Astro Bot

Astro Bot is a 3D platformer in which the player controls a small robot, Astro Bot, with the DualSense controller. Astro's move set is identical to his previous incarnations from Astro Bot Rescue Mission and ''Astro's Playroom, maintaining his ability to jump, hover, punch, and spin-attack. The ability to swim underwater also makes a return from Astro Bot Rescue Mission, having been absent in Astro's Playroom''. Levels The base game has 90 levels, split across six galaxies and 60 planets. Each galaxy contains progression levels (which must be beaten to access the boss stage) and challenge levels (which are optional and are typically higher in difficulty as a result). Upon completing enough progression levels and collecting the requisite number of Bots, the boss stage becomes unlocked, the completion of which leads to a level centered around a certain V.I.P. Bot. Upon the completion of that level, a new galaxy is unlocked. Traversal between the galaxies and levels is achieved through the "Dual Speeder"; a spaceship modeled after the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. The Dual Speeder is controlled by holding down the analog triggers and physically tilting the DualSense. Similar to Astro Bot Rescue Mission, every level contains a set number of Bots that Astro has to rescue, ranging from seven Bots in the main platformer levels to only one or two Bots in the boss fights and challenge levels. Each world also requires the player to collect a certain number of Bots before progressing onward. 332 Bots can be rescued and recruited in total: 301 in the base game, 27 via DLC levels, and 4 obtainable through rescue missions in the free-to-play predecessor ''Astro's Playroom. Unlike in Rescue Mission'', "V.I.P. Bots" (collectible Bots which reference various PlayStation characters in their visual appearance and behavior) can also be rescued and recruited. There are over 150 unique V.I.P. Bots, with more expected to be included alongside free DLC levels. Many of the "deep cut" Bot characters from PlayStation's history are rescuable in the game's challenge levels. The likeness of each of the V.I.P. Bots originate from both Sony Interactive Entertainment franchises and franchises owned by third-parties by the likes of Activision, Arc System Works, Argonaut Software, Atlus, Bandai Namco Entertainment, BlueTwelve Studio, Capcom, Crystal Dynamics, Ember Lab, Koei Tecmo, Konami, Mediatonic, Oddworld Inhabitants, Polyarc, SHIFT UP, Sega, THA LTD, Team17, Ubisoft, and Young Horses. Five of the game's levels are based heavily on classic PlayStation franchises, which in turn, each represent previous PlayStation consoles – namely Ape Escape (PlayStation), God of War (PlayStation 2), Uncharted (PlayStation 3), LocoRoco (PlayStation Portable), and Horizon (PlayStation 4). These levels allow the player to utilize the abilities of the heroes of these PlayStation franchises, such as Spike's Monkey Net being the forefront of the Ape Escape-themed level and or Kratos' Leviathan Axe in the God of War-themed level. Abilities and controls Astro has access to 15 new abilities, which attach to him and enhance both his traversal and combative capabilities. Some of these new abilities include Barkster the Bulldog Booster (granting Astro the ability to air-dash through enemies and terrain), Keri Kero the Twin-Frog Gloves (allowing Astro to punch enemies from a distance and swing/slingshot off surfaces painted red), and Handy-D the Monkey (allowing Astro to climb on banana-shaped climbing holds, throw rocks at enemies and slam the ground). The boss battles present at the end of each galaxy are fought with the help of these abilities. Hub world All of the Bots that have been collected can be viewed in a centralized hub world called the Crash Site, where they can be viewed and interacted with; many V.I.P. Bots will perform special actions when Astro punches them, such as the Bot based on Ratchet from Ratchet & Clank dropping all of his Bolts and scrambling to pick them back up. The Crash Site also contains hidden puzzle pieces, Bots, and secret companions, many of which require help from a certain amount of rescued Bots. Collecting puzzle pieces throughout the game unlocks the Gatcha Lab (where Astro can spend coins to unlock collectibles and special items for V.I.P. Bots to interact with), the Dual Speeder garage and Astro's outfit collection (where Astro can repaint his speeder or change outfits), and the Safari Park (where Astro can view and interact with various robotic animals, as well as unlock Photo Mode). Collecting every puzzle piece and 300 Bots grants access to one final level known as "Great Master Challenge", which is only accessible from the Crash Site. Completing this level rewards the player with a V.I.P. Bot based on Chop Chop Master Onion from PaRappa the Rapper, a low-polygon Astro costume called the "Throwback Outfit" (in reference to how 3D models looked on the original PlayStation) and a Dual Speeder skin based on the original PlayStation controller. ==Plot==

