When I say that Astro Bot reminds me of Super Mario Galaxy, I could pay it no higher compliment. It’s not that it’s derivative: indeed it’s the very abundance of new ideas that places it up there with Nintendo’s best 3D platformers. It has taken me around its own small galaxy of planetoid-style levels, from bathhouses to diorama-sized jungle temples to rainy islands, each host to a brilliant one-shot idea, such as a pair of frog boxing gloves or a backpack monkey or a time-stopping watch that lets you freeze giant zooming darts in place so you can jump on them. It is splendid to witness this development team’s creativity let loose.
Team Asobi has previously made a couple of short-form Astro Bot games – one for the PSVR, Rescue Mission, and another that came packaged with the PS5 at launch, Astro’s Playroom – but this one is full-length, complete with challenging bonus levels that play out like electrified skill-check gauntlets for the generation raised on 3D platformers. It is supremely funny and characterful, thanks to the titular chibi blue-and-white robot and his crowd of friends, many of whom are dressed up as characters from the most obscure crevices of PlayStation history. The attention paid to these bots – their animation, their mannerisms, their dance moves and little cries for help when they’re stuck up a tree being menaced by malevolent octopuses – fills them to the brim with personality.
