Astro Bot (PlayStation 5) review "3D platformers simply don't get better than this."

I’ve played enough platformers in my day to realize that it’s really easy to do a poor job of making one. Mario seems to be the only guy who consistently nails it, and he has Nintendo’s help. A lot of other platformers in other franchises, particularly the mascot-based ones, just can’t hold up to anything the Mushroom Kingdom might offer. But there are rare exceptions to that rule, and Astro Bot on the PlayStation 5 might be the very best one to date.

When the PlayStation 5 released, it came with Astro’s Playroom. That freebie download quickly became my favorite excuse to own a PlayStation 5. As noted in my Astro's Playroom review, my chief problem with the experience it offered was that it ended far too soon, which is why I was pleased when I learned Team Asobi planned to dive back into that well. Astro Bot is the result of that second dive, and I’m happy to report that it fully executes virtually everything its predecessor attempted. I haven’t had this much fun with a 3D platformer Super Mario Odyssey.



The game begins with Astro Bot and friends are flying through space. They suddenly are attacked by a nasty alien bully that breaks their PlayStation 5-shaped ship into pieces. For most of the game’s remainder, you’ll explore several galaxies in search of the core components required to rebuild the spacefaring vessel. Along the way, you’ll enjoy compelling takes on 3D platformer tropes, delivered with way more style and personality than you might expect from a pint-sized robot and its pals.

Basically, Astro Bot is the Sony equivalent of Nintendo’s very popular Smash Bros. series. The game celebrates the history of nearly everything Sony, paying homage once again to Sony’s consoles, peripherals, characters, and even third-party superstars. You’ll see many familiar mascots, and even explore some familiar Sony worlds introduced in classic games. In a more limited capacity, you’ll also meet characters from the third-party Persona, Klonoa, and Katamari franchises, among others. It’s easy to imagine Sony or Team Asobi approaching someone and saying, “Hey, would you like a piece of a bigger and better Astro game?” And the only reasonable answer in such a meeting would have been, “Yes.”



Astro’s Playroom featured around four stages per galaxy, which was a bit of a tease. This time around, there are not only more galaxies but more stages within them. You’ll fly your ship around level hubs, finding new stages to unlock and play, all so you can find enough of your friends to break through another lock and shut down another boss. Then, you’ll gain access to a world inspired by a past Sony classic series. I’m not naming which ones you get to visit in this review because I want to steer wide of spoilers. Those moments deserve to surprise you as you come across them. They’re pretty great.

By now, 3D platformers have established well-worn conventions. There are usually levels somewhere up in the clouds, or underwater, or in the middle of a creepy graveyard, or in a jungle of some description. Astro Bot features those locales and many more, and it does interesting but super-familiar things with them. Then it moves onto something else, before one bit of comfort food has time to get lodged in your throat. It’s a bit like the best of the 3D Mario platformers, which keep moving through one idea after another in such a rapid-fire manner that you won’t want to leave. Remember Kuribo’s Shoe, the green boot a Gooma wore in Super Mario Bros. 3? It appeared in just the one stage. That kind of thing happens in Astro Bot, too, and I heartily approve.



Fortunately, stages give you an excuse to explore them fully, besides just being fun in general. Numerous levels feature alternate exits that lead to secret additional stages. In some games, that wouldn’t count as much of a reward. But if you’re like me, you’ll want to play virtually every Astro Bot level the developers saw fit to deliver. There’s a joyous quality to them, whether you’re meeting with a playful group of dolphins and leaping through a ring suspended over a (not entirely) placid lagoon, or riding gusts of wind around giant trees, or slowing the flow of time and leaping across giant chips and cards thrown in the air over a giant roulette table.

Not every moment is perfect. Even my favorite Mario games have minor annoyances here and there that get in the way of pure bliss. In Astro Bot’s case, I would say the boss battles are the biggest issue. In Astro’s Playroom, they sometimes dragged on longer than felt enjoyable, and they tended to demand much more of the player than the stages ahead of them. That’s once again true, and to the game’s detriment. Most of the outing is super relaxing, with very manageable challenges (aside from a few optional zones built to challenge more advanced players). However, the bosses feel like proper gatekeepers. They may prevent players—or older folks among us with diminishing reflexes—from getting to enjoy some of the game’s wonder.



The challenging and sometimes tedious boss battles run counter to the game’s design in virtually all other respects. Accessibility is the norm. You can even get tips if you need them. And if you revisit a stage where you failed to find some of your friends or gather some collectibles, you can pay a small in-game fee to produce a flying ally that will hone in on secrets. Some of the stuff you can dig up is deviously hidden, or finding it requires creative thinking. I chose to play without the assistance most of the time, and I felt a real sense of accomplishment when I found some of those alternate exits and collectibles on my own. But it’s nice to know that I can find a helping hand when I need it.

Astro Bot offers a much larger adventure than Astro’s Playroom before it, with more of everything that made that previous game such a delight to experience. There’s a lot here that feels familiar, but now players have more time to explore it and revel in every glorious moment. If you liked that older game at all, or even if you’re just looking for one of the finest examples of 3D platforming ever constructed by anyone, you can hardly hope to do better than Astro Bot. It’s a reminder of everything the genre can be when placed in the hands of a capable developer. I can’t help but hope for more from the franchise the next time Sony has a console to sell.

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Staff review by Jason Venter (September 19, 2024) Jason Venter has been playing games for 30 years, since discovering the Apple IIe version of Mario Bros. in his elementary school days. Now he writes about them, here at HonestGamers and also at other sites that agree to pay him for his words.