Astro Botis a fully-fledged 3D platformer that seems like the culmination of over a decade’s amount of work from Team Asobi. It seems like Sony gave them the go-ahead to get buck wild including referencing many first-party and third-party franchises. These references come in two forms.
In stages, players can rescue bots themed around characters like Solid Snake fromMetal Gear Solidor The Prince fromKatamari Damacy. There are some DEEP cuts in here too including Polygon Man who was almost a PS1 mascot. Then there areAstro Bot’sHero stagesthat are fully themed around a franchise likeUncharted. All of these references are great with over a hundred VIP Bots included. However, there are also some surprising snubs and let’s get to those examples right now.
Beyond the Beyondwas one of the first RPGs on the PS1 which featured classic turn-based combat. Another notable fact is that it was developed by Camelot who most probably know from theGolden Sunseries and the various Mario sports games, because of their ties to Nintendo, that could explain why Sony didn’t or couldn’t getBeyond the BeyondinAstro Bot. It’s a shame since the game was able to highlight other early PS1 RPGs likeAlundra,Arc the Lad, andWild Arms. Perhaps Nintendo and Sony can strike a deal in the nextsequel toAstro Bot.
Capcom is all over this game, featuring tons of their action titles along with their horror ones too.Resident EvilandOnimushaare in the game but there is a strange omission from their big horror lineup:Dino Crisis. Three of thefourDino Crisisgamesare exclusive to PlayStation consoles, making it just as important as all the others. There is a female heroine who is getting chased by dinosaurs inAstro Botthough. If players find Lara Croft fromTomb Raiderand unlock her collector’s setback atAstro Bot’sCrash Site, they can watch Lara get chased by a dinosaur. That could have easily been Regina fromDino Crisis.
Fat Princesswas a downloadable multiplayer game Sony helped publish on the PS3. Players must build up their tower defenses to block opponents from stealing back their princess. The goal was to get this princess as large as possible by feeding her with things like cake thus making it harder to carry her.
It was a new way to play a capture-the-flag type of multiplayer game that got a decent amount of success early on leading to spinoffs like a puzzle game and an action RPG. Despite that, the series is not represented inAstro Bot.
Square Enix is completely missing fromAstro Botwhich is wild considering how well Sony and Square Enix get along. They are a big reason why the PS1 became popular in the RPG market thanks to games likeFinal Fantasy 7. A nod toCloud fromFinal Fantasy 7almost seemed like a sure thing until nothing happened.Kingdom Heartswould have been another franchise that would have worked well considering it is more age-appropriate for the happy-go-lucky style ofAstro Bot. Whatever the case may be, hopefully, one of their franchises will make it into the sequel.
Marvel’s Spider-Manwas a big hit on the PS4 and the PS5 got a just as well-received sequel.The developer, Insomniac, has been a part of PlayStation consoles for years.Ratchet and Clankcharacters appear inAstro Botalong with Spyro from his titular series but none of their other franchises do. This includes any of theirSpider-Mangames which may be more Disney not wanting to play ball than Insomniac. Also, theResistanceseries is absent from the game which was their big alternate World War 2 alien shooter from the PS3 era.
The PS1 had some great stealth games which was a genre that was coming into its own during this era.Metal Gear Solidwas huge and there are characters from that specific game in Astro Botlike Solid Snakeand Psycho Mantis. Sony’s internal counterpart to that wasSyphon Filterand it is not in the game.
There was a big push for the series during the PS1 era with a trilogy followed by several smaller spinoffs after. It has been a long time since Sony made any newSyphon Filtergames past the PSP. Another military shooter/stealth series,SOCOM, is also missing in action.
The lack of theTwisted Metalseriesfeels like an incredible loss for this game as it was a huge part of the PlayStation roster for a couple of generations. It was a destruction derby experience featuring cars that could shoot missiles and other gadgetry. Sony even made a TV show that was well-liked enough to grant it a second season but there is no mention of it inAstro Bot. Other racing games are featured though likeGran Turismoalong with other sports titles likeCool Boarders. Another missing PS1 era racer isJet Motowhich featured races on futuristic jet skis.
White Knight Chroniclesnever made it big on the PS3 when it debuted. Reviews were ok along with its sequel but the PSP spinoff didn’t even make it to North America. Despite the lukewarm reception, it did come fromLevel-5, a big studiothat worked with Sony a lot, and it would have been nice to see more representation. Two of their games, Dark Cloud 2 andRogue Galaxyare in Astro Bot. Another missing game that would have been fun to see from Level-5 isNi no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.
