Astro Bot is greater than you think

Astro Bot is one of the best games ever released on PlayStation consoles. Believe it or not, the number of awards claimed by the game starring little Astro has surpassed the previous record. With 14 GOTY awards, Astro Bot is now the most-awarded platformer of all time. This positions Team Asobi and Sony in a perfect position to maybe start a successful franchise in a genre where Nintendo has traditionally been the king. However, Astro itself may never reach the popularity level of Mario and there are good reasons for that.

Unexpected success

When Astro Bot was released in September 2024 nobody really expected that it would become such a hit. An obstacle is that a game that is exclusive to PlayStation consoles. This opens it up to a smaller player base than other games. However, it's clear that quantity does not mean quality, and Astro Bot is not lacking in any of those categories. It's a best-seller on Sony's consoles and provides an unmatched platforming experience that critics and gamers have praised. The game has the potential to expand with new stages, new robots to collect, and other features. However, being limited to PS consoles and having such a direct influence from PlayStation games could limit it if the developers have a possible sequel in mind.

Astro Bot has demonstrated that there is room for new and successful franchises in the platformer genre, especially outside of Nintendo's world, which seems to be exclusively focused on making its two biggest franchises even bigger, Super Mario and Zelda. It's not that PlayStation has been devoid of great platformers. Rayman, Crash Bandicoot, Psychonauts, and many others have provided the fans of the genre with countless hours of fun over the years, but they weren't exactly like Astro Bot. The game from Team Asobi embraces all that PlayStation is and uses it as a foundation to deliver a unique gameplay experience. The result is an incredible game whose success still amazes its own creators.

Astro is the new shining star of the PlayStation universe, even though we don't know yet if Sony is willing to transform the franchise into a series and commit to making it PlayStation's flagship. If you haven't tried the game yet, feel free to use our comparator to check out the best discounts for Astro Bot on PS5 and discover this iconic platformer today.