Even without its numerous (excellent) video game cameos and PlayStation references, Astro Bot would still be our favorite game of the year.
The quality of Team Asobi’s endlessly charming platformer means that even if it weren’t for the decades of love for Sony’s console poured into every crevice, the game would still be an endlessly creative marvel. The platforming is so fun and well-executed that it can compete with some of the most impeccable plumber games in the gaming canon.
The confidence that emanates from Team Asobi is something that few developers could replicate. So many great mechanics in Astro Bot could have been the basis for entire games, but this PlayStation development team wasn’t interested in settling for that.
Some mechanics, such as the ability to shrink to the size of a mouse, were only used twice throughout the entire game. There isn’t a single mechanic that we were sick of when it was taken away from us, we just weren’t given time to fatigue.
As exciting as it was to see who the next cameo character was, the real joy of Astro Bot was moving to a new level and seeing what new power awaited you. Sure, some of them return from previous games, but every interaction feels evolutionary rather than copy-pasted from previous games.
This extends to enemies and locations. Some designs and themes reappear in Astro Bot: Rescue Mission and Astro’s Playroom, but the context in which they are used makes them feel fresh. This speaks to Team Asobi’s priorities. Why waste time on things that virtually no one will notice when more time should be spent on the mechanics? The less than 70 members of Team Asobi’s talent are better spent elsewhere.
Hand in hand with the fascinating and ever-changing gameplay is the game‘s stellar soundtrack. Kenny CM Young has been working on charming platformers for the PlayStation for over a decade, but he caught the attention of many younger gamers with the release of Astro’s Playroom. The GPU song, which was essentially a love song dedicated to the PS5’s graphics hardware, was an unbreakable song.
Astro Bot’s soundtrack is filled with equally upbeat and irreverent tracks, as well as classic, chill platform music. It’s impossible to leave a session with Astro Bot without humming one of Young’s songs or repeating “I am As – Tro – Bot” in a robotic voice.
The Asobi team understands PlayStation and understands PlayStation fans. It would have been very easy for Astro Bot to become a license graveyard that Sony hasn’t touched in decades. And while there are plenty of notable characters who are long overdue for the first team, the game never feels like they’re included at random; It feels like it’s coming from a place of celebration.
The hyper-obscure references to Cool Boarders, Um Jammer Lamy, Siren and more feel like a team of developers sitting around a table and talking about the games that were important to them outside of PlayStation staples and making sure they had their day . the sun
Honorable Mentions
Balatro
While it didn’t make it to our game of the Year, Balatro is undoubtedly the game we’ve played the most in 2024. A clever poker-based roguelike, the joy of Balatro is in its infectious mechanics, which will turn a 10-hour flight into a game. in what seems like minutes.
Rarely do games come out that you know you’ll install on every platform you own for the rest of your life, but Balatro is one of them. If you haven’t picked it up yet, treat yourself over the festive period, but be warned: you may suddenly find yourself back at work in January with no memory of the last two weeks.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
If licensed games live or die by the ability to capture the “feel” of the license, then Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is one of the best of all time. Beyond that, MachineGames has taken the point-and-click sensibility of the classic Indy PC adventures and built them with the highly detailed levels of an immersive simulator.
If we add to this a good generational performance by Troy Baker, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle shines as one of the best of the year. As much as we’d love for MachineGames to return to their other Nazi-killing opus, there are plenty of unaccounted for Indy adventures that we’d be the first to play.
Beyond those cameos, Team Asobi flexes its muscles with five tribute levels that range from pleasingly faithful recreations of the original game to reminders of the left-wing projects that defined Sony’s early days. It’s one thing to make a faithful version of Ape Escape, but creating a version of God of War: Ragnarok, complete with a working Leviathan Ax, is something else entirely. It’s so blindingly obvious how much Team Asobi cared about the franchises they were referencing.
Astro Bot is such a good platformer that we’d love for Team Asobi to build on it for years, adding more and more levels. The recently added speedrun levels have been a great catalyst for turning your friendships into rivalries, but we’d also love more of the game‘s tougher challenges. While the game references over 150 PlayStation heroes, there are still many that could be added, meaning the room for more cameos seems practically endless. Not to mention the notable absence of Square Enix (outside of Gex).
As PlayStation turns 30, Astro Bot is a nostalgic, sometimes emotional look at the games, the developers and the characters who created them. While Nintendo will always have a 10-year head start on its gaming history, PlayStation has worked hard to build a legacy to go along with it. Gamers who had to choose between PlayStation or N64 for their 10th birthday are now 40 years old and watching their children make the same decision.
And although the PlayStation of today is not the same one that took the world by storm in the ’90s with its offbeat marketing and endless iconic mascots, Astro Bot serves as that bridge between PlayStation’s past and its future.
While it is inarguable that Sony has failed to preserve some of the franchises it has lost interest in along the way, Team Asobi has taken up the mantle. The spirit of PlayStation that had millions of young fans watching their televisions in the ’90s is alive in Astro Bot. May he lead the charge for the next 30 years of gaming.
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