Astro Bot Is Sony’s Trump Card Against Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey

If you’re someone who still has one or two left in their copium tank, then you’ll most likely have heard or seen some stuff about the brand-new Astro Bot game from PlayStation Studios. Before this whimsical droid became PlayStation’s official modern-day mascot, he and his friends first debuted as part of the Playroom for the PS4’s PlayStation Camera device from Team Asobi.

After all these years with a niche VR title and a Tech Demo for the PS5‘s launch, Team Asobi finally unveiled Astro Bot, a full-scale game where our little robot ventures across several different worlds to rescue his friends.

The State of Play showcase on May 30th, 2024, which showcased Astro Bot’s gameplay, was an eye-opener for my friends and left me honestly amazed at the creativity. And right now, I’m here to tell you exactly why it might be a game worth your time, even if you don’t like or are interested in it.

The Decline Of Creative First-Party Titles From PlayStation

At this point, I’m pretty sure you’ve already seen your fair share of memes, controversial discussion threads, and plain slander on PlayStation’s lack of an exclusive title library for the PS5. Now, this is coming from someone who prefers playing on the PS5 over PC for specific reasons, but I don’t blame anyone who’d say that the PS5 is lacking in first-party titles.

The state of Sony's First Party exclusives: PS4 vs PS5 in 4 years.
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Many of these exclusives are on PC, and others (possibly) have been announced, too, but that’s not what I’m here to discuss. I want to mention briefly how, over the past two decades, I’ve seen a steady decline in creative titles from Sony and its first-party studios, primarily about the unique or underappreciated ones like Gravity Rush (please play it if you haven’t) and Shadow of the Colossus.

The day I heard Sony close down Japan Studios was truly heartbreaking for me; As a kid who started gaming via the PS1 with Road Rash and Crash Bandicoot and later continued to the PS2, PS3, and the PS4, I assumed that awe-inspiring creative ingenuity was dead to them. I know we got a couple of bangers for the PS5, like Returnal (My top 5 favorites) and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, but I’ll be honest, chief, it wasn’t enough for me.

What happened to Japan Studio?
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From everything I’ve seen so far, Astro Bot, with its large array of levels, innovative mechanics, and platformer gameplay, screams everything I love about video games: Pure, unadulterated fun. And hey, I’ll take anything like this for granted over PlayStation’s high-budget cinematic AAAs.

Leveling The Playing Field Against Mario Odyssey

No doubt that the Nintendo Switch has an extensive library of first-party titles, quite a few of which heavily pressured me into buying that console… and selling it a year later. The notable titles that got me hooked were Astral Chain, Kirby and The Forgotten Land. Still, out of them all, Super Mario Odyssey immediately won me with its brilliant direction, level design, and engaging gameplay format.

It truly brought out the kid in me who adored playing different platformer adventure games on the PS2. While it’s hard to tell without playing if it may or may not give me the same level of joy, I’m glad that Astro Bot looks to be of the same quality as Super Mario Odyssey, with near-limitless levels and intuitive gameplay design.

I believe Asobi Studio can go crazy with most of the properties in this game, but I’ll be surprised if they come remotely close to replicating Odyssey’s masterful soundtrack, which is just one of the few aspects Astro Bot may not one-up on.

A New Hope To Revive The Golden Era Of PlayStation

Now, this is all a stretch, but if Astro Bot (and I pray it does) is a success in the eyes of Sony’s higher-ups, this hopefully gives them the last bit of assurance they need that articulately crafted platformers with a median playtime are a hit with fans. I mean, I may not forgive Sony for what they did to Japan Studios, but at least I’ll be able to look back and remember that the PS5 had a good chunk of fun-oriented exclusives.

I’m not being picky here or biased about their cinematic titles since I enjoy those, too, but c’mon, we know how long those take and how much developers get crunched to ready them for launch. Just keep a balance between them and this treasure trove of gameplay-focused titles like Astro Bot, and you’ll have my wallet on your table on day 1 of the release.