Astro's Playroom was a really unexpected surprise for me. Released in 2020 as a pack-in title with the PS5, it was a cute little platformer that paid homage to Playstation's history, and I had a great time with it. Astro Bot is a massively expanded version of that game, and rivals Mario in charm, playability, and pure soul.

I wasn't planning on buying this game right away. No matter how good, $60 for a platformer is a bit rich for me. The fantastic reviews and hype got to me though, so I picked it up and played through the first of 5 worlds. I don't regret it at all - this is one of the best platformers I've ever played and one of the best games of the last few years period. Every level has its own theme, lovingly handcrafted and dripping with personality. 

It feels like a mix of the best parts of recent Kirby and Mario games. Just playing through the levels is a breeze, but if you want to 100% everything there's some challenge. It just feels really great to play, and I hope Sony takes the right lessons from this game. Not everything needs to have a $300 million budget, take 8 years to release, and be live service. There is a huge market for high-quality games like this mixed in with all the "movie games" Sony has been singularly focusing on for the last decade.

Verdict: Keep Playing

Part of the Game Library Project