The bird pings for collectibles and leads you right to the remaining bots, secret Void levels, and puzzle pieces you’ve not yet found. This makes playing the game to 100% completion a joy and never a grind. I’ve never cared about PlayStation Trophies before, but I expect to unlock them all in Astro Bot, if only incidentally because I want to see and do everything this game offers. Astro Bot is a 3D adventure platformer that features the PlayStation mascot, Astro, as he travels to different worlds in search of his lost crew members and to repair the PS5 mothership. It features numerous collectible items, from puzzle pieces to accessories for the other Astro Bots and even secret levels to discover and complete. The game also features numerous designs of Astro inspired by several IPs that have been on PlayStation over the years.

Use your alligator-fist gloves to destroy all four torches on the wall. (You’ll need to use the ladybug to reach the upper two.) This will open a hidden door. Open it to leave the level early and unlock the Fan Club level in the Lost Galaxy. In this Astro Bot guide, we’ll walk you through how to find all secret exits and how to unlock the 11th secret level in the Lost Galaxy. Preorders also let you immediately unlock the Lovestruck Lyricist in-game outfit for Astro, which is based on Parappa The Rapper, immediately at launch.

Astro Bot packs a ton of variety into its level design, both visually and mechanically. Just picked up a PlayStation 5 or PS5 Pro, or got one for Christmas? Congratulations – Sony’s white monolith has dominated this console generation thanks to technological improvements over the PS4 and a fantastic catalog of games. One of the only PS5 games that really feels like it was built around the DualSense. Free from the now-standard PlayStation Studios themes of threatening apocalypses, familial woe, and coming-of-age pains, Astro Bot is all about following a cheery little metal bloke around on his adventures.

Like Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot is not just a game that PS5 owners can play themselves, but also one that they can share with their less-experienced loved ones. Will this new adventure bring Astro even closer to mascot character status? If the father and son Doucet saw at Yodobashi Camera is an indication, Astro could very well be on his way to familiarize a younger audience with the PlayStation brand. Team Asobi’s success with creating a game to showcase new PlayStation technology led to its next game, The Playroom VR. Similar to its predecessor, The Playroom VR was a free launch game for the PlayStation VR that functioned as a showcase for Sony’s venture into the world of virtual reality.

While the team’s focus was on creating a collection of short multiplayer experiences, there was one exception. For Nintendo, however, platformers and mascot characters continue to be an essential part of its business and identity. While fans feared that Nintendo could no longer compete during the GameCube era and later the Wii U era, the house of Mario’s inventive spirit allowed it to make multiple comebacks.

There are a few different reasons for this, the first of which is that Astro Bot’s core gameplay is as solid as titanium. If you’ve played any other Mario-esque platformer, you know what to expect here, but Team Asobo has really created a game that feels astoundingly satisfying to play, even in the most minute ways. You have absolute control of Astro’s jumps and punches, with smart features like lasers that come out of his feet opening up even more options for gameplay. It’s unlikely that Astro Bot will save the world, let alone be successful enough to appease a company chasing endless growth, but it’s a game that we so desperately need. I don’t read the PlayStation history references as brand advertisements so much as Team Asobi trying to remind Sony of what it has lost in the PS5 era.

In one, you hit switches that change the level between night and day, changing the entire layout at the same time. In another, you shrink into a tiny mouse, seeing things from a whole new perspective and opening up wild new solutions to puzzles. Past that, another level has you growing flowers to make your way up an ascending staircase of giant pots. There are musicals to play through, obstacle courses, giant robots to resurrect, and more. I could go on and on about every unique level, but the wonder of Astro Bot lies in discovery itself.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission

However, Christmas NiGHTs into Dreams is still the most special Christmas experience I’ve had with Christmas in games and it was both magical and unique back in 1996 when it released. To find them, you must explore each part of the level and solve all its miniature challenges. gg88 bet -up has its own small challenge, puzzle, or platforming sequence for you to conquer. Most of the stages in Astro Bot are relatively linear, though there are hidden areas and diversions to explore throughout the adventure. But this bonus level has a different structure; it’s much more open, and utilises every power-up rather than leaning into just one or two. Once you’ve rolled credits on Sony’s superb platformer, you’ll unlock a new stage named Winter Wonder, and it’s probably the most feel-good, most Christmassy thing you can play on PS5.

Astro recovers the CPU, but when he and his crew defeat Nebulax by blowing up the spaceship he is attached to, it creates a black hole that begins to suck Nebulax in. Nebulax grabs Astro to try to take him down with him, but the crew take hold of Astro to try to pull him back. Refusing to let the crew sacrifice themselves for him, Astro lets go of them and falls into the black hole, which explodes into a supernova. Simply put, Astro Bot is not just one of the best platformers I have ever played, it is a celebration of what makes both PlayStation and gaming at large great. The player can then take the bots collected back to a hub world of sorts known as the Crash Site. There they are given the chance to spend their hard-earned in-game currency on collectible set pieces for each of these gaming icons.

Needless to say, Astro Bot exceeded my expectations by being nearly perfect in almost every aspect of the game. The story of the game isn’t all that compelling; however, the fact that it’s able to tell a story and make it understandable without a single line being spoken means something. The motivation of the game is to rescue the missing crew members of the now-broken PS5 mothership due to the damage caused by their nemesis. It’s nothing fancy, yet somehow it’s able to sneak in amazing interactions between the bots, and that just makes everything a lot better than I think it actually is.

From bot #4, once you cross the big stone bridge, destroy both purple snakes. Once they’re gone, the purple lake in the middle of the platform will drain automatically, and some grass will grow on the edges. Dig down using your charged melee in the center where the glowing spot appears, and you’ll find a bot waiting for you at the bottom. Once you enter the inside of the hourglass, break the metal block that’s moving to create a static platform and reveal a generic bot.

Contents

Astro Bot is a platforming adventure game where players take control of a small but agile robot exploring vibrant, interactive environments. Each level is designed with unique obstacles, hidden secrets, and creative mechanics that require precision and quick thinking. The game combines classic platforming elements with modern gameplay innovations, making every stage feel fresh and engaging.

With polished gameplay and a visually appealing world, Astro Bot delivers a fun and rewarding platforming experience. The result was Astro’s Playroom, a 3D platformer that was, once again, released as a free game designed to showcase a new piece of hardware. 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.

Yet I bet Astro Bot does significantly better than many titles that have spent years in development and cost double the price to make. I think this is clearly the frontrunner for game of the year now and it doesn’t look like there’s anything upcoming that has a chance of dethroning it. PS5 desperately needed this, now they need to reveal the big games 1st party is working on alongside the Pro and 2024 can be saved. It just reeks of ignorant and disconnect with PS history & fanbase.