It was easily one of the best games available on the system at launch. To this day, its creative use of the DualSense controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers showcase what the controller can do better than pretty much any other game. Longtime gamers will find rescuing the bots in Astro Bot to be an absolute treat. It’s exciting to see who will pop up next, especially since there are a few very unexpected cameo bots that I won’t spoil here.

Additionally, the celebration of the PlayStation brand may get stale after two entries do the same exact thing. Team Asobi will need to come up with something different if it wants to capture audiences again, but if it is too different, then it may not excite the fanbase in the same way. Doucet made clear that, while Astro Bot may expand beyond PS5, it won’t return to the robot’s roots on PSVR. This isn’t for any malicious reason, of course, but simply because building a “flat screen” game is very different to building one for virtual reality.

Microsoft’s purchase of Rare, a studio that had created platformers with mascot-like characters for Nintendo, almost seemed like an afterthought. While today PlayStation’s headquarters may be located in San Mateo, California, the history of Sony’s beloved video game console brand started in the early 1990s in Tokyo, Japan. Ken Kutaragi – who would later become known as the father of PlayStation – had been working together with Nintendo on a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo. When this got canceled, Kutaragi went to Norio Ohga (Sony’s CEO at the time) with the proposal of making Sony’s own console.

Easily the best missions are the final ones of each “nebula” where you will take on the persona of a famed PlayStation character with a unique ability. The Kratos/God of War level is the best one I’ve played in the entire game, where you have his ice axe to melee with and throw. At one point where you scoot through a tight wall space, I laughed out loud. Similarly, the Uncharted level where you wield a (colorful ball-shooting) gun and swing through a jungle is amazing.

Astro Bot is, without a shadow of a doubt, this year’s best platforming game. Hell, it could even be a contender for Game of the Year (GOTY) because of how complete the game is as a whole package. The game is visually stunning, has great sound design, has simple yet fun gameplay, makes use of the exclusive PlayStation controls, and, most importantly, has a ton of content. Sony and Team ASOBI have knocked it out of the park with this game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this game is regarded as one of Sony’s best releases to date. In its never-ending chase for maturity and realism, the video game industry is leaving kids behind. It makes me sad to think that today’s young players have so few options if they want to play something like Spyro the Dragon.

The Game Awards 2024: All Astro Bot Nominations

And it has an approachable, nonspecific universality that can easily cross cultural barriers to reach every corner of the international TGA jury. As we predicted, Astro Bot won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024. This was a relatively open race, with no runaway front-runner, which gave the 2024 awards a little extra frisson of excitement.

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But it’s the temporary abilities that come with each level that make things truly exciting. The Twin Frog gloves are a particular favourite, with their sticky tongues flinging out to provide a grapple swing option. They’re also spring-loaded, meaning any incoming projectiles can be sent back from whence they came, exploding in an enemy’s face. I also very much enjoyed the mouse mechanic, which reduces you down to a super small size, effectively turning on a “Toy Story” mode that lets you clamber up oversized shelves and leaves in search of secrets. For 30 years, Sony has given us a vast library of top-quality PlayStation games, but there has never been a mascot platformer among them to rival the heights that Nintendo’s Mario regularly reaches. Packed with dozens of colourful levels and experimental abilities, Astro’s latest outing thrusts him onto centre stage, joined by a supporting cast of PlayStation’s past heroes to provide hours of pure joy.

Kill the enemy train and pop the hourglass open to get the second puzzle piece. The first puzzle piece in “Trapped In Time” appears before you even land in the hourglass. As you’re flying in on your DualSense ship, you’ll pass some coin containers and then a large sand dune on your left. On this sand dune, you’ll see a golden snake with a familiar glow emerge as you get close.

To top it all off, it’s a perfect game to celebrate PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, reflecting on the myriad series that made the platform what it is today. Those PlayStation-themed levels we mentioned are some of the highlights, too. After defeating each boss — each one a fun fight, by the way — you’ll meet an iconic Sony character, such as Kratos, and they’ll open a new stage based on not only their worlds, but their mechanics.

Team Asobi releases a new update for Astro Bot, adding the final level and cameo from the previously announced Vicious Void Galaxy DLC. The game’s popularity has continued well into this year, after becoming one of the surprise hits of 2024. Not only has Astro Bot claimed a bunch of industry awards and game of the year titles, but it continues to keep players coming back with new DLC levels as well. “For Astro’s Playroom, there have mainly been two types of audiences,” says Doucet. They’re mostly the type who crave more colorful games and want to go back to 3D platformers. These players are also happy to see how we treat the PlayStation heritage.

It’s Super Mario Bros. for a new generation of video game fanatics, at once an introduction to common mechanics and also a significant challenge for seasoned players. If this, alongside new titles like Lego Horizon Adventures, signals a new and less stuffy direction for Sony, then I’m excited to see what the future holds. For now though, you’ll find me trying to 100-percent Astro Bot, cursing and laughing the whole way through. 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.

If you’re curious about some of the most obscure characters, we have a guide to 21 of the more tricky ones, with details on where you’ve seen them before. This year has been a very special journey for us at Team Asobi, and we thank you for joining us. Until next time, we wish you a very relaxing and restful end of the year, full of gaming of course, but above all, full of good health and happiness all around. The second puzzle piece can’t be reached until after you break the first blue hourglass, drain it of liquid, and then pop the cork. From https://yanagiya.jp.net/ , turn left and kill the green blob sitting under the platform.

That includes the Lovestruck Lyricist, an homage to PaRappa the Rapper, the Yharnam Hunter, an homage to Bloodborne, and many more. It was a long night, but the 2024 The Game Awards ceremony is finally over. This year was an amazing one, and while the big 6 games of this event were impressive, only one had the opportunity to walk away with the biggest recognition of the night.