This is what Shawn Layden called for all those years ago, but he seems to have been ignored. I’ve grown out of platformers as I’ve aged, but this looks to bring me back! I think I’ll actually buy the game now because it seems absolutely wonderful. Instead of leaping to the boss fight, approach the large snowball that’s being nurtured by two penguins — after you defeat all the enemies.

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At the same time, Astro is searching for the missing parts of the PS5 spaceship, which are being guarded by bosses in each galaxy. This is a grand re-opening for Astro Bot, and it surely marks the start of what is destined to be a beloved series shooting for the moon. My favorite aspect of the game is how it seems to read my mind.

The game on ps5 i’ve been waiting for since i got one basically… The switch has remained my most played platform after all these years because of the lack of games like this, for me the essense of gaming… [newline]Carefully jump onto the invisible platforms above the other sunken stones in the desert until you reach the other side (remember to use your booster dog). Open it and take the secret exit to unlock the High-Suction Hero level in the Lost Galaxy. Use the whistle (Triangle) to all call bots, then use Camera Mode (D-Pad Up) and move the camera around until you’ve found both explorers.

As Astro, you’ll strap on the ability and intuitively understand it. Players have long expected more DLC, however, as a number of unreleased bots appeared in the Astro Bots credits. Featured here are licensing credits for Rayman, Worms, Assassin’s Creed, Beyond Good & Evil, Croc, and Tomba, potentially revealing which five special bots will be released alongside these levels. That being said, Armored Hardcore is almost certainly a reference to Armored Core, while Cock-A-Doodle-Doom is likely Doom, so bots from these franchises are also likely. It only really has a few universal mechanics to learn, and most of the game will have you interact with the stage gimmicks for the most part. Where it shines is the game’s level designs, unique gimmicks, and usage of everything the PS5 has to offer.

If done correctly, the lightning will strike the pillar, activating it. Collect the sponge power up and proceed until you find the area with the large pool (filled with rubber ducks) near a building with a burning chimney. gg88 ’ll know you’re in the right spot because there will be a large bamboo chute on your left and a dirty mural on your right.

Sony Aibo (modern) – Real Life Companion Robot

Overall, it’s a super enjoyable game and definitely worth playing. It’s clear from the very first frame of Astro Bot just how much love and reverence Team Asobi has for the history of Sony’s consoles and their library of games. You choose a new save file by selecting one of three original PlayStation memory cards and are then thrust into a scene taking place on your PS5-shaped mothership.

Obviously it depends on how much exploring you do and how much you’re bothered about collecting everything — it’s a very meaty 3D platformer in my opinion and a really nice length. Astro Bot is a showcase of a developer working at the top of its game, but most importantly a developer that keeps fun and playfulness at the forefront of everything it does. Finally though I want to highlight the fantastic score, because like its levels, it bounces around genres, delivering consistently catchy head bobbers, on top of slightly remixed versions of iconic Sony soundtracks. I know this OST is going to be in my regular rotation once it finally drops on Spotify, because it’s simply too good to leave locked within this game.

In order to get the Platinum, you need to rescue every Bot and get every Puzzle Piece. We need to give a shout-out to the DualSense support here, because as you might expect, it’s best in class. Team Asobi asserted dominance in this area with Playroom, but the range of effects delivered here through haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers outshines it.

It ramps up the platforming and combat sequences via an approachable but challenging incline and chains these little moments together in such a way that there’s never a lull in any level. Whereas many platformers may drill down on a key feature or small set of features, Astro Bot displays confidence by often disposing of exciting new tools shortly after introducing them. It expresses iteration in cycles of five minutes each, rather than iterating on one idea for five or more hours, which I find both refreshing and bold. The only other game I’ve seen that’s similarly willing to dispose of cool ideas like this is It Takes Two, and Astro Bot does it more often and with more enjoyable mechanics. Stranded in space following an attack from a googly-eyed alien, Astro’s mission is to repair their ship and rescue all 300 pals scattered across five main clusters of planets, each composed of individual levels.

This is Team Asobi’s take on God of War, and the developers add a good bit of humor and fun. This extends to the level’s unique Bots, which are all God of War characters with additional quirks and inside jokes that fans will get. Astro Bot Rescue Mission was a VR game that had players explore multiple worlds in search of Astro’s lost crew. It became one of the highest-rated VR games, so naturally, the franchise did not stop there. Astro’s Playroom would launch in 2020 pre-installed on every PS5, and once again served as a tech demo for the studio’s latest controller.

Suck up all the ice blocks and head inside the tropical oasis to find the disco ball. Activate it to use the secret exit and unlock the Turtles in Trash level in the Lost Galaxy. The secret exit in Frozen Meal is near the very end of the level, before you jump off the platform to fight the snowman. Push through two walls in time to reach the secret exit, which will unlock the Rocket Pull Power level in the Lost Galaxy.

Astro Bot received PlayStation 5 Pro support and new, more challenging levels back in February. Team Asobi’s platformer won numerous Game of the Year awards, including at 2024’s The Game Awards and the 2025 BAFTA Awards. Here are Metacritic’s 10 lowest-scoring video games released in 2025. As I collected them, I found myself getting surprisingly emotional as deep-cut games I grew up with got their lovingly crafted due.

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.

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.

Players can also watch the video at the top of the page to see their animations and Gatcha Lab items. Simply put, this feature makes collecting all bots and other secrets in the game trivially easy. It’s a lovely idea, and we hope it finds its way into other games that could use it similarly in years to come. They also give the devs more freedom and ability to get creative – and just as importantly, lets us players take our time and enjoy every little detail. Many of us with backlogs probably don’t feel it that’s the thing.