ASTRO BOT RESCUE MISSION
Astro Bot’s most endearing quality is its perseverance. Whether it’s death from gravity or the improbably explosive termination resulting from too much roughhousing, the teeny bot gets right back up again, as eager as ever to save its friends. All without a word of sass to you about missing that same jump five times in a row. You first encounter the bot in a spaceship full of similarly micro machines, as their craft is torn apart by a grabby alien that never learned not to snatch. Its friends sent hurtling into space, it’s up to you and Astro Bot to hunt each of them down across a number of strange planes. From simple, plastic beginnings to a world underwater, and even a level that gives way to an annoying slot car section, you’ll want to take in your surroundings.
In PS VR, you glide through levels along a track, requiring you to fully inspect your surroundings, leaning, peering, and looking behind yourself. Unlimited lives and generous checkpointing neuter any frustration that may arise from this 3D platformer’s somewhat fixed perspective. This does make the odd jump difficult to judge, especially as you can’t backpedal in a level, which becomes heartbreaking when you realise you’ve left one of Astro Bot’s buds behind.
A PLACE IN SPACE
Astro Bot is adorable, always keen to wave to you from platforms on high. The way its friends are hidden around levels, attempting to blend in as a cactus in one instance, and relaxing on the beach in another, keeps things cute, though the ship you’re trying to fix and fill with the stragglers you find lacks the same level of personality. The main point of interest on board is a gacha machine – pour the coins you gather across levels into it for even tinier dioramas of enemies and levels. While these are detailed, this side content is pretty surface-level. Still, between the main levels and the unlockable challenges, there’s plenty to enjoy.
While occasionally frustrating, levels are seldom tricky to traverse. Enemies are easily dealt using Astro Bot’s right hook, rocket boots, and arm cannon. For one so small, the bot packs quite the arsenal. While your buddy jumps, glides and tightrope-walks, you’ll be headbutting through obstacles, dousing slimes with water, and deploying hook shots. Mercifully for the more selfconscious, the game doesn’t demand exaggerated gestures from you. Bosses bookend worlds, feeling familiar but shining in their presentation, and there’s a joyful, nostalgic tone throughout.
VERDICT
“ASTRO BOT IS ADORABLE, ALWAYS KEEN TO WAVE TO YOU FROM PLATFORMS.”
There’s nothing scaled-down about this family-friendly PS VR adventure. A delightful romp for both PS VR veterans and the pint-sized adventurers in the family. Jess Kinghorn