Astro, the robot captain of a mothership resembling the PlayStation 5 console, and his crew of Bots are exploring space when a green alien named Space Bully Nebulax attacks them and rips out the mothership's CPU. An unconscious Astro and the mothership crash-land onto a desert planet while his crew and the mothership's core systems are scattered across the universe. Astro is revived by his Dual Speeder, a smaller spaceship resembling the DualSense controller, and together they begin reactivating satellites and exploring galaxies to rescue the crew and rebuild the mothership. The crew helps Astro gain access to Nebulax's minions, whom he defeats and recovers mothership parts from - the system memory from Mighty Chewy the gorilla, the solid state drive from Wako Tako the octopus, the graphics processing unit from Lady Venomara the snake, the cooling fan from Mecha Leon the chameleon, and the ship covers from Falcon McFly the bird. Along the way, he rescues V.I.P. Bots (guest characters from other games) and explores planets based on Ape Escape, God of War, Uncharted, LocoRoco, and Horizon. Once all parts save for the CPU have been recovered, Astro and his crew board ships based on older PlayStation hardware and form the "PlaySquadron" to take the fight to Nebulax, who has been harassing the helpless CPU throughout the game. Astro recovers the CPU, but when he and his crew defeat Nebulax by blowing up the spaceship he is attached to, it creates a black hole that begins to suck Nebulax in. Nebulax grabs Astro to try to take him down with him, but the crew take hold of Astro to try to pull him back. Refusing to let the crew sacrifice themselves for him, Astro lets go of them and falls into the black hole, which explodes into a supernova. The crew mourns Astro and sad credits begin to roll, but are interrupted by a broken Astro falling back onto the mothership. Several Bots from the crew find replacement parts and help the mothership's repair systems rebuild their captain, who springs back to life. The crew celebrates with a revived Astro, who departs once more on his Dual Speeder before the credits start to roll again. Once the actual credits finish rolling, a badly beaten Nebulax and his minions are seen floating through space; they threaten the player, but are sent flying by the sudden appearance of the words "THE END". ==Development==

{{multiple image |total_width=325 Development of Astro Bot started almost immediately after ''Astro's Playroom was completed, and took roughly three years with a development team of around 60 people. It is reportedly the largest game that Team Asobi has developed. Unlike its predecessors Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Astro's Playroom, Astro Bot was named without any subtitle proceeding it. Nicolas Doucet, the creative director and producer of Astro Bot, stated the reasoning behind this was to signify a new beginning for the Astro Bot'' series. In an interview with Edge magazine, Doucet stated that he and Team Asobi considered giving the game an open world structure, but ultimately decided on focusing more on a level-based structure instead. He notes that the reason behind this decision was "because that was the one that gave us the most control over the game's variety." To make the game accessible for gamers of all skill levels, the difficulty of each of Astro Bots levels were put into great consideration. The main levels were designed to be relatively easy, allowing anyone to beat the game regardless of their skill level. The optional levels, meanwhile, were designed to be much more difficult as a way of satisfying the more experienced gaming crowd. Astro Bot is not playable on the PlayStation VR2, even though previous Team Asobi games featuring Astro (such as Astro Bot Rescue Mission and The Playroom VR) required the use of the PlayStation VR accessory to be played. Doucet stated that Team Asobi had never considered developing a PlayStation VR2 game after finishing ''Astro's Playroom, instead opting to develop a larger scale version of the tech demo assuming that it was received well enough by the general public. He acknowledged that, while there are games that are playable in both VR and non-VR, this design philosophy could not work for an Astro Bot game, stating "for a game like Astro'', if you