The age of the 3D platformer is back. In a surprise upset at last night's Game Awards, PlayStation-themed (and PlayStation exclusive) retro-styled collectathon Astro Bot beat out nominees like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Black Myth Wukong to claim the coveted Game of the Year trophy. In a year stuffed with live service behemoths and overwrought, hundred-million-dollar games, it's refreshing for something like Astro Bot to remind us what games are really about: fun.
And make no mistake – Astro Bot might be a PS5-only release that started life as a tech demo and has to cede some of its time to also being a 30th anniversary celebration, but it's fun as hell. It's one of the few games I've bothered to complete 100% in recent memory, and that purely comes down to how fresh each of its levels and their unique mechanics are. It's been compared to Super Mario Galaxy for the sheer breadth of its creativity, but I think it surpasses even that legendary title – it's sort of like Super Mario Galaxy, except even more focused and polished and all the stars you collect are dressed like classic PlayStation characters.
Seeing your collection of little guys grow in your hub area is almost as fun as the core gameplay itself, and crucially gives you intrinsic motivation to chase down the next collectible, because maybe the next one will be Chris Redfield or PaRappa the Rapper or the guy from Journey! It's a celebration of all things gaming, and definitely deserves that trophy… even if some of those challenge levels made me want to tear my hair out.
