Read the full Astro Bot review
Astro Bot is a beautiful 3D platform game with a loveable protagonist, dozens of planets to explore, and a variety of incredibly satisfying mechanics to perfect. It requires patience, attention, and advanced platforming skills, but resets are generous and failure costs nothing but time. The protagonist, Astro, is an endlessly charming character who flies between the galaxy on a mission to rescue his 300 friends, many of whom embody characters from Sony’s library and game universes, including a host of bots from Capcom, Konami, and Sega franchises.
Many of the planets Astro lands on introduce new mechanics, such as spring-loaded boxing gloves like a frog’s face, an octopus that inflates Astro like a balloon, a mouse backpack that shrinks at will, a penguin-propelled swimming booster, a stopwatch that temporarily stops time, etc. The levels are designed around these unique mechanics, and the variety is impressive.
Astro Bot is beautiful beyond cuteness. The scenery is vivid and lifelike, with interactive detail galore throughout, and every pixel seems polished to perfection. But it’s the game’s physics that really bring it to life. When Astro lands on a giant, inflated daisy, the material flexes under his tiny feet, jiggling and denting with every step, making the whole scene seem like it’s easy to squeeze. When rain hits Astro’s umbrella hat, the sound is perfectly reflected on the DualSense, and you can feel the raindrops in your grip. Astro Bot’s sound effects, haptics, graphics, and physics work perfectly together to turn any surface into a playground. It’s like magic.
Astro Bot feels like it was made for video game fans. It’s a skill-focused celebration of all the elements that make the gaming form so memorable and fun, while also being a great introduction to the language of games. With precise, responsive controls, lovable characters, and an exciting variety of mechanics and environments, Astro Bot is undoubtedly one of the best games Sony has ever produced. — Jessica Condit, Senior Reporter