were to make a VR version, it has to be fully designed for that medium. And if it's not a VR version, it has to be fully designed for that medium." Doucet further corroborated this viewpoint in an interview with MinnMax, stating that developing a PSVR 2 version of Astro Bot would make it an entirely different game. He also noted in the same interview that a PC port was a possibility, should it be in high enough demand following the game's release. DualSense features Astro Bot implements many of the DualSense controller's features in gameplay, particularly the haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers. To make the most out of DualSense, Team Asobi formed a small group solely dedicated to getting as much out of the controller as possible. Music Kenneth C. M. Young, having previously composed the music for Astro Bot Rescue Mission and ''Astro's Playroom, returned to compose the soundtrack for Astro Bot''. This was first confirmed through a post from his Twitter account. The soundtrack was made available to listen on the game's release through the digital deluxe edition of the game, In addition to new music composed by Young, songs originating from The Playroom VR (2016), Astro Bot Rescue Mission (2018) and ''Astro's Playroom'' (2020) are reused in several of the game's levels. Young went into detail regarding the composition process in an interview with VGC. Unconventionally for a composer, Young was given a dev kit, allowing him to access an earlier build of the game to get inspiration for level songs. He described it as "really important, particularly for those levels where it's not clear exactly what it needs". Astro Bot also includes remixed versions of Greg Edmonson's themes from the Uncharted series, Bear McCreary's themes from God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök (2022), Nobuyuki Shimizu and Kemmei Adachi's themes from LocoRoco (the two going uncredited), and Joris de Man and Niels van der Leest's themes from the Horizon series. These themes are used in levels based on their respective franchises. The track "Rising Blue Lightning" from Thunder Force V: Perfect System (1998), originally composed by Hyakutaro Tsukumo, is also used in the level "PlaySquadron Go!". ==Marketing and release==

Astro Bot was announced on May 30, 2024, during Sony's State of Play livestream presentation. The game's release trailer and a behind-the-scenes video were showcased on the PlayStation YouTube channel on August 30, 2024. The 400th issue of Edge features ten front cover variants, each highlighting a different V.I.P. Bot, such as Ratchet and Clank from their eponymous series and Aloy from the Horizon series. Three versions of the game are available for purchase, those being the digital standard edition, physical standard edition, and digital deluxe editions. Each of these versions also come with rewards for preordering the game. The digital standard version comes with an in-game outfit for Astro resembling the character PaRappa the Rapper, a Dual Speeder graffiti skin featuring a variety of different V.I.P. Bots, and two different PlayStation Network avatars: one featuring Astro and the other being a V.I.P. Bot referencing PaRappa. The digital deluxe version, alongside featuring all of the rewards in the digital standard release, also adds two outfits (one is a golden outfit and the other references the Yharnam hunter from Bloodborne), two controller skins (one called 'Neon Dream' and the other 'Champion's Gold'), 10 PlayStation Network avatars (showcasing more renders of Astro and various V.I.P. Bots), and a download code for the official soundtrack and digital art gallery. Astro Bot was also present during Tokyo Game Show which, alongside the aforementioned playable demo, featured a giant replica Gatcha machine. Anyone who used the machine received one of four different Astro Bot themed t-shirts. A DualSense controller modeled after the Dual Speeder was announced on July 29, 2024. Pre-orders started on August 9 and the controller release coincided with the game. A console bundle including a PlayStation 5 console (standard and digital-only) and a digital copy of Astro Bot was released on March 13, 2025, in the United States and Europe. Tie-in with ''Astro's Playroom'' To help connect Astro Bot to its predecessor, ''Astro's Playroom received a free content update on June 7, 2024. It added extra artifacts to the Gatcha machine which corresponded to the PS5 slim models and various PlayStation 5 accessories, such as the PlayStation VR2 headset and the PlayStation Portal. Each of these artifacts could be stored in a new room accessed through the PlayStation Labo room. It also contained a brand