There is a lot Pressure that comes with being the face of a brand. For Nintendo fans, new Super Mario The releases are expected to be the crème de la crème of gaming; it’s the flagship franchise that sets the standard for all others. For others like PlayStation? Well, that’s harder.

Since its launch in 1994, Sony PlayStation has had a revolving door of mascots, mostly coming and going like a flash in the pan of a generation. It started with Crash Bandicoot, whose satirical ads mocked Nintendo, but that didn’t last beyond the nineties. Then there was Spyro and Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter and finally Sackboy. But by the 2010s, Sony had largely given up on playing kingmaker for kid heroes. It had success focusing on adult fare, like The Last of Us And God of WarCinematic blockbusters that shaped the modern era of gaming.

But now that AAA gaming is starting to show its weaknesses and big failures are chasing too many trends, Sony has looked to its past to potentially reshape its future. But the inspiration comes from a very unlikely place: a small, faceless robot named Astro.

Developed by Team Asobi, a studio known more for showcasing new Sony technologies than full releases, Astro Bot started out as an avatar for mini-game collections like 2013’s Astro Bot. The Playroom VRand became a playable character for demos that come with new PlayStation hardware like PSVR and PlayStation 5. With his chibi build and affable demeanor, Astro is less a character and more a canvas. He can be anything, no explanation needed. Just pick him up and play.

But starting with 2020 Astro’s Playrooma bundle title for the launch of the PlayStation 5, this lack of personality became a superpower. As a tech demo for all the cheesy new features of the console, Astro’s Playroom also served as a broader celebration of PlayStation history, taking players through levels designed for each of the previous systems, with Astro as their guide. The bite-sized platformer was brilliantly received, was a pleasure to play, and left many wondering when Astro would get his own TRUE Play. Now, with Astro Bot (out September 6th) his time has come to shine.

How Astro’s PlayroomThe new game is deeply rooted in PlayStation history – so much so that it’s practically a 10-hour advertisement for Sony’s intellectual property and hardware. Astro literally lives inside a PS5, racing through space with his bot buddies until an alien attacks and leaves them stranded on a desert planet. From there, players must play through more than 50 levels to rebuild their ship using pieces of PS5 technology, while finding 300 missing bots along the way.

Everyone who played Super Mario World or Crash Bandicoot knows the game. There are six worlds to explore, each one divided into smaller levels full of secrets, puzzle pieces and missing team members to find. The environments range from all the typical game biomes, from grassy forests to snowy hills and the lava levels with all sorts of tropes in between.

To progress through each area, players must use Astro’s basic abilities like jumping and punching (lots of them, you can literally punch anything) as well as small laser boosters on the soles of his feet to defeat enemies large and small and make plenty of dangerous jumps.

If this all sounds like business as usual, that’s because it is. But the gameplay and design of Astro Bot would be a disservice, because it is damn awesome.

As with his first PS5 appearance, Astro controls masterfully, with little lag or margin for error in his actions. His movements and jumps are precise yet effortlessly legible in their execution. Paired with the haptic feedback of the controller, which vibrates in unison with each tapped step and powerful punch, Astro’s character model feels tangible and heavy, with real weight. That tangibility is key, and applies to everything that populates this world.

To say you can punch anything is an understatement. It’s the main form of interaction in the game, giving even the smallest details a toy-like feel. Everything reacts to touch: trees sway and lose their undergrowth, snow and sand shift and leave behind only grains. It feels like all of the PlayStation 5’s inner power is going full throttle to bring an interactive Pixar film to life.

Team Asobi has taken a cue from Nintendo’s school of design, creating worlds full of wonder. Every nook and cranny holds a secret, and there’s always something happening close by. Bots aren’t just waiting to be found, they’re usually dangling from a tree screaming for help, or besieged by a horde of monsters hot on their heels. Many are just simple models, but more than half are designed to copy classic characters from PlayStation history, and there are some deep cuts. Alongside every Nathan Drake or Solid Snake, there’s a protagonist from a franchise you probably forgot existed until you fell down a Google rabbit hole.

