PlayStation just revived a PS1 franchise I never thought I’d see again

One thing we need to get out of the way right now is that this article contains spoilers for Astro Bot.

While the wonderful new PlayStation 5 platformer isn’t exactly story heavy, I think a lot of the joy of the game comes from discovering a lot of the Easter eggs for yourself.

As such, maybe wait until after you’ve beaten the game’s first world to read on. Alternatively, if you don’t care, do what you want. I’m a paragraph, not a cop.

Astro Bot is a truly fantastic experience for a ton of reasons. It throws out new ideas and vibrant worlds with the hit-rate of a Super Mario game. It’s quite easily one of 2024’s best releases, and possibly the PlayStation 5’s best game yet.

You won’t be shocked to discover Astro Bot also happens to be packed with references to the history of PlayStation. The likes of God Of War and Uncharted are as well-represented as more obscure series like PaRappa The Rapper and Legacy Of Kain. This game is a treasure trove of PlayStation memories.

Perhaps my favourite thing about Astro Bot is that the final level of every world is a homage to one particular series. These levels don’t just throw in references to specific franchises, they actually introduce one-and-done mechanics designed to replicate those franchises.

I wouldn’t dream of spoiling them all here, as they really are best discovered organically, but I want to give a special shout-out to the end of the game’s first world for bringing back a series I never thought I’d see again: Ape Escape.

Ape Escape has been on ice since 2011, but for my money, the 1999 original remains a definitive PlayStation classic.

A vibrant puzzle platformer filled with charming ideas and bizarre characters, Ape Escape tasked players with hunting down and catching rogue apes across a variety of different levels. It was glorious, and it breaks my heart that we’ve gone so long without a new entry.

Imagine my surprise, then, when Astro Bot dumped a whole-ass Ape Escape level on me. A brand-new Ape Escape. In the year of our lord 2024.

Team Asobi didn’t just reskin an Astro Bot level to look like an Ape Escape game, I can’t stress that enough. Mechanically, it is Ape Escape. You’re given the iconic time net, which can track and capture hidden apes, and then you’re free to dive in and catch ‘em all to beat the level.

It’s just one of the many, many moments in Astro Bot that left me with a big, dumb smile on my face, but I think it was also the most pivotal. This was the moment I realised PlayStation hasn’t completely forgotten its history, and serves as a crucial reminder to newer fans that this is a company that can do so much more than gritty single-player story driven games.

My hope is that Astro Bot is the spark that lights the fire of Ape Escape’s return proper. And while I know that’s probably incredibly wishful thinking on my part, I dream of a future where PlayStation fully embraces its gloriously silly side once again.