GAMINGbible GOTY: Why Astro Bot is Kate’s Game Of The Year

I could wax lyrical about why Team Asobi’s Astro Bot is my game of the year. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that many of you don’t even need convincing. Astro Bot achieved both critical and commercial success, uniting us all in a wonderful kumbaya moment, all over a small wordless robot. That being said, if there are any naysayers amongst you - and I know they exist because someone uttered the word “overrated” to me the other day - I’d like to use this fleeting moment of your attention to explain to you why this charming little platformer is deserving of the year’s top accolade.

Back in September, I had the opportunity to review the game, so I don’t simply want to rehash why it's brilliant with quite the same holistic approach. If you did miss that previous review, allow me to fill you in on my overall sentiment: “I don’t throw statements around like this lightly, so believe me when I say that Astro Bot is one of the greatest games of all-time. To call it a ‘game of the year’ contender felt too small an appraisal. What Team Asobi have crafted is a joyful and wonderfully immersive masterpiece that builds upon the foundations established in Astro’s Playroom to create an end product that is unlike anything else I’ve ever played. Within minutes, I was beaming with happiness and the smile did not leave my face once during the entire playthrough.”

To bring home why Astro Bot is without question 2024’s greatest release, I’m going to do something a tad different. I want to highlight one, just one, of the game’s levels. Yes, within the space of a single six-minute level, I feel quite confident that Team Asobi’s platformer proves its supremacy. If you’ve played the game, you may have an inkling of why I believe ‘Downsize Surprise’ to be a complete and utter creative triumph.

Yet to dive into Astro Bot? Change that.

Astro Bot doesn’t simply switch up its formula by transporting you to new biomes, filled with new enemies and obstacles, although that’s obviously a huge aspect of its charm. It also completely changes what Astro is capable of with its levels taking advantage of unique gameplay mechanics. For example, in one level, Astro is able to inflate and deflate. In another, he becomes an absorbent sponge. He may gain the ability to stop time, or transform into a cannonball - all of which dynamise the way in which you have to approach a given level.

I want to make one thing clear. I’m not saying that Astro Bot is the first platformer to do this, as Super Mario Bros. Wonder implemented a similar idea exceptionally well last year, but I do think that Team Asobi has crafted one of the most accomplished examples of this varied approach to platforming, as exhibited in that aforementioned ‘Downsize Surprise’.

In this particular level, Astro gains the ability to shrink down to the size of a mouse - and I want to stress the part where I say ‘gains the ability’. This isn’t a straightforward level where you’re a little fellow navigating a larger-than-life world. You’ll have to shrink and enlarge as the obstacles require, resulting in a dynamic ever-changing scale that’s, quite honestly, joyously breathtaking. When you’re playing as the full-size Astro, you’re surrounded by leaves. They’ll likely mean nothing to you other than filling out the lush environment, but if you shrink down, suddenly those leaves are precious platforms you’re going to need to rely on - and that change in perspective exudes originality and charm.

Credit / Sony Interactive Entertainment

If you’ve played Astro Bot, you’ll know that it’s filled with bot equivalents of practically every animal going and for the most part, it’s all fun and games when tiny bot spiders are scurrying around on the floor. When you’re required to shrink down to the size of a mouse though, suddenly those critters are posing a much greater threat. At one point in the level, you’ll need to shrink down to sneak under the duvet of a bed, shooting back up to full-size to throw the duvet in the air, rescuing a sleeping bot. I cannot emphasise just how joyful this all is. In another instance, mouse-sized Astro can hitch a ride on top of a bubble - a bubble which undulates under your delicate weight, something that’d never be possible at full-size.

Of course, the level also highlights the game’s fantastic DualSense immersion which I detail more thoroughly in my review. Tiny Astro sending pegs pinging into the air as he slides across a laundry line? Just wonderful, wonderful stuff … I could go on, but there’s a reason I’ve highlighted ‘Downsize Surprise’. It implements one of the game’s most inventive and fun mechanics and it’s the only level in the game to do so.

That’s how rich Astro Bot is with material. Developers can spend god knows how long building a mechanic like this only to say, ‘Yeah, we don’t need to use it again. We’ve got plenty of other good ideas.’ That’s a flex if ever I saw one. You could strip all of the PlayStation references out of Astro Bot and I wouldn’t love it any less because this game is just about as whimsical as it gets. This is pure, lighthearted, unbounded fun. It’s the kind of gaming escapism I grew up on, and I can’t imagine that anyone could sit down to this title and not have a very pleasant time.

I’m a fair person. I’ll agree to disagree if it’s not your personal GOTY. But if you won’t even consider trying it? Well, then I may have a problem.