Astro Bot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Astro Bot |
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| Developer(s) | Team Asobi |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Director(s) | Nicolas Doucet |
| Composer(s) | Kenneth C. M. Young |
| Series | Astro Bot |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 5 |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Astro Bot is an exciting 3D platform video game released in 2024. It was made by Team Asobi and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5 console. This game is the fifth in the Astro Bot series, following Astro's Playroom from 2020. It's also the first game Team Asobi developed after becoming its own studio.
In Astro Bot, you play as a small robot named Astro. Your mission is to save lost Bots and find parts of the PlayStation 5 mothership. You also need to defeat an alien villain called Space Bully Nebulax, who destroyed the mothership. The game was released to celebrate the PlayStation brand's 30th anniversary.
Astro Bot was a huge success with players and critics. Many people loved the game, and it's seen as one of the best games of 2024. Critics often compared it to popular Nintendo games, especially the Super Mario series. The game's director, Nicolas Doucet, even said Super Mario was an inspiration. Astro Bot has won many awards, including Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024. By November 2024, it had sold 1.5 million copies, making it one of the best-selling PlayStation 5 games.
Contents
Discover Astro Bot's Exciting Gameplay
Astro Bot is a 3D platformer where you control Astro Bot. You use the DualSense controller to guide him. Astro can jump, hover, punch, and spin-attack, just like in earlier games. He can also swim underwater, a feature that returns from Astro Bot Rescue Mission.
Explore Many Levels and Galaxies
The game has 90 levels spread across six galaxies and 60 planets. Each level has a difficulty setting: Easy, Normal, or Hard. The main story levels, called "playful stages," are usually easy or normal. The extra challenge levels, known as "complex stages," are mostly hard. Before you start a level, you can see its difficulty. More playful and complex stages are planned to be added later as free updates.
To travel between galaxies and levels, Astro uses the "Dual Speeder." This spaceship looks like a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. You control it by holding down the triggers and tilting your DualSense controller. You can also move it freely on the level selection screen.
Like in Astro Bot Rescue Mission, each level has Bots for Astro to rescue. Main levels have about seven Bots, while boss fights and challenge levels have one or two. In total, you can rescue 322 Bots. This includes 301 in the main game and 16 added later with free updates. You can also get 4 Bots by beating secret challenges in Astro's Playroom.
Astro Bot also features "V.I.P. Bots." These are special collectible Bots that look like famous PlayStation characters. There are 150 unique V.I.P. Bots, with more coming in future updates. Many "deep cut" characters from PlayStation's past can be found in the game's complex levels. All the Bots you collect can be seen and interacted with in a central hub world.
Five levels in the game are based on classic PlayStation games. Each of these levels represents a different PlayStation console. For example, there's a level based on Ape Escape (from the original PlayStation). Others are inspired by God of War (PlayStation 2), Uncharted (PlayStation 3), LocoRoco (PlayStation Portable), and Horizon (PlayStation 4). In these levels, Astro can use the special abilities of the heroes from those games. For instance, in the Ape Escape level, you use Spike's Monkey Net.
Collect Coins and Unlock Fun Items
You can find collectible coins throughout the planets. These coins can be used to buy different things. The main way to spend coins is at the Gatcha machine. Here, you can get cool costumes for Astro and skins for your Dual Speeder. You can also get items for the V.I.P. Bots. Giving these items to the V.I.P. Bots makes them do special actions related to their original games.
Coins can also buy a bluebird helper. This helper shows you any Bots or puzzle pieces you might have missed in a level. You can buy the bluebird helper from your second try at a level onwards.
Astro's Amazing New Abilities
Astro has 15 new abilities that attach to him. These abilities help him move around and fight enemies. Some examples include:
- Barkster the Bulldog Booster: Lets Astro dash through enemies and obstacles in the air.
- Twin-Frog Gloves: Allows Astro to punch enemies from far away and swing or slingshot off surfaces.
- Handy-D: A monkey that helps Astro climb, swing, and slam the ground.
You'll use these abilities to fight the big boss battles at the end of each galaxy.
