It’s easy to lose joy as an adult. With a backdrop of awful global news, and consistently dour economic updates, staying positive is a marathon effort. You have to want to believe the world is better than it seems, and that eventually, everything will be okay. If you’re looking to inspire that belief, then Astro Bot is a good place to start. Because for all intents and purposes, this game is pure, unfettered joy.
Astro Bot cribs a lot from nostalgia, but is a lovely, impactful platformer as standalone. There’s familiarity in its design – five worlds packed with individual levels, and cool collectibles to be found – but the creativity in this adventure is immense at every turn. As Astro, you’ll flit across the stars, defeating all manner of creatures, all while encountering grand, impressive sights brought to life in vivid splashes of colour and imagination.
You’ll go swimming with dolphins, and chart terrifying volcano courses. You’ll venture into a dream-like land where gravity is a trifling concept, and face down intergalactic threats against a backdrop of stars. It makes sense that Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot both appear as collectible bots in this game – despite their rights being owned by Microsoft – as Astro Bot remixes some of the best ideas of these franchises into a grander scale modern format.
Expanding horizons in Astro Bot
It’s not just eye-catching worlds that surprise in this game. Astro Bot presents fresh quirks with each new level, introducing additional mechanics (a rocket boost, a giant punch, a floatation device, a time-stopper) to expand your horizons. It consistently asks you to rethink your approach, presenting new and more complex environmental puzzles that force you to explore more thoroughly. There’s puzzle pieces and bots hiding in each stage, and they require ever-more-clever thinking to uncover.
Dolphins leap through the air, and you can marvel at their ascent – but if you think deeply, you’ll realise you must stop time, and leap off their backs, to rescue a bot stranded on a far distant structure. A flower is rather pretty, but it could also help you nab a new puzzle piece, or escape the evil slimes of a nearby beastie. It’s these little features that define Astro Bot – a game which encourages experimentation and analysis as you chart beautiful worlds of danger and delight.
Read: Nailing the Astro Bot aesthetic: An interview with Team Asobi’s Nicolas Doucet
There’s a lovely sense of challenge in completing everything it has to offer, but it’s also perfectly viable to sit back and breeze through each level, and you’ll still be satisfied with everything you encounter. It’s a gorgeous game beyond its mechanics, with levels filled with flowers, and clouds, and lovely sights to ponder. In the later stages, you’ll even unlock a special camera mode that lets you capture your joys as you travel, creating a digital scrapbook of your time with the game.
It’s a neat touch, and adds to the bright-eyed, joyful sense of adventure that defines the game.
A dash of nostalgia
Of course, Astro Bot is also unique for its corralling of dozens of famed video game franchises. While the primary action revolves around exploration in lovely 3D worlds, you’ll also find an array of easter eggs littered throughout each stage, as there are “special bots” to collect which are inspired by classic PlayStation characters.
What wasn’t spoiled by early marketing material is that many of Astro Bot‘s special tie-in characters are actually themed to certain levels – so if you enter a dream level and suddenly find yourself greeting familiar little creatures, you shouldn’t be surprised. Likewise, in its Japan-inspired levels, you’ll find faces from Ghost of Tsushima, and beyond. Certain characters also get their own special levels – and one in particular is liable to cause tears for those who remember the game best.
There’s a real niche array of characters chosen for highlighting, which makes for a lovely feeling of surprise and appreciation when the latest bot you stumble across is a forgotten favourite. (We still love you, Cole MacGrath.) There’s also plenty of unexpected crossovers, lent courtesy of an array of Sony’s biggest partners.
The quest to find your favourite characters pushes you along in Astro Bot, but not alone. It’s in a combination of the game’s excellent platformer mechanics, its idyllic and diverse worlds, and its satisfying balance of fun and challenge that inspires constant return.
This is a game designed with purity at its heart. Really, it’s the cutest product placement you’ll ever see. While it is a celebration of PlayStation as a brand, and a pat on the back for years of good business, it’s one that feels well-earned. It’s a nod to the many adventures that PlayStation has created and supported, and a wonderful tribute to decades of positive memories.
It evokes the joy of childhood in its design, and keeps those bright, happy feelings alive with its constant sense of surprise and delight. It’s easy to play the game and feel your cynicism washing away, as you remember that true joy exists in the world. It’s not only found in Astro Bot, but this game is certainly a good start for those soul searching.
Five stars: ★★★★★
Astro Bot
Platform(s): PlayStation 5
Developer: Team Asobi
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release Date: 5 September 2024
A code for Astro Bot was provided by the publisher and played for the purposes of this review. GamesHub reviews were previously rated on a five-point scale. As of 29 July 2024, they have been rated on a ten-point scale.
