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Astro Bot Review: An Engrossing, Joyful PS5 Platformer and One of 2024’s Best Games

Team ASOBI’s PS5 platformer turns a simple bot-rescue setup into a joyful tour of inventive levels, surprising abilities, and PlayStation cameos.
Length3 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Astro Bot is a standalone, single-player platformer for PS5 whose simple rescue story gives way to imaginative levels, playful discoveries, and inventive use of the DualSense controller. In TechRadar’s September 2024 review, George Yang praised its variety and joyful energy; the game’s appeal rests more on how it feels to play than on a complex plot.

What kind of game is Astro Bot?

Astro Bot is a full-sized 3D action platformer developed by Team ASOBI and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It launched on September 6, 2024, and is exclusive to PlayStation 5. Players travel between planets, use changing abilities to navigate obstacles and fight, discover collectibles, and rescue bots.

It is a separate purchase from Astro’s Playroom, the free PS5 game. The official PlayStation FAQ describes Astro Bot as a standalone game and confirms it is single-player, with no in-game purchases.

Why the platforming works

Levels built around their abilities

Yang’s TechRadar review identifies level variety as a central strength: new abilities are not just interchangeable upgrades, but tools that help shape the stages built around them. Examples he highlights include a chicken jetpack, cymbals, and a shrinking power. That changing relationship between movement, ability, and level gives the adventure its sense of surprise.

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#1 Best Overall
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Sackboy: A Big Adventure – PlayStation 5
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  • PERILOUS PLATFORMING EXPERIENCE - Explore here, there and everywhere as you utilize Sackboy’s cool, diverse move-set to face a huge variety of thrilling challenges, fierce enemies and startling surprises.
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Rescue and discovery

Rescuing bots provides a clear reason to explore, while collectibles and hidden discoveries reward looking beyond the obvious route. Some rescued characters are cameos from PlayStation and third-party game franchises, adding recognition and humor for players familiar with those series. Sony’s September 2024 launch announcement described more than 150 heroes inspired by PlayStation games across the company’s history.

A simple story, not a plot-heavy adventure

The story is a straightforward setup for a family-friendly journey, rather than the game’s main attraction. The review’s enthusiasm is chiefly about the platforming, presentation, and playful discoveries, so players seeking a layered narrative should set their expectations accordingly.

How Astro Bot uses the PS5 and DualSense

Sony says the game was designed to showcase PS5 features, including 4K visuals, 3D audio, and the console’s high-speed SSD. The DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are used to convey the feel of different surfaces and power-ups. These are design features Sony describes, not a claim of comparative technical performance.

The PlayStation Store listing includes basic stick-inversion options and says the game can be played without touch controls, controller vibration, or adaptive-trigger effects. Those options may be useful to some players, but the listing alone does not establish a broader accessibility rating.

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  • Fun Gadgets: Unlock new gadgets and abilities as you progress, like a grappling hook, rocket boots and power gloves to navigate through the levels. Puzzles and Bosses: Use your brain to solve puzzles and defeat unique bosses. Each boss fight requires clever use of your team’s abilities.
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  • Art Style: Great animations inspired by the books, with comic-style sound effects that add a fun, cartoonish touch to the action.

How big is the adventure?

Published counts vary by source, so they are best read in context rather than combined into one definitive total.

Source Published scale
Sony Interactive Entertainment launch announcement, 2024 Six galaxies and over 80 levels
PlayStation official FAQ, accessed October 7, 2026 Over 50 planets and 300 bots to rescue
TIME year-end list, December 5, 2024 Four galaxies and 90 planets

The sources do not explain the differing galaxy and level or planet counts, or whether they use different counting rules. The figures should therefore remain attributed to their respective publications.

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Who is Astro Bot for?

The game is a natural fit for PS5 owners who enjoy colorful 3D platforming, collecting, and playful references to game history. Team ASOBI lists ESRB Everyone 10+ and PEGI 7 ratings. Those ratings offer more precise age guidance than a general description such as “family-friendly”; they do not guarantee that every player will find the game easy.

Although the DualSense features are part of the intended experience, the cited sources do not say an extra controller is required. The game remains single-player, so it is not a choice for people looking for a multiplayer platformer.

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Rank #3
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  • Embark on high-stakes missions. Take on high-risk, high-reward missions from the galaxy’s crime syndicates. Steal valuable goods, infiltrate secret locations, and outwit enemies as one of the galaxy’s most wanted. Every choice you make influences your ever-changing reputation.
  • Jump into the pilot seat. Pilot your ship, the Trailblazer, as you engage in thrilling dogfights with the Empire and other foes. Find the right opportunities to chase, evade, and attack to get the upper hand.

How critics received it

In TechRadar’s review dated September 5, 2024, George Yang called Astro Bot an engrossing, joyful platformer and praised its distinct levels, tailored abilities, collectible bots, franchise cameos, and DualSense integration. TIME placed it second on its December 2024 list of the year’s ten best games, with its writer highlighting the controller use, PlayStation references, and mix of family appeal and achievement. TIME’s ranking is one publication’s editorial judgment, not an objective award or a consensus score.

Should you play Astro Bot?

If you want a polished PS5 platformer driven by movement, fresh stage ideas, and small discoveries, the strengths highlighted by these reviews make Astro Bot an easy game to recommend. Its straightforward story is a feature of its focus, not the reason to play: the pleasure is in seeing what each level asks Astro to do next.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Astro Bot free like Astro’s Playroom?

No. Astro Bot is a standalone PS5 game; it is separate from the free Astro’s Playroom.

Is Astro Bot multiplayer?

No. The official PlayStation FAQ identifies it as a single-player game.

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