so cheery and fun, even more so than is typical for Astro Bot, and it’s the perfect Christmas playground to mess around in and absorb its joyful atmosphere. Looking for something festive to play on PS5 to keep the holiday vibes rolling? In our view, there’s nothing better than Astro Bot’s post-game Christmas level. Balan wasn’t great but each suit even for 80 to me went yeah I can sense each has a fair purpose even if not implemented well of the use cases, it still has a use. Like Rayman 3 did with it’s suits which is why I bought Balan, I still got my fun out of it besides how bad it is for sure.

Astro Bot High-suction Hero Bots & Puzzle Pieces Locations

If you liked Playroom overall, though, you’ll definitely like this. I read the review, not worried about spoilers in a platformer, and I’m wondering how many of the different one off play mechanics felt gimmicky? I really like platforming but going back to Playroom I really hate that climbing gyro mechanic, doesn’t feel fluid or natural at all. My wife and I enjoyed It Takes Two but some of the one off I was glad to get rid of. TG88 on the other hand hated how you kept learning new stuff only for it to be dropped and never return again, just like this review, and I was getting this for them for their birthday.

Astro Bot Dualsense Wireless Controller

You’ll receive two PSN avatars–one of Astro in his normal outfit and another of him wearing the Parappa getup–and the Glorious Graffiti skin for Astro’s Dual Speeder vehicle. These items can be unlocked in the game without preordering, but buying one of the physical or digital editions early lets you access the outfits and avatars from the jump. Awkward controls aside, Rising Heat is actually a fairly simple stage to clear. The only things that players need to watch out for are the circular disk on the ground that needs to be slammed with both hands and the tilting platforms. They can make the latter steeper using Astro’s jets, which will in turn allow them to skip over a couple of bananas.

Finding each of these characters is a constant highlight of Astro Bot. Some are placed right in front of you, but most require the aforementioned curiosity to pull you off the beaten path in search of the game’s bountiful secrets. One of the best mechanics–which I very much hope becomes standard in the genre moving forward–is a robot bird companion who can join you in any level you decide to replay.