new "mission room", which displayed a countdown until Astro Bot'' release and directed players to the game's official store page. Additionally, four new Bots could be rescued: one for each of the worlds present. These Bots reference the PlayStation characters Lady Maria from Bloodborne, a racer from the Gran Turismo series, and a Pipo Monkey from the Ape Escape series. Each of the Bots collected in Playroom can be transferred to the Astro Bot ensemble. Downloadable content Following its release, Astro Bot received multiple updates which included new levels and V.I.P. Bots, among a number of other minor additions. On September 24th, 2024, during a State of Play event, five additional speedrun levels were included in a new galaxy titled Stellar Speedway, accessible upon the completion of the main campaign. The levels were released once per week, from October 17, 2024 to November 14, 2024. Each level contained two V.I.P. Bots, referencing characters such as the Shock Troopers from Helldivers 2, and Eve from Stellar Blade. On December 11, 2024, in a post by PlayStation blog, a Christmas-themed level called Winter Wonder was announced and was released the following day. This level featured seven V.I.P. Bots referencing characters such as Croc, Tomba and Rayman from their eponymous series'. In addition, a variety of different collectibles could also be collected, being four new dual speeder skins and four new outfits. On February 13, 2025, in a post by PlayStation blog, five challenge levels were included in a new galaxy titled Vicious Void. Similarly to the speedrun levels, they were released weekly from February 13, 2025, to March 13, 2025. Each level contained a single V.I.P Bot, referencing characters such as Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series and Jade from Beyond Good & Evil. In addition to the new levels, the update also included enhanced features for the PS5 Pro. On June 4, 2025, during a State of Play event, five challenge levels were announced and later released on July 10, 2025. Unlike previous updates, the levels were not released on a weekly basis (instead being released simultaneously) and were not added to a brand new galaxy (instead being included to the already existing Vicious Void galaxy). Each level contained a single V.I.P Bot, referencing characters such as 2B from Nier: Automata, and Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII. Merchandise Astro Bot has received a variety of merchandise. This includes figurines produced by Funko, Good Smile Company, and Youtooz, plushies and a vinyl soundtrack release produced by Fangamer, keychains produced by Faithful, and jackets and socks produced by Insert Coin. In addition, Astro has also been prominently featured in various soft drink advertisements, such as in a commercial for Red Bull and on various Pepsi bottles in Asia. ==Reception==

Critical reception Astro Bot received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 36 out of 40, with each critic awarding the game a 9 out of 10. Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Odyssey. Critics also drew comparison of the mechanics to other Nintendo series, which included Arms, Pikmin, and Splatoon. Masahiro Sakurai, the creator and longtime director of games in the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series, praised the game on Twitter. Astro Bot received criticism for its purported lack of innovation and the way it utilized the likeness of video game characters and series. In an article published by Kotaku, Cole Kronman wrote that, while he found the game to be enjoyable and exceedingly polished, it ultimately did very little which separated itself from the platformers it was heavily inspired by. By contrast, an article written by James Lucas for TheGamer compared the game to a "graveyard", claiming that referencing certain series so prominently only highlights how long it has been since their last entries. Sales In the United States, Astro Bot was the second best-selling software in the week of release and 21% higher than Ratchet & Clank: Rift Aparts debut in the United Kingdom. In Japan, the game sold 12,672 physical units throughout its first week of release, making it the second best-selling retail game of the week in the country. It had sold 34,902 physical units in Japan by September 30, 2024, and 47,392 physical units by December 8. On November 8, 2024, it was revealed by Sony that Astro Bot had sold 1.5 million units as of November 3. Awards As of April 9, 2025, Astro Bot beat out It Takes Two for the title of the most awarded platformer game of all time, with a current total of 195 Game of the Year nominations and wins. ==Notes==