Astros Playroom was a PlayStation 5 launch title that came bundled with each console. A platformer that celebrated everything PlayStation has made through the years. It is basically a tech demo to show what the PS5 and new dualsense controllers are capable of. Sony has had a lot of mascots over the years but it seems Astro is here to stay, at least for this console generation. Astrobot as a character was first seen in preloaded software on the PS4 called The Playroom. The Playroom was intended to show off the capabilities of the PlayStation 4 controller as well as the Eye Camera. It was basically an AR experience. In 2016 Astrobot showed up again in The Playroom VR which came preloaded on every PSVR headset. There were 6 mini games you can play in Playroom VR but one stood out among the 6 and that was a 3D platformer called Robots Rescue. Next Sony released Astrobot Rescue Mission on PSVR which is a full version on Robots Rescue. When the PS5 released it was only natural that an Astro game would come preloaded on it.
Astro’s Playroom is all about PlayStations history. It takes place within your PS5 console. It’s almost like an educational game telling you about all the bits and bobs that go into creating this computer. You have a hub world that connects four main stages, GPU Jungle, Cooling Springs, Memory Meadow and SSD Speedway. Each of these levels are based on a different time in PlayStation history. Memory Meadow is PS1, SSD Speedway is PS2, Cooling Springs is PS3 and GPU Jungle is PS4. Throughout the levels you will be collecting bits and pieces of PlayStation history depending on the stage, such as a PSP in the Cooling Springs level. After completing the level Astro will end up in the PlayStation Labo where he can see all the items he collected called artifacts. Also in the Labo there is a gacha machine that when you spend the coins you received in the levels and win more artifacts or pieces of murals.
Each Level has references to Playstation games from the past and present. As a Playstation girlie it was a blast just running around and seeing the little bots dressed up as characters I know and love. The little touch of having the final boss of the game be the 1994 T-Rex tech demo is incredible, especially since the second stage of the fight is a upgraded to modern hardware T-Rex. This is what Astros Playroom is all about, celebrating PlayStations past but updating it for a modern audience.
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