Astro Bot review - Pint-sized bot brings titanic amounts of fun

Astro Bot is here, and I have to say, it more than exceeded my expectations. I played a bit of the original Astro’s Playroom when I first got my PlayStation 5, but it’s not really a type of game I usually seek out. That said, it was adorable, and Astro would make an excellent mascot. While I’m not really into collect-a-thon style games, I very quickly found myself hooked on this game. There are so many cool challenge stages to tackle, and familiar Sony-themed bots to find.

If you, like me, have been a PlayStation owner since the beginning, this game is chock-full of nostalgia for you. Even if you aren’t, and you just want a fun, family-friendly 3D platformer, Astro Bot’s going to deliver the goods for you and yours.

Astro Bot builds on Astro’s Playroom with a brand-new adventure

You can kind of play as familiar characters, occasionally! (Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment)

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I’ve only played the first Astro game (Astro’s Playroom), but I still knew what to expect in Astro Bot. You have the adorable Astro bot, whose ship (conveniently designed like a PlayStation 5) crashes on a strange world. Now, it’s up to you to get the parts back, and find all the bots! It’s reminiscent of games like classic collect-a-thons, in that you have a hub and a variety of worlds to travel.

There are tons of bots to find at almost every level; some of them are quite easy to tackle, while others are quite challenging. However, while it does sort of have a story mode, Astro Bot is a little light on the actual storytelling. You get the story from the gameplay, and from experiences. It’s very show, not tell, in that way.

Anyone who reads my work knows I’m very big on in-depth, lore-rich games—RPGs, typically. Despite that, I didn’t find myself bored or frustrated with Astro Bot at all. Sure, the story is pretty simple. That said, it still captured my attention immediately and held on for every moment I was playing.

There’s another feature that’s definitely worth talking about. After you beat a boss, you’ll unlock an extra stage, based on one of the various Sony characters. For example, you can grab a net and chase down Apes from Ape Escape, or pick up Krato’s Axe and play through a puzzle-filled session of unlocking various important God of War Ragnarok-themed bots. This is where the game shines the most.

Progression comes with Exploration in Astro Bot

You can return to previously played stages, pay 200 coins, and this bird will give you hints about secrets you missed (Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment)

One thing that might frustrate newcomers to the collect-a-thon genre though, is the nature of progression. Each area of the map has a boss, and it requires a certain number of bots to be unlocked. However, I will say that it’s pretty simple to get the prerequisite amount of bots. Sometimes, you’ll just have to go off the beaten path a little bit.

Once you’ve unlocked more parts of your hub world—by adding parts to your ship and collecting more bots—you can also find even more bots here! They are occasionally hidden in areas being harassed by bad guys. Save them, punch them to collect them, and you’ve got even more additions to your collection.

Speaking of the Hub World, you can also find Puzzle Pieces in stages—typically, three of them. These are used in your Hub World to unlock extra stuff like the Gacha Machine. These can be a little harder to find, and it will likely take a while to get enough to start unlocking features in your base. It’s still worth doing and gives the game more replay value.

Some bots are easier to find than others (Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment)

I can see this being frustrating to some players though, especially if you’re having a hard time finding bots. As someone well-versed in exploration games, this was not a challenge. As you find these bots in each stage, you’ll see a list of which ones you’ve found, and in what order. It’s very easy to tell if you’ve missed one, thanks to this. If you see special symbols above a slot, it means that’s a familiar Sony character as well.

As you play through stages, you’ll also score lots of coins. These can be traded in at your base, once you collect enough Puzzle Pieces to open the Gacha Machine. The Gacha Machine randomly rolls up an accessory for your Sony Bots, only for characters you’ve found.

Exploration and Combat in Astro Bot is amazingly fun

Challenge stages absolutely do not mess about (Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment0

Many of the stages in Astro Bot give you a tool that will help you throughout the stage: Snake Hands to grab/punch with, or the ability to shrink. You will need these to explore, and it doesn’t feel ham-fisted at all. Exploration is natural, and combat is pretty easy—just punch! However, sometimes you’ll have to use your hoverjet to kill enemies.

You also have gigantic boss battles that are incredibly fun. That’s the most important part about this platformer—it’s fun. Normally, you die and reset back to a checkpoint from one hit, but bosses give you a few hits, at least. You can even do extra exploration on the stage map. You can smash into meteors and things to unlock hidden challenge stages.

This is where the challenge lies in Astro Bot. Like Super Mario Bros. Odyssey, the hidden stages can get difficult, but everything else is pretty simple. In one of these stages, I spent easily 40-50 minutes just trying to get to the end, thanks to all the stage hazards. It didn’t feel unfair, and I certainly felt amazing by the time I got to the end.

The graphics and music couldn’t be better

Even the hub world is amazing to look at (Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Surprising no one, Team Asobi put together a visually stunning game. The stages are a reasonable size, and they feature brilliant, vibrant colors. It’s easy to tell what is a friend and foe, and the stage design makes for easy exploration. It’s not too challenging to see places you go to if you want to pick up more coins, or potential extra bots.

The music is also very catchy. I found myself humming several tracks from this game well after putting it down to get other work done. It may not be the most intense soundtrack I’ve ever heard, but the music fits thematically, and it’s satisfying to listen to. There’s no bad track in Astro Bot.

Final thoughts

There's a lot of whimsy, wonder, and just plain wholesome fun in this game (Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment)

While personally, this isn’t a game I’d have sought out on my own, I’m genuinely glad I played it. Team Asobi put together an incredible 3D platformer that anyone who is a fan of the genre, or a Sony fan in general, should pick up. It has everything a game in the collectible-platformer genre needs: great graphics, fun stages, and optional challenges.

There isn’t much bad to say about it, other than perhaps wanting more story somehow. Even though the game can feel a little repetitive after a few hours, I still really enjoyed my time with it. It’s a very simple, but fun game, and that’s not at all a bad thing. I can see people of all ages quickly being hooked on the simple, but satisfying fun of Astro Bot.