Review: Gameplay, Levels, and Abilities

The release celebrated 30 years of PlayStation, marking another major milestone for the franchise. It is the fifth entry in the Astro Bot series, following Astro’s Playroom (2020), and the first title developed by Team Asobi after the studio separated from Japan Studio.

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Astro Bot has earned widespread recognition for its polished platforming, creative stages, and generous amount of content. It became the highest-rated game of 2024 on Metacritic, with critics frequently comparing its design and feel to Nintendo’s popular Super Mario games. Its success also carried over to major award ceremonies, where it won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024, the 21st British Academy Games Awards, and the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.

Gameplay and Level Design

The adventure follows Astro, a small robot on a mission to rescue scattered robot companions, recover missing components of the PS5 mothership, and take down the alien villain Space Bully Nebulax. The familiar formula from earlier entries returns, but Astro Bot builds on it with fresh environments, new abilities, and plenty of secrets to discover.

Astro’s core moves remain familiar to anyone who has played Astro Bot Rescue Mission or Astro’s Playroom . Players can jump across platforms, hover through the air, throw punches, and perform spinning attacks. Underwater swimming also makes a comeback after being left out of Astro’s Playroom . These straightforward controls help keep the action accessible while leaving room for more challenging platforming sections.

Moving between stages is handled by the Dual Speeder, a spacecraft designed to resemble the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. Players steer it by holding the analog triggers and physically tilting the controller. During level selection, the ship can also move freely, letting players bump into asteroids to uncover optional stages and collect additional puzzle pieces.

Abilities, Collectibles, and DualSense Features

Astro retains the responsive controls of earlier games while making good use of the PS5’s DualSense controller. Adaptive triggers and haptic feedback add physical sensations to different actions and environments, giving the platforming a more tactile feel.

A major addition is the collection of 15 new abilities that improve Astro’s movement and combat options. Each ability introduces a different way to handle enemies or interact with the environment.

• • Barkster the Bulldog Booster: Gives Astro the ability to dash through enemies and break through certain obstacles while airborne.

• • Keri Kero the Twin-Frog Gloves: Lets Astro punch enemies from a distance and swing or launch himself from red-painted surfaces.

• • Handy-D the Monkey: Allows Astro to climb banana-shaped holds, throw rocks at enemies, and pound the ground.

These abilities also play a part in the boss encounters at the end of each galaxy, making the battles feel connected to the platforming that comes before them.