You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch. If you’re looking for even more savings this season, check out the entire PlayStation’s 2025 Black Friday sale for deals on games, consoles, and more. We gave Astro Bot a glowing 9/10 review, with our reviewer saying, “Team Asobi has crafted a mascot platformer that goes near enough toe-to-toe with Nintendo’s best efforts, and that’s about as high a compliment as I can give it.” To unlock the levels in “Lost Galaxy” you must find the 10 Secret Level Exits (‘Lost Galaxies’) in the other Nebulas. The Puzzle Pieces are needed to unlock new areas in the Crash Site hub area. After finishing all 10 Secret Levels you unlock the 11th Secret Level.

Some games just can’t help but keep a smile on our faces, and Astro Bot, a 3D platformer developed by Team Asobi, is one of them. In 2020, to coincide with the launch of the PS5, every console came with Astro’s Playroom pre-installed, completely free of charge. This game allowed players to test the new capabilities of the SSD drive and controller.

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Astro Bot on PS5 feels like the culmination of every Team Asobi project before it. Given how many mascots Sony has lost over the years (this game’s constant cameos certainly reminded me of that!), I’m completely on board with them adopting the little bot as their new face. Players venture across six galaxies and over 80 levels, from lush forests, sandy beaches, hot volcanoes to more surprising locations such as a gigantic hourglass or the canopy of a singing tree.

Astro Bot Characters

The Dude Raiding level unlocks after you defeat the final boss of Serpent Starway, Lady Venomara. There are 42 Rescued Bots to collect in Serpent Starway, and you must rescue all of them in order to unlock the Fangs Very Much! This includes all Rescued Bots on secret worlds in Serpent Starway.

Each of the 11 levels can be found by finding a secret exit in various other levels throughout the universe. Not to mention the challenges and speed runs they will be adding in the next few months. I have bought £70 games which have bored me within 3 hours and £15 games that I play for years. Price point is fine and if not it will be on sale within 6 months…no one is forcing you to buy it day one or at all for that matter.

Each Astro Bot release pushes the boundaries of PlayStation hardware, from PS VR to PS5’s DualSense controller features. Team ASOBI’s masterpiece claims the prestigious Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2024. Experience the revolutionary PS5 platformer that triumphed over acclaimed titles to win Video Game of the Year, along with Best Game Direction, Best Action/Adventure, and Best Family Game. Click the link to find detailed information on where to find the Bots hidden in all the stages. Think of the character Astro Bot has in Sony’s version of Nintendo’s Mario or Sega’s Sonic The Hedgehog. The small robot is the PlayStation’s lead mascot for the console.

But now that players have been treated to a fully-fledged platformer, it could feel reductive to go back to those smaller adventures. And while there are many routes that platformers can take, the way Astro Bot celebrated the brand really helped prop it up as something special. The game includes hidden levels that can pose a challenge even for veteran platformers, which makes it even more appealing in my eyes. For most of the gameplay, however, the difficulty is more balanced and generally easy, but this doesn’t detract from the almost childlike joy of completing each level. There’s plenty to do in the galaxies haunted by the green alien. I can’t wait to buy my own copy and work toward earning all the achievements in this charming game.

Here are the games released during 2025 that have won major industry awards or received nominations for those awards. We’ll update our awards tracker whenever new awards and nominations are announced. Outside of bosses and minibosses, there initially doesn’t appear to be a great range in enemy types. Sure, some are coated in different colours of paint or dressed to fit in with their surroundings, but they are all vanquished via the same few fundamental jump and hit combos. Later on, though, the design book opens up and introduces some of my favourite foes. These include an anthropomorphic playing card that flings a hand of clubs and spades your way, which you can then jump on to make your way towards the enemy to deal a killing blow of your own.

The game’s visuals aren’t necessarily pushing the PlayStation 5 but they’re flawless and silky smooth, with not a bug in sight. An American living in Germany, John has been gaming and collecting games since the late ’80s. John’s keen eye for and obsession with high frame-rates have earned him the nickname “The Human FRAPS” in some circles.

With the basics on lock, Team Asobi lets players focus on Astro Bot’s wildly inventive level design. In one level, I get a power-up that lets me shrink Astro down to the size of an ant on command. That leads me through a fantastic puzzle-platformer gauntlet where I need to shrink down to climb into a lock or hop up a tree’s leaves. Another level drops me in a casino and puts a time-slowing PSVR on Astro’s head. I use that ability to freeze a giant slot machine as it rains down chips, turning them into platforms. Ingenious one-off mechanics like this feel like they could serve as the basis for an entire game; that’s how well-crafted they are.

Past that, another level has you growing flowers to make your way up an ascending staircase of giant pots. There are musicals to play through, obstacle courses, giant robots to resurrect, and more. g28 could go on and on about every unique level, but the wonder of Astro Bot lies in discovery itself. It needs to be said that there’s a real emphasis on Astro Bot in not being punishing; there’s absolutely no penalty for losing a life, and the moment you grab a collectible, it’s yours — even if you respawn, you already have it. That might be disappointing to some, but it’s an intentional design choice that works in the game’s favor, as Astro Bot is much more focused on the “experience” and wants players to have pure, unfiltered fun.

The levels in Astro Bot feature a staggering amount of interactive elements from jump pads, blocks, and platforms through to what appear to be decorative objects like plants, trees, and even animals. You’ll want to try and hit, nudge, press, and jump on absolutely everything. Not only is this often key it to progressing through a level, but can also lead to secrets and Easter eggs, fun interactions, and hidden collectibles. In that spirit, we’ve pulled together 7 tips and tricks we think will prove helpful for those diving into Astro’s irresistibly charming universe for the first time. When you’re ready to move on, check out our guide to all the collectibles in the starting two levels, Sky Garden and Creamy Canyon. Astro Bot makes incredible use of the PS5’s DualSense Controller, with clever implementation of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.

Thought it was the best platforming experience since Bowsers Fury. But im very frustrated by how cruel the last extra level can be. I hate the level design, totally unbalenced when compared to the rest of the game. Team Asobi has announced that five new levels are coming to Astro Bot as weekly drops, starting on Feb. 13. (That’s today!) As with previous additions to the Game of the Year winner, the new levels are free to download — and, of course, each comes with a new Special Bot to rescue. It’s hard to say what cute, robotic PlayStation characters could possibly top the twin Spider-Man bots from the Christmas level, but I’m excited to find out.