The game is simple, and some might think that it’s way too easy to play the game. If anything, the game might be a little too easy to play, as its intended target audience is anyone that’s able to launch the game. As the game will have even more challenges and a new speedrun mode to be included for free, this might not even be a con when it does release eventually. To put it simply, Astro Bot is quite literally a complete package. Each aspect of the game is superb and should be taken as the gold standard of how to release a game.
These are just three examples, but quite literally every level in the game has some kind of unique idea or design. There are some repeats in terms of power-ups that Astro Bot is given, little devices or creatures that give them new moves. Even though these power-ups appear across multiple levels, they’re always used in tandem with that level’s unique design, making them feel fresh. That focus on variety also applies to the game’s visuals and aesthetics, with the game painting a huge swath of memorable locations — from ghoulishly haunted mansions to arid desert settlements and vast space stations. Unlike our last update Winter Wonder, which was a walk through the Xmas park, this new update features harder levels to test your jumping skills.
Feel every hop, punch and crack through your DualSense wireless controller. After acquiring the balloon power-up, backtrack to the previous platform and float to the opposite side. In the beginning of the stage, immediately knock out the ladybug and use it as a trampoline to get onto the pillar to the left, the puzzle piece will be found here. After getting the balloon power up from the huge robot, immediately use it to get to the robot’s head to find the hidden bot. Astro Bot is a love letter to not just the history of PlayStation but gaming as a whole. Yes, Astro Bot stands on its own as an undoubtedly solid platforming adventure, but what elevates it above that is the Super Smash Bros.-style set dressing that can be found all over.
The scale of some of these battles is truly mind-boggling, with each one sporting a different exciting mechanic that keeps the player guessing right up until the credits roll. The formula is very much the same as those other games, as players control Astro in dozens of levels, hopping and bopping across various colorful locales. As you can see, Square Enix finally caved and allowed Final Fantasy 7 characters to be part of the game!
Ghouls & Bots Overview
Shrink down and ride the bubbles up the tree (make sure to rescue the caged bot on the way). The secret exit in Go-Go Archipelago doesn’t appear until after you defeat the boss at the end of the level. Progress the level normally until you reach the ladybug trampoline burrowed in the snow. If you jump on it, you’ll notice a rather large seal made out of ice perched on a nearby tower. Ignore this for now and continue a bit further up the path, where you’ll find a charging pig. Dodge the pig and then grab its tail to spin it around and around.
Crash Site (35 Bots & 11 Puzzle Pieces)
It’s a sustained tech demo, one that never runs out of new wonders to show you, new marvels to fling at you and swiftly discard. Previous Astro Bot games have been employed to showcase new bits of kit. It feels like Sony is trying to channel its whole spirit into this game. 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. This is more of a nitpick, mainly because the game is actually catered to everyone.
The addition of the new levels brings Astro Bot’s total level count to over 90. Here are Metacritic’s 10 lowest-scoring video games released in 2025. As I collected them, I found myself getting surprisingly emotional as deep-cut games I grew up with got their lovingly crafted due. Every time I found an old friend, I was transported back to that kid in the backroom of my parent’s house playing PS1. The unbridled joy I felt when firing up a game I’d never seen before came flooding back to me.
Which Astro Bot Cameo Was Your Favorite?
These were tightly designed adventures that understood the ways that digital play could activate creativity, even through a silly little cartoon with nothing to say. In recent years, major video game publishers have abandoned that idea. While Nintendo still reveres that power, once great sanctuaries for kids have crumbled as publishers have set their sights on courting “mature” audiences through photorealism and weighty themes. Video games are richer for that change, but young — and young at heart — are getting left behind, stuck wandering the vast desert of Roblox games with nothing but their parent’s credit card in their pocket. The Elephant is a fun one to use because the game keeps coming up with novel ways to implement it. The first big stage it’s in, Trunk of Funk, allows players to suck up sap to disperse below them.
Four years ago, Sony introduced the tagline “play has no limits” to advertise the PS5. s8 is the first PlayStation exclusive since then that truly believes in that mission statement. As I wistfully reflected on that, I was hit by a pang of bittersweet sadness. Most of the colorful mascots I was reuniting with simply don’t exist anymore. Over the past 10 years, PlayStation has entirely narrowed its focus on a few key franchises. God of War and The Last of Us have become standby franchises, while the Crash Bandicoots and Ape Escapes of the world die out.