“Each level comes with a brand new Special Bot to rescue and, once that’s done, can be replayed in Time Attack mode with online rankings.” The biggest evolution of the cameo characters, however, is that four of them will actually lend you their weapons, which Astro needs to use in stages specifically designed for each one. Sony just never seemed to have an answer to Nintendo’s Mario or Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog.
If there were anything to criticize about the game, it may just be the game’s difficulty and its exclusivity. While the former may be alleviated with its already announced free DLC challenge levels and speedrun mode, the latter may be something that might not be addressed. Everyone should be able to play this masterpiece, but maybe the PS5 should actually get more games to play.
The bright graphics and little PlayStation references make it even better. Astro Bot received PlayStation 5 Pro support and new, more challenging levels back in February. Team Asobi’s platformer won numerous Game of the Year awards, including at 2024’s The Game Awards and the 2025 BAFTA Awards. Originally announced during Sony’s June 2025 State of Play, the update adds a new galaxy, the Vicious Void, for players to explore. Four of the levels are titled Twin-Frog Trouble, Suck It Up, Handhold Havoc, High Inflation, with Team Asobi keeping the name of the fifth as a surprise. The addition of the new levels brings Astro Bot’s total level count to over 90.
To access these new levels, you will need to have completed the main game. Critics praised the gameplay, level design, and content, with some comparing the game to Nintendo franchises, particularly the Super Mario series. Astro Bot won multiple awards including Game of the Year at the Game Awards 2024, the 21st British Academy Games Awards, and the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. As Astro, the player embarks on a quest to save lost robots, retrieve parts for the PlayStation 5 mothership, and defeat the alien Space Bully Nebulax. Much like the previous title Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot uses DualSense controller features including adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. There’s a jungle planet, a volcano planet, and worlds of pirates, ghosts, and gardeners.
This is one of the only PS5 games that really feels like it was built around the DualSense, and it shows. Plenty of stages require patience, awareness and a high degree of platforming skill, though resets are generous and failure doesn’t cost anything other than your time. Completionists will have a great time with this one — there are so many secret passages and hidden bots to find, most of them cleverly tucked away and easily missed unless you’re actively looking for them. On the flipside, speedrunners should enjoy Astro Bot as well, since it offers planets of platforming challenges with incredibly responsive controls. These are just three examples, but quite literally every level in the game has some kind of unique idea or design.
It’s a game that oozes creativity, consistently delighting and surprising the player with new mechanics, gameplay twists, smart boss battles, and jaw-dropping set-piece moments. But past that, it’s also a grand celebration of PlayStation and video game history as a whole — the only game that’s been able to rival Super Smash Bros. in that regard. Astro Bot is easily the best game on the PS5 to date and a platformer that can proudly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anything Mario has done.
Astro Bot is a glimpse of what Sony wants you to understand that it believes that it is. It has the boundless cheer of a group of people coming together and trying to be their best selves. All in all, Astro Bot is definitely one of 2024’s best games, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were considered to be the year’s best.
Test your skills in five additional speedrun levels available now, and collect new Special Bots. Feel the might of power-ups and the tension of tools as you repair the PS5 mothership. Following its release, Astro Bot received multiple updates which included new levels and V.I.P. Bots, among a number of other minor additions. 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”. Astro Bot[a] is a 2024 platform game developed by Team Asobi and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5 in celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary.
What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot? Lara Croft – Aristocratic Archaeologist
Find release dates and scores for every major upcoming and recent video game release for all platforms, updated several times per week. In Spring-LoadedRun, you will strap on your twin frog boxing gloves and traverse a sunken city ruins. Punch rolling barrels, swing over daring gaps, and pummel your way to the top of the tower to rescue the special bots. The portal to this level can be found in the main stage Free Big Brother!
Astro Bot Review: Play Has No Limits In One Of The Ps5’s Finest Games
Physical editions of Astro Bot come with a physical poster of the robots on their PS5 mothership, plus the preorder bonuses detailed below. In addition to the winners, The Game Awards contained its customary array of trailers, including first reveals for Witcher 4, a new Elden Ring game, Okami 2, and Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic. We have tons of follow-up coverage on the site, including deep dives into both Elden Ring Nightreign and Witcher 4 and lots more. APP TD88 is the most recent entry in the Astro Bot series and was released in 2024 for the PlayStation 5 in celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary. We’ve also outlined which character each of them represents, what series they’re from, and where to find them in the game. You can see that most of those are indies with fewer reviews counted, and the scores I omitted are for “definitive collections” or remasters which I’m not going to count.
Needless to say, Astro Bot exceeded my expectations by being nearly perfect in almost every aspect of the game. The story of the game isn’t all that compelling; however, the fact that it’s able to tell a story and make it understandable without a single line being spoken means something. The motivation of the game is to rescue the missing crew members of the now-broken PS5 mothership due to the damage caused by their nemesis. It’s nothing fancy, yet somehow it’s able to sneak in amazing interactions between the bots, and that just makes everything a lot better than I think it actually is. Astro Bot still takes advantage of the console’s power too, but not by dipping into photorealism or needlessly flashy spectacle. Incredibly smooth performance means I’m never taken out of the flow by frame hiccups.
There are 200 cameo characters in Astro Bot, most of whom first appeared in iconic PlayStation franchises. Unlocking all of them can be incredibly difficult, but not half as challenging as trying to figure out which games and series all of the cameo bots are from. You’ll pick up an awful lot of coins exploring all the planets in Astro Bot. At first, that huge trove of gold may seem useless, but once you’ve beaten the first boss in the Gorilla Nebula, you’ll unlock the Gacha Lab at the Crash Site. Here, you can spend coins to win up to 169 PlayStation-themed collectibles, including skins for the Dual Speeder.
The developer teased in a blog post that completing the new galaxy “might lead to something really cool,” so players will have to dive in and see what surprises are in store. 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. It even feels like some popping candy has smuggled its way into your controller as it fizzes and pings away, sweetly reacting to whatever is happening on screen.
Astro Bot begins with a PS5-shaped spaceship traveling the stars when its crew of 300 Bots suddenly encounters a mischievous alien who breaks the ship and scatters its pieces and crew across multiple galaxies. As players take control of Astro, they’ll work to repair the ship and rescue their crewmates. Astro Bot is a platformer adventure game released on September 6, 2024, for the PS5, serving as a sequel to Team Asobi’s Astro’s Playroom from 2020 and the third game in the series. Players take on the role of the lovable Astro Bot, embarking on a space-faring adventure through diverse environments, including waves of sandy beaches, lush jungles, and fiery volcanoes. Along the way, Astro gains new powers and transformations to aid in the journey. Released in celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, the game pays homage to the brand’s legacy by allowing players to find and reunite with over 150 iconic PlayStation characters.