Astro Bot Review — A Bundle of Delight

Astro Bot has only appeared in four games in the ten years since his introduction, but he’s already climbing up the ranks of classic PlayStation characters to represent the brand as its mascot. The little robot has always been at the forefront of showcasing PlayStation’s unique hardware decisions, starting out with AR and VR, then a tech demo for the PS5, and now starring in his own full-length video game. After playing Astro Bot, there’s no other way of saying it: this little guy is the face of the PS5, and he’s got one of the best games on the platform.

Team Asobi has managed to take inspiration from classic Mario platformers and put its unique take on the formula, one that perfectly falls in line with what you’d expect from Astro. Sure, the cynical gamers among us can look at Astro Bot and call it a machine for marketing other franchises while mining nostalgia, but I choose to view it from a different side. Astro Bot, like Astro’s Playroom before it, is a celebration of PlayStation’s legacy, but it also does more than enough to stand on its own.

Astro Bot’s story is simple: an alien has abducted your mothership PS5’s core unit, and stranded you in the middle of the galaxy on a barren planet. It’s Astro’s job to traverse the stars in hopes of reuniting all his companion bots and fixing the PS5. Along the way, you’ll land on 80 planets across six galaxies, collecting power-ups, rescuing bots, and meeting various PlayStation legacy characters. The game world is connected through a hub planet, where you’ll slowly build…