Astro Bot is the 3D platformer glow up Sony didn't have to give us
5By Games Revealed · Astro Bot
Astro Bot is what happens when a studio treats a pack-in mascot demo like it's the main event. Think Super Mario Odyssey's joy meets a PlayStation nostalgia tour - but built ground-up to show off a controller instead of a console. Every level does a new thing and then throws it away before it gets old - that's the trick most platformers miss. You get a power, you play with it for one perfect level, and it's gone. No padding. The DualSense stuff is the flex. Rumble that actually means something, triggers you feel - it's the closest thing to "the controller is part of the game" that's landed since the tech showed up. Honest hedge - if you've got zero attachment to 20+ years of PlayStation cameos, some of the fan-service moments land softer. The platforming still carries it, but the goosebumps are a bonus feature. One of the best pure 3D platformers on the platform, full stop. If you own a PS5 and skipped this because it "looked like a kids game," that's the miss. The move is to go back.