To collect the Mothership’s Memory in Astro Bot, you need to complete all main world levels in the Gorilla Nebula. Is there anything more satisfying than getting that Platinum trophy? To score your Platinum trophy in the PlayStation classic Astro Bot, you must first collect all other Astro Bot trophies. This means not only 100%ing Astro Bot (collecting all Rescued Bots, Puzzle Pieces, and 150 out of 169 Gacha Lab prizes) but uncovering all the little secrets and PlayStation easter eggs which unlock trophies. Now bring back Jak and Daxter, Sly Raccoon and Ape Escape please.

At its core, Astro Bot is built on the technical foundation of Astro’s Playroom. Using its own in-house technology, the design objective seems clear – to deliver a smooth platforming experience at 60 frames per second while dazzling the player with physics and pyrotechnic effects at every corner. From a technical perspective, the execution is virtually flawless.

And two of the new bots are from a series that had previously gone unrepresented in the game, despite being beloved by PlayStation fans. Astro Bot is a platformer featuring 6 galaxies and over 80 levels in search of Astro’s scattered crew, featuring cameo appearances from characters that span the entirety of PlayStation’s history. This gameplay covers the first level of the game played on a PlayStation 5. For context, each galaxy has a boss you will face at the end in order to obtain an item used to progress the story. The first galaxy, Gorilla Nebula, has you facing off with a giant mechanical gorilla named Mighty Chewy. It is in the last level before the boss fight, titled Construction Derby, that the player has their first encounter with the beast.

Astro Botgame Of The Year 2024 Winner At The Game Awards

You won’t find the first bot for a little while in this level, so proceed past when you get the chicken and first lift the platform out of the ground. Instead of taking the normal exit, look to your right and you’ll see a platform with jewels raining down on top of it. Past that platform, you’ll see another covered in the same jewels. Jump to the far platform and use your spin move to push some of the gems away. You’ll see a wooden floor underneath, so use your cannonball backpack to slam it, which will launch you into the sky and up to a rumble wall. Lure it to the pillar to your right or left, which you’ll notice is an unelectrified platform.

Not bad for a company whose CFO just publicly stated that the platform holder doesn’t have enough original IP. To gather console components and rescue our robo-friends, we must unlock specific galaxies and then the planets within them. Typically, when we land on a planet, we are provided with a tool that introduces new gameplay mechanics, offering fresh ways to complete each level.

Dualsense Features

The game combines classic platforming elements with modern gameplay innovations, making every stage feel fresh and engaging. There are 5 main Nebulas, each with 6-7 main levels, and a few side levels which are unlocked by flying into objects with the spaceship inside the Nebulas. When you hover over a level it shows how many collectibles it has and how many you still need.

You can also hover over the Nebulas to see how many total collectibles there are in the sub-levels. The hub area ‘Crash Site’ also contains bots and puzzle pieces, which you obtain by interacting with the blue markers to call your bots for help. Then there are 2 extra Nebulas, one for the final story part, and one is the ‘Lost Galaxy’ that contains all 11 secret levels. As galaxies are explored and Bots are rescued, Astro Bot’s hub world stations begin to unlock, including a closet with outfits for Astro and a claw machine that gives players a place to spend all their collected coins. The machine dispenses new Astro costumes, cosmetic options for the PS5 controller spaceship, and joy for the rescued PS-themed Bots.

Did you know you can use your Twin-Frog Gloves Power Up to beat up two Wormys at once? Yep, while exploring the Wormy Passage world, be sure to keep an eye out for a pair of two or more Wormys (green worm enemies). Press both your left and right trigger (L2 and R2) to punch your left and right Twin-Frog Glove into the mouths of the Wormys. Did you know you can catch the bugs in Apes On The Loose with your net? You can find the Golden Butterfly at the very back of the Apes On The Loose level, in a bush to the right of the sky bridge where you find Sky-Walking Ape Special Bot.

Normally, these levels are as brief as 30 seconds, but they require perfection and give the game a taste of trial-and-error it otherwise consciously rejects. Each bot you find returns to the (mostly) safe zone, the Crash Site, which acts like a hub world you can explore and decorate. Here, the game carries forward the same PlayStation Museum vibe seen in Astro’s Playroom, albeit to a lesser extent. You won’t explore past PlayStation consoles, but the mothership you’re trying to repair is just a giant PS5, and the spaceship you use to explore the overworld is a DualSense controller with wings. It feels a bit like that meme of Obama awarding Obama a medal, but it’s not distracting, so ultimately, it’s fine. I haven’t seen a platformer marathon through so many varied, whimsical, and blatantly cool ideas like this before.

These lovely gizmos are realized with a gift for tactility — for creating a toylike world you feel like you can reach out and touch, click, pop, squash, smash, crack, and squeeze — that is second only to Nintendo’s. Some of this stems from Team Asobi’s enthusiastic use of the DualSense’s rumble, haptic triggers, and speaker. Some is rendered by Team Asobi’s astonishing, virtuosic command of the PlayStation 5 itself; Astro Bot is a tech marvel, perhaps the best-looking PS5 game to date.

Astro Bot is a platformer that genuinely thinks like the best platformers out there. n 188 anticipates the things that you will anticipate, and then goes one better. An entire level set on a dream of 1930’s skyscraper construction sites!

The monkey power-up lets you scale walls, while the mouse ability shrinks you down to access tiny spaces. There’s even a Super Mario Sunshine-esque F.L.U.D.D power that uses liquid to move Astro around. The sequel to a simple pack-in game is a flawless love letter to both PlayStation’s history and video games in general. 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.

After spending time with one and getting used to it, players will find themselves in a different level using the same ability in a completely different way. For example, in one level Astro needs to turn into a metal ball in order to roll across beds of spikes, while another uses the ball ability to prevent Astro from being crushed by the jaws of a crocodile. To assist with his mission, Astro can use over 15 new abilities offering unique play styles. Combined with improved Astro controls, these new powers take the Astro platforming experience to new heights while remaining accessible for all.

You press the R2 button to use your ability and it flies through the sky. Anybody familiar with the game that gave life to this special level instantly understands what to do. The Leviathan Axe is thrown and recalled in the same manner as the aforementioned title. You blow into the mic of the DualSense, replicating the horn being blown to call upon the World Serpent. You smash three bell shaped enemies in a perfect line, as if they were preventing you from opening a chest. The axe is stuck into columns, freezing them in place to platform up.