The game also has helpful accessibility settings. These include playing with just one analog stick (with camera controls on a button). It also supports the PlayStation Access controller. You can even turn off gyro controls, haptic feedback, and adaptive triggers if you prefer.
Astro Bot's Exciting Story
One day, in space, a mothership that looks like a PlayStation 5 console is flying around. Astro and his crew of many Bots are on board. Suddenly, a green alien called Space Bully Nebulax appears. He chases the mothership, attacks the crew, and steals the ship's main computer (CPU). This causes the mothership to explode, scattering its parts and the Bots across space.
What's left of the mothership crashes on a desert planet. Astro is knocked out, but the Dual Speeder, a smaller ship shaped like a DualSense controller, wakes him up. A satellite crashes nearby, and when Astro activates it, he begins his search for his fellow Bots and the missing mothership parts. After Astro explores his first planet, the mothership turns its crash site into a beautiful oasis and a home for Astro and the rescued Bots.
Astro continues exploring different galaxies, rescuing most of the Bots. He tracks down the home planets of five big bosses: Mighty Chewy (Gorilla Nebula), Wako Tako (Tentacle System), Lady Venomara (Serpent Starway), Mecha Leon (Camo Cosmos), and Falcon McFly (Feather Cluster). Astro fights them all and gets back more mothership parts.
Once Astro has rescued most of his crew and the mothership is fully fixed, he meets Space Bully Nebulax again. Astro chases him, starting a big space war. Most of Astro's crew use old PlayStation hardware as part of their team, forming the "PlaySquadron."
After a long fight across the universe, Astro and his Bots reach Space Bully Nebulax for the final battle to get the missing CPU. Astro gets the CPU back, and it goes into the mothership. But a hurt Nebulax tries to fight one last time. With help from the Bots, Astro blows up the UFO inside Nebulax's body. This creates a black hole! Nebulax tries to drag Astro with him, but Astro sacrifices himself to save everyone, causing a huge explosion.
The Bots worry about Astro, but he appears from the horizon and lands on the mothership. He's badly hurt, flickering and losing robotic parts. Astro is almost gone, but some Bots find and throw him replacement parts. The mothership's repair systems use these to fix and revive him! Rebuilt and ready, Astro celebrates with his crew and explores space once more as the credits roll. He then flies off one last time on his Dual Speeder.
How Astro Bot Was Made
Work on Astro Bot began right after Astro's Playroom was finished. It took about three years to make, with a team of around 60 people. This is the biggest game Team Asobi has ever created. Unlike earlier games like Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Astro's Playroom, this game is just called Astro Bot. Nicolas Doucet, the game's creative director, said this simple name shows it's a fresh start for the series.
Nicolas Doucet and Team Asobi thought about making Astro Bot an open world game. But they decided to stick with a level-based structure instead. Doucet explained this was because it gave them more control over the game's variety.
The team also thought a lot about how difficult each level should be. They wanted the game to be fun for everyone, no matter their skill level. The main levels were designed to be easy enough for anyone to finish the game. The optional levels, however, were made much harder to challenge more experienced players.
The game engine was greatly improved, making the visuals and physics much better. The levels now have more detailed backgrounds and environments. You can even spot over 70 different kinds of wildlife, like polar bears, elephants, and tiny insects!
Astro Bot cannot be played on the PlayStation VR2. Even though previous Astro games like Astro Bot Rescue Mission used PlayStation VR, Team Asobi decided not to make this new game for VR. Doucet said that a VR Astro Bot game would need to be designed completely differently. He also mentioned that a PC version might be possible if enough players ask for it.
DualSense Controller Features
Astro Bot uses many special features of the DualSense controller. These include the haptic feedback (which lets you feel things) and the adaptive triggers (which change how they feel). Team Asobi even had a small group focused only on using the DualSense controller as much as possible.
Doucet gave some examples of these features. You might use the adaptive triggers to feel like you're squeezing water out of a sponge. The haptic feedback can help you feel bumps on a surface to find hidden secrets. Many features are first tested alone, and the best ones are then added to the game.