The PokemonThe appeal of collecting dozens of PlayStation-like bots is enjoyable, but it’s not all just a facade. While most levels have their own house feel and design, each world has a special level themed entirely around an iconic Sony franchise that changes the way you play.

Normal levels are usually based around a key ability such as a rocket booster pack or a pair of long-range boxing gloves that are the key to progressing through each level. Much like the power-ups in Mario games, these items are introduced early on in simple introductory levels before quickly becoming more complex in more difficult levels. There is a stopwatch mechanic that is possibly one of the best uses of time dilation ever seen in gaming, where Astro can slow down time at the touch of a button to create everything from spinning knives to floating leaves in platforms with a matrix-esque take on platforming gameplay. The level of detail in these moments is astonishing, from particle effects warping in mid-air to the saliva spraying from a boss enemy’s mouth, stuck in time like rain.

The mix and match of these special abilities is great, but it is only in the special PlayStation-inspired levels that the potential of Astro Bot is most obvious. As a blank slate, Astro does a lot with surprisingly little other than a pair of LED eyes to charm players, but when he assumes the identities of other famous characters, his cute robo-chic goes to the next level.

Such a mashup takes place early on, with a God of War-themed level where Astro encounters bot versions of Kratos and his son Atreus. Astro receives the Leviathan Axe and takes on the power of a god, and Kratos’ face matches it. Now the game becomes an optimized, kid-friendly version of the mechanics of God of War within Astro Botas players can throw and recall the axe to defeat Nordic-themed enemies and Odin’s green ravens.

TheMega ManThe ability to take on the appearance and powers of other characters is the secret ingredient of Astro Bot this could be fodder for half a dozen sequels, but it’s played more subtly than you’d expect. The developers could have relied on this ability for the entire game, but instead chose to create a platformer that looks and plays excellent on its own before leaning entirely on established IPs. These special levels are more like rewards for conquering each world, serving as the climax to each, and making up perhaps less than ten percent of the overall experience.

While the surprising restraint in the themed levels is admirable, don’t be fooled. Astro Bot is essentially a playable advertisement for PlayStation. The levels are packed to the brim with the visual language and iconography of not only the company’s famous first-party franchises, but also references to games from other companies such as resident Evil or Grave robbersthat are only loosely associated with the PlayStation name. In-game items like PS1 memory cards and DualShock controller cables serve as platforms and tightropes to traverse. Each individual level begins with Astro riding into the field like a stallion on a PS5 controller.

None of this should work. But it does.

Unlike the last few games that garnered IP recognition and misguided nostalgia, Astro Bot prevails by refusing to settle for a shaky cameo parade. The core gameplay, character and world design, and overall mood of Astro Bot is woven well enough to stand on its own, making the love letter elements a little sweeter. If there was a version of Astro that was completely free of self-referential aspects would still be a fantastic game; the one we have just happens to be damn close to perfection.

For all those who enjoy games like Crash Bandicoot or Super Mario Bros., Astro Bot feels like a warm hug and a reminder of what gaming was like before the dominance of military shooters, Soulslikes, and live services. It’s a self-contained, tightly-knit single-player adventure that celebrates the artistry of the little things. And it’s just really, really fun.

With creative level design and clever implementation of Astro’s abilities, the game is extremely polished and plays like the platonic ideal of the platforming genre. It challenges the PS5’s hardware to the limit and its graphics and effects are astonishing in a way that puts the competition to shame. By knowing where and when to tap into nostalgia, while remaining a consistently exciting experience throughout, Astro Bot also manages to overcome the cynicism of corporate franchise mining.

Astro Bot is on a par with some of the best platformers of all time, but is easily the best of this generation right now. Make way, Mario, there’s a new player in town.

Astro Bot will be released on September 6th for PlayStation 5.