After completing a level, restart and you’ll spot a small birdhouse near the start of the level. Smash the glass casing on the birdhouse and pull the cord to get a bird companion who will point you towards any missed collectibles, including bots, puzzle pieces, and portals. It will cost a one-time fee of 200 coins per level, but it’s well worth it. Once you’ve paid the 200 coins, you can restart the level and summon the bird as many times as you want for free. In tandem with expert level design are the game’s diverse and exciting mechanics.

Time trials and secret areas that unlock after collecting enough hidden materials can provide many more hours of entertainment, especially if time trial modes exist for friends to compete against one another. While there are hidden levels to discover in Astro Bot, after those are completed, there is little incentive to revisit previously conquered stages. This means that after the thrill of the game’s nostalgic moments wears off, there is not much reason to play after its 15 hours are up. But that’s not the only way Astro Bot celebrates history, as that idea is also directly tied to the game’s collectibles.

Instead, Ratchet, for example, is referred to merely as Tooled-Up Mechanic and Jill Valentine simply as Alpha Female. There’s also a character called Pro Skater, which we assume is Tony Hawk, but perhaps it’s one of Sony’s forgotten extreme sports games – it’s impossible to tell. However, two of these levels are based on dormant Sony franchises and if you can avoid having it spoiled for you what they are beforehand, they’re amongst the highlights of the game. They both replicate the mechanics, and audio, of the original games exactly and are an absolute joy, that will instantly have you wishing that they’d get full-blown sequels on the PlayStation 5. Since what you’re actually after is the stolen pieces of the PlayStation 5 there’s always an extra level after each of the main bosses that is inspired by a first party Sony game.

Last year saw the release of Astro Bot, our biggest game to date. As well as picking several game awards, we have been blessed with countless comments and lovely words from you, the players. While “toy” has become a derogatory term when talking about video games, Team Asobi sees no shame in embracing it. I can see that when I find a cardboard standee in a construction site level. I poke my head through it, only to summon a flock of pooping pigeons. There’s no tangible reward for doing it as it’s not a tracked collectible; it’s just a purely entertaining moment that gets an honest laugh out of me.

At the start of nearly every level, Astro jumps into a suit or straps on a backpack of some kind that gives them a new ability. In one level, it’s spring-powered boxing gloves resembling cartoon frogs. In another, it’s a robo-dog that gives the bipedal bot a wall-smashing rocket boost, or in another, a time-freezing tool that allows Astro to scale otherwise impossibly fast-moving sections.

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The Dude Raiding level unlocks after you defeat the final boss of Serpent Starway, Lady Venomara. There are 42 Rescued Bots to collect in Serpent Starway, and you must rescue all of them in order to unlock the Fangs Very Much! This includes all Rescued Bots on secret worlds in Serpent Starway.

That’s why we keep seeing so many remakes and remasters, but Astro Bot doesn’t fall into the same trap. It feels like a celebration, with deep meaningful references that truly understand the quirks of the series it’s featuring. But on top of all those references, there’s a phenomenal game that forges its own identity and boldly does its own thing. That overall format is deceptively simple for one of the most creative games I’ve ever played in my entire life — and Astro Bot makes that abundantly clear in just a handful of hours. There are more than 80 levels in Astro Bot, and what’s remarkable to me is that I can’t think of a single one that felt too similar to another or was a disappointment in any way.

This controller was crafted by our techno-magician designers at Sony Interactive Entertainment. And since the first controller proved so popular, we have brought it back with a new joyful twist to the touch pad! We’ll have more information to share soon, so be on the lookout for future updates. Unfortunately, the Astro Bot Joyful DualSense Controller deal remains sold out at all retailers. You can, however, save $20 on other limited-edition models, including the Walmart-exclusive Icon Blue DualSense.

While the team’s focus was on creating a collection of short multiplayer experiences, there was one exception. For Nintendo, however, platformers and mascot characters continue to be an essential part of its business and identity. While fans feared that Nintendo could no longer compete during the GameCube era and later the Wii U era, the house of Mario’s inventive spirit allowed it to make multiple comebacks. The combination of beloved characters and playful technology set it apart. A follow-up to the PS5 pack-in game Astro’s Playroom, it’s a colorful platformer starring an adorable robot named Astro.

It’s a wonderful touch; for one level, a near-forgotten series is brought back to glorious life in a modern context, and Team Asobi honors the memory of the ceaselessly inventive studio it used to call home. If you have read my Astro Bot review, you must be already aware of how this game is an elated love letter and a rich celebration of Play Station’s legacy. This videogame has the outright power and quality to challenge your perception of platformer games and it will make you say it duly earned the GOTY 2024 once you take Astro Bot for a spin.

Here are the games released during 2025 that have won major industry awards or received nominations for those awards. We’ll update our awards tracker whenever new awards and nominations are announced. Outside of bosses and minibosses, there initially doesn’t appear to be a great range in enemy types. Sure, some are coated in different colours of paint or dressed to fit in with their surroundings, but they are all vanquished via the same few fundamental jump and hit combos. Later on, though, the design book opens up and introduces some of my favourite foes. These include an anthropomorphic playing card that flings a hand of clubs and spades your way, which you can then jump on to make your way towards the enemy to deal a killing blow of your own.

Enhanced Experience

There are 91 stages in Astro Bot, making this one of Team Asobi’s biggest and most ambitious games to date. Between them, they boast well over 460 collectibles, including 120 Puzzle Pieces, 10 Lost Galaxy Warps, and 332 stranded Bots that are just waiting to be rescued. luck8 com feared it would be a bit of an advert for PlayStation dressed up as a video game – Sony’s own Pepsiman here for the memes and little else.

What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot? Knack – Living Relic

As part of our Astro Bot guide, we’re going to reveal all Special Bots, who they are, and where to find them. As it stands, with dozens of Astro Bot reviews in, it is currently the best scoring full game of the year. It has a 94 metascore, rocketing it into GOTY contention, if not being a clear frontrunner at the moment. It’s being called one of the best platformers ever, right up there with the classics, and the reviews are just absolutely glowing.

I grudged having to play through my most anticipated game of the year before getting to play more Astro Bot – that’s how good this game is. Like Stephen has mentioned, this is an endlessly inventive title that joyously plays around with the level design, the mechanics, and the themes of every level. There are enough ideas in Astro Bot to fill a dozen regular games. The power-ups flesh out Astro’s move set which, on its own, is fairly simplistic. However, while his range of moves isn’t particularly deep, they’re executed excellently.