What could have been a 30-second moment turned into a 20-minute one as I gleefully interacted with every detail I could, just as a kid might. Astro Bot is back in action later this month with five new challenge levels. When Astro boops his head on an impassable ceiling, he makes the sweetest little flinching motion. The bots turn around and shake their booties at Astro right before he punches them into the DualSense.
At Team Asobi – Sony’s inhouse development studio best known for the Astro Bot series – artwork along the walls depicts PlayStation’s 30-year journey. Master Onion is the secret 301st bot, the last one you’ll unlock in the game. Tell us in the comments section below, and check out our Astro Bot guide for lots more.
I won’t talk about the other buildings players can build in Astro Bot’s hub world, but rest assured they are great as well, giving players extra incentive to hunt down every single collectible. The bird costs 200 coins, so players have to give up some gacha pulls to use it, but it’s a great way to keep players from getting stuck. Ever since it was first formed within Sony’s now-defunct Japan Studio, Team Asobi has put out one high quality game after another. The Playroom was a fun little tech demo meant to show off the unique features of the PlayStation Camera and the DualShock 4, while The Playroom VR filled a similar niche for Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.
The Game Awards
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.
Ps5 ‘astro Bot’ Reviews: It’s The Best Game Of The Year
It even pays homage to some of PlayStation’s most beloved characters, bringing back a sense of nostalgia and joy for both new and seasoned players. After completing a level, restart and you’ll spot a small birdhouse near the start of the level. Smash the glass casing on the birdhouse and pull the cord to get a bird companion who will point you towards any missed collectibles, including bots, puzzle pieces, and portals. It will cost a one-time fee of 200 coins per level, but it’s well worth it. Once you’ve paid the 200 coins, you can restart the level and summon the bird as many times as you want for free. One of them is a set of cymbals that moves the platforms of the world around that other, lesser games might build their whole universe around.
You can enjoy them in the moment, and it’s not until afterwards you realise it’s an empty sugar high. Across that lifetime of experience, I think Astro Bot is worthy of a medal. The ever-growing install base of the PS5 has allowed many players around the world to enjoy Astro’s Playroom. Filled with TD88 to hardware throughout PlayStation’s history and boasting an abundance of cameo appearances from popular characters, Astro’s Playroom celebrated PlayStation’s history in a unique way. This made Astro not just the new kid on the block, but established the bot as a character integral to the PlayStation brand.
And while there’s nothing to quite rival the GPU earworm of four years ago (despite the best efforts of a giant singing tree), the music is a consistent delight throughout. And since good news flies in pairs, we are delighted to also announce that an updated version of the Astro Bot Limited Edition DualSense wireless controller is launching later this year! This controller was crafted by our techno-magician designers at Sony Interactive Entertainment. And since the first controller proved so popular, we have brought it back with a new joyful twist to the touch pad! We’ll have more information to share soon, so be on the lookout for future updates. Find an up-to-date list of every game available in the Xbox Game Pass (and PC Game Pass) library at all membership levels, and find out which games are coming soon and leaving soon.
