In Astro’s Playroom, the Puzzle Pieces found throughout will piece together murals in the PlayStation Labo. In Astro Bot, however, they’ll still put together a picture, but once it’s complete, it’ll spawn a new place to explore and others to customize both yourself, your Dual Speeder and the saved Bots around you. For example, you can get a Changing Room that keeps all the Outfits you get from the Gacha Machine for you to choose from. It’s pretty worthwhile and honestly a lot of fun to reap sweet rewards from your treasure hunting. While it may seem simple enough, there are a lot of things to do in the over fifty levels Astro Bot has to offer. Check every corner, hit every object or look below every platform and you may find a secret cord or passageway to a Puzzle Piece, Bot or even a Vortex to a secret world!

The machine dispenses new Astro costumes, cosmetic options for the PS5 controller spaceship, and joy for the rescued PS-themed Bots. Each is missing a beloved item that can, once regained, give them a clever new animation to perform in the hub world. However, some long-time players of platformers produced by Sony will be disappointed in Astro Bot’s current endgame offerings. Besides many of Astro Bot’s creative and exciting boss battles, nostalgia fuels much of Astro Bot’s most thrilling moments, especially with the few stages specifically themed after PlayStation’s most beloved properties. However, those experiences risk feeling hollow for those who haven’t played the games that Astro Bot seems desperate to reference. Spending coins in the game’s shop unlocks dioramas, ship paints, and costumes for Astro, even some based on unexpected series such as Bloodborne and Gravity Rush.

You’ll need a minimum of 15,000 Coins to unlock a total of 150 prizes, and that’s not including any duds you get from the Gatcha Machine. To open the Changing Room on your Crash Site, you will need to collect 16 Puzzle Pieces to unlock it, or a total of 48 overall. To open the Dual Speeder Garage on your Crash Site, you will need to collect 16 Puzzle Pieces to unlock it, or a total of 32 overall. Once you have completed the puzzle for the Gatcha Lab (total of 16 Puzzle Pieces), the next 16 you collect will automatically fill in the Dual Speeder Garage puzzle and the Dual Speeder Garage will appear at your Crash Site. To open the Safari Park on your Crash Site, you will need to collect 16 Puzzle Pieces to unlock it, or a total of 64 overall.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission

These short sprints are littered with fast-moving objects, numerous enemies, and precise gaps to hop across that are designed to trip you up. Throw a complete lack of checkpoints into the mix as well, and these are easily some of the toughest tasks in Astro Bot, with a final level that’s a real tough nut to crack. It’s a non-stop gauntlet of quickfire threats that made me piece together everything I had learned up until that point in a frantic, but still fun test. Many of the PlayStation characters appear as short, charming cameos, but a handful play fully-fledged supporting roles.

Astro Bot Support

The fact that they added so much DLC makes me think I should send Team Asobi some presents of their own. I just played Winter Wonder yesterday, and it really is a treat! I would go back and read them today if I still had access to them. @AhmadSumadi Yeah I don’’t think lending you our disc is going to help. You should still be able to find cheaper digital sales on retail websites though.

That very level, along with four additional ones, will soon be available as part of the new Vicious Void Galaxy expansion. There’s a lot more to admire in Astro Bot, even for levels where gamers haven’t played the initial game. A good chunk of gamers who started with the PlayStation 4 probably haven’t played an Ape Escape game before, let alone ever heard of the classic PlayStation franchise. But even so, the charm of Ape Escape is fully conveyed by its tribute level in Astro Bot. Younger players who aren’t familiar with it will surely want to learn more about the monkey-catching game when the level ends.

Try to press on and not stop, as you’ll become an easy target for projectile enemies or obstacles like fire or thin ice. Not every level does require you to be quick on your feet, but it’s a good reminder for when you’re tackling some of the harder levels. Team Asobi has teased that tools will eventually be added to Astro Bot that should appeal to speedrunners. With that tool and a bit of post-launch content updates, Astro Bot’s fun could last a lot longer than it does, and that would be a welcome inclusion for a game with a short run time. Still, any frustration with the game ultimately stems from wanting more of what Astro Bot provides, which at its core is a top-tier platformer with innovation, charm, and enjoyment to spare.

I won’t spoil what characters appear here, but know that it isn’t just your average Kratos and Aloy cameos. There are shocking deep cuts here from every corner of PlayStation’s history, including its indie partners. If you have a seminal PS1 game in your mind or a semi-obscure PS2 horror game, there’s a good chance it’s represented here. Aside from a lack of Final Fantasy representation, Astro Bot pays its respects to several generations of formative games.

For those hoping to get as much playtime as possible out of the package, Astro Bot packs in plenty to do. There are secret levels to find, puzzle pieces in each level, a gacha machine filled with outfits, and a home base that evolves into a full-on playground over time. The most alluring feature, though, is its PlayStation-themed collectibles. Every level has a set of hidden bots that Astro needs to rescue.

They even announced that the game will be receiving free DLC in the near future. If there’s one thing to criticize, it’s the exclusivity and the need to buy a PS5 to experience this masterpiece. Everyone should be able to experience this kind of fun, as with the amount of games there are, it’s only a few games that really go the distance. As a platformer, Astro Bot is definitely the best to come this year. gg88 is unparalleled for a game of this genre, despite it’s obvious simplicity.

Finding these little bots was like taking a walk down memory lane, fondly remembering the hours I sunk into these beloved titles, while providing value for this current experience. Still, once you’ve got it out of the box, you might be wondering where to start. With five years of updates and a massive library to catch up on, we’ve put together this guide to help you go from powering it on to playing free games through PlayStation Plus and much more. To proceed, all I have to do is run forward and rub a magic lamp by moving left and right.

It was as if the developers asked themselves what typical elements were expected of a platformer, then found a way to organically incorporate them into the game. Sometimes, it’s with fantastic power-ups like the Time Stopper, which beautifully slows down time to let Astro Bot jump on platforms and evade obstacles. Other times, the layout of getting from Points A to B involved a vast spectacle for players to witness and interact with. There are 5 main Nebulas, each with 6-7 main levels, and a few side levels which are unlocked by flying into objects with the spaceship inside the Nebulas. When you hover over a level it shows how many collectibles it has and how many you still need.

If you have any lingering questions about the game, this section of our Astro Bot guide should have you covered. GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links. All I hope now is that Team Asobo is given quite literally anything it wants to make its next game because I’m already there for it. Finding every bot and motif is an absolute joy in Astro Bot, really digging into PlayStation’s rich history. Microsoft’s Xbox console sales are getting squeezed, and the company is signaling it may not care in the way fans expect. CNBC points to Microsoft’s fiscal 2026 first-quarter earnings, where overall gaming revenue fell 2% year over year and Xbox hardware revenue dropped 29%.