But then I remembered that communication between player and developer is not only what to do but also what to feel. And suddenly, it felt like they were hovering just over my shoulder, holding back their laughter as a dear friend would while they waited for me to get a joke. They’d intentionally held back an explanation because they wanted me to experience the feeling of figuring it out for myself. They wanted me to laugh, like I suspect they did when designing it. Like its predecessor, Astro Bot is filled to the brim with PlayStation references and cameos. The most visible ones come in the form of the Special Bots — bots dressed up as famous and obscure PlayStation family characters.

Still, it offered up a compelling level that was nonetheless engaging. Making your way through one star system after another, you might find your progress blocked unless you scour every level for the robots lost within them. There are 300 to find overall, with many of them depicting classic videogame characters. In that regard, Astro Bot can be seen as a celebration of not only Sony’s hardware and impressive catalogue of software over the years, but also video games in general.

Astro Bot Story

One level allows you to explore a recognisably domestic world but you can drastically change size, bashing through doorways one minute and wriggling through a gap in the skirting board a minute later. Another lets you transform into an ultra-heavy version of Samus Aran’s morph ball thingy, and has brilliant stuff for you to do once you have. These levels feel so Nintendo-like because they get everything out of their ideas. If you’re small but you can become big, can you blow stuff up from inside?

Each galaxy contains four or five main stages, a boss, and a special last level themed around specific PlayStation franchises. On top of that are numerous shorter challenges — tougher platforming or combat trials to test your skills — and a selection of secret stages to discover. It’s a generous package, and what’s most impressive is the sheer variety it offers. 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.

Astro Bot Gameplay

Suddenly, he’s attacked by an unsubtle-as-hell Xbox-green alien monster who trashes his ship and scatters its parts and his 300 friends to far corners of the universe. 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. Ever since it was first formed within Sony’s now-defunct Japan Studio, Team Asobi has put out one high quality game after another.

You can try taking a picture as you may get lucky and they’re already close together, but if not walk over to either one and punch and kick them in the direction of the other. Once the two characters are near each other, snap a picture in Photo Mode (not the built-in PS5 screen capture) and unlock the Thick As Thieves trophy. To unlock this trophy, you need to find all three Golden Egg “artifacts” on the Dude Raiding world of Serpent Starway.

Part of that Nintendo feel is also shown across the game’s bosses. https://kuwinapp.net/ in nearly two dozen boss encounters, some that repeat in certain ways, but all of them are truly special events. From flying atop a bird as you smash away at its helmet, to a Djinn or a Gorilla, these fights are simple in their design, but due to the wondrous abilities and the slick controls, are engaging and often magical. That said, the final battle is likely the weakest, coming across as the less creative design of the entire bunch, which is a shame since the game goes to great lengths to show us Nebulax between each world. [newline]Still, the other fights are very impressive and constantly shine.

Unlike the last game, they do not need to be saved and serve as simple NPCs throughout the CPU Plaza and its worlds. Many Bots appear reenacting famous scenes and/or cosplaying characters from the many games throughout PlayStation history, and often appear near Bots that carry cameras and wear blue PlayStation hats. When the 1994 Throwback is unlocked in the CPU Plaza, Bots gather around the new portal in fear. Bots return under their current name in Astro Bot Rescue Mission, where they serve as the crew of their captain, Astro Bot, similarly to Robots Rescue. In this game, they traveled peacefully with Astro in the Astro Ship through space, until the Alien appears and attacks the ship, stealing a headset and scattering the crew across five worlds.

Strapping a penguin to your back will allow you to swim faster, whereas a dog on the back of Astro can propel him further. One ability that joins Sponge and Mouse in that it isn’t used much is the Teddy Cymbol, an ability that is really only injected into the game should you discover all the secret levels. While there are a few other abilities you’ll discover, they are used well enough in their respective levels but don’t really feature the same creativity as some of the ones I’ve just mentioned. Astro’s Playroom is just pure, unadulterated fun, and Astro Bot somehow manages to better it in just about every way.

Amazing family game as well that shows off all of the PS5 abilities. Originally announced during Sony’s June 2025 State of Play, the update adds a new galaxy, the Vicious Void, for players to explore. Four of the levels are titled Twin-Frog Trouble, Suck It Up, Handhold Havoc, High Inflation, with Team Asobi keeping the name of the fifth as a surprise. The addition of the new levels brings Astro Bot’s total level count to over 90.

At some point during your playthrough, I recommend muting your TV and leaving your controller audio on. You’ll immediately feel and hear just how much Team Asobi uses the controller to sell its visuals. There are 300 bots to find, and many are pulled from the wider world of gaming. Plenty of the branded bots originate outside of Sony’s stable, with big hitters from Capcom, Konami and Sega represented well — a few of them definitely made my partner yell in excitement, which was adorable in its own right. Some of the more memorable levels stem from popular Sony franchises like God of War, with Astro wielding Kratos’ ax on one planet.

The game is visually stunning, has great sound design, has simple yet fun gameplay, makes use of the exclusive PlayStation controls, and, most importantly, has a ton of content. Sony and Team ASOBI have knocked it out of the park with this game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this game is regarded as one of Sony’s best releases to date. In its never-ending chase for maturity and realism, the video game industry is leaving kids behind. It makes me sad to think that today’s young players have so few options if they want to play something like Spyro the Dragon. Outside of Nintendo, it feels like the landscape is dominated by a few free games that are built to exploit parents with microtransactions. Too few games embrace the joys of play, and I fear that we’re building a more cynical generation of players because of it.

Sony proves with Astro Bot that the company can still put out charming action platformers, but the love letter to PlayStation fans fails to include features that made previous games of the genre so fun to replay. In each level, the main objective is to rescue Astro’s crew, scattered throughout the game’s five worlds and twenty levels. Players also face bosses at the end of each world, which require a certain number of rescued bots to challenge. While playing the levels, the player can find hidden chameleons, which unlock a further 26 challenge levels with two golden Bots to collect.

While the bulk of time will be spent hunting down every collectible and bot, as there are 304 of them at the time of this review, Astro Bot is roughly around 10 hours in length for a standard playthrough. Personally, that length worked well to not overstay its welcome or feel padded, especially as additional content like time trials is set to release for free. Astro’s Playroom, a game bundled in with every PS5 is approximately 3 hours long, and many spent double or triple in that world just exploring and attempting to beat other player’s times at each level.