Each of Astro's new abilities also uses the DualSense controller's features a lot. In Astro's Playroom, the platforming and abilities were in separate parts of the game. But in Astro Bot, the abilities are built right into the platforming gameplay. The team used the touchpad less often in this game. Doucet explained that using the touchpad makes players move their fingers away from the jump button, which can make the game less comfortable to play.
V.I.P. Bots: PlayStation Friends!
Nicolas Doucet has often talked about how important the V.I.P. Bots are. These Bots look like famous characters from PlayStation games. Team Asobi decided to include even more cameos than in Astro's Playroom. Doucet said this helps connect different generations of players. For example, a child might ask their parent who a certain Bot is, and the parent can explain if they played that game before.
There are 173 V.I.P. Bots in total. They include characters from Sony's own games, like Ratchet and Sackboy. There are also characters from other game companies that have been popular on PlayStation consoles.
Game Music
Kenneth C. M. Young created the music for Astro Bot. He also composed the soundtracks for Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Astro's Playroom. He confirmed his return on his Twitter account.
Marketing and Release
Astro Bot was first announced on May 30, 2024. This happened during Sony's State of Play livestream event. The game's release trailer and a behind-the-scenes video were shown on the PlayStation YouTube channel on August 30, 2024. The game was released only for the PlayStation 5 on September 6, 2024.
The 400th issue of Edge magazine had 10 different front covers. Each cover showed a different V.I.P. Bot. Some examples include Ratchet and Clank and Aloy from the Horizon series.
Three versions of the game are available:
- Digital Standard Edition: Comes with a special outfit for Astro that looks like PaRappa the Rapper. It also includes a Dual Speeder graffiti skin with V.I.P. Bots and two PlayStation Network avatars (Astro and PaRappa).
- Physical Standard Edition: Includes all the digital standard rewards plus a poster.
- Digital Deluxe Edition: Has all the digital standard rewards, plus two more outfits (a golden one and one inspired by Bloodborne). It also has two controller skins, 10 more PlayStation Network avatars, and a download code for the official soundtrack and a digital art gallery.
Playable demos of Astro Bot were available at several events. These included Summer Game Fest, EVO, ChinaJoy, and PAX West. The demos showed five different levels. Two were playful platforming stages, one was a boss fight, and two were shorter, harder challenge stages. Astro Bot was also at Tokyo Game Show. There, people could play the demo and use a giant Gatcha machine to win Astro Bot t-shirts.
A DualSense controller designed to look like the Dual Speeder was announced on July 29, 2024. You could pre-order it starting August 9, and it was released on the same day as the game. Some Best Buy stores in Canada also had demos for people to play.
Connecting with Astro's Playroom
To link Astro Bot to its previous game, Astro's Playroom got a free update on June 7, 2024. This update added new items to its Gatcha machine. These items were related to the PS5 slim models and other PlayStation 5 accessories, like the PlayStation VR2 headset. All these new items could be stored in a new room. The update also had a "mission room" that counted down to Astro Bot's release and sent players to the game's store page.
Additionally, four new Bots could be rescued in Astro's Playroom. Each of the four worlds had one new Bot. These Bots looked like Lady Maria from Bloodborne, Selene from Returnal, a racer from the Gran Turismo series, and a Pipo Monkey from Ape Escape. Any Bots you collected in Astro's Playroom could be transferred to your starting crew in Astro Bot.
Just before Astro Bot was released, a special countdown celebration was held inside Astro's Playroom.
Extra Content to Download
Five extra speedrun levels were announced as free downloadable content (DLC) during the September 2024 State of Play event. These online levels were released weekly from October 17, 2024, to November 14, 2024. They also included more V.I.P. Bots, such as the Shock Troopers from Helldivers 2 and Eve from Stellar Blade.
A special Christmas-themed level was announced on December 11, 2024, and released the very next day.
See also
In Spanish: Astro Bot para niños
Images for kids
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The official cover art for Astro Bot.
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Astro Bot alongside other V.I.P. Bots, referencing various characters from PlayStation's history. The characters (from left to right) are Atreus of God of War; Kulche of LocoRoco; Kratos of God of War; Spike of Ape Escape; Aloy of Horizon; and Nathan Drake of Uncharted.
