Honestly, the biggest complaint I have with Astro’s Playroom is just that it’s too damn short. I finished all 16 of the main levels, the final area, and completed each bendera 88  of the speed run trials in around three hours. That’s not very much content — but I still have well over half of the game’s collectibles left to discover, which could easily double the amount of time spent if I wanted to go for the platinum. Each level also features a suit of some sort he puts on to take the form of something else, such as a spring-loaded robot or even a large metallic ball, reminiscent of Marble Madness. These segments are relatively short-lived but do a good job of shaking up the formula so the running and jumping doesn’t get too stale too quickly. The Multitap was an add-on that allowed the PlayStation to support more than two controllers and Memory Cards.

When you reach the top of the Mt. Motherboard level, there are some exposed electrical cables to your left. You’ll see rabbits peeping out from over the walls towards the rear of the stage. Shoot them all, in addition to the rabbits hopping around the rest of the environment, to get the Trophy. As part of our Astro’s Playroom guide, we’re going to reveal all Astro’s Playroom Trophies and how to unlock the Platinum. There are a total of 43 Trophies to unlock, with an additional 8 Trophies kept separate as Add On Trophies. It’s worth noting that despite these additional Trophies being listed as an Add On, you don’t actually have to purchase any DLC or expansions to unlock them.

Everything from the lighting to the textures to the models are created with polished attention to detail that only reveals its true quality the harder you look. The art style neatly holds everything together and smartly infuses the physical components of PlayStation’s hardware within an appealing cartoony world. The actual story of the game is incredibly light, if not practically non-existent, but that’s by no means a complaint. The objective of completing the worlds and building up your virtual collection of PlayStation merchandise is perfectly acceptable for the wide range of gamers the PS5 is targeting. Instead, Astro’s Playroom shows no restraint in piling on the fanservice, and I was down for it all the way. In our PS5 review, we highlighted just how much the DualSense controller impressed us, and a lot of the most impressive qualities of the controller were on display during Astro’s Playroom.

In one of the animations, the Bot will check a clock, referencing how Dracula only returns from the dead every 100 years. Castlevania is a very important game, as it alongside Super Metroid helped establish the Metroidvania genre. Horizon has a second reference with the “Ready for the Proving” Trophy, awarded for shooting a Spitter’s shot with the bow and arrow in Raytrace Ruins.

Levels

Each world is also themed after a particular era of PlayStation’s past with a slew of collectible “artifacts” or pieces of PlayStation hardware you can amass into a collection back in the main lobby of the overworld. Cooling Springs for example is chocked full of various PS3 models, the PS Sharp Shooter gun, the PSP, Vita, and so on. Luckily, Sony seems intent on reliving their past in more than one way with the launch of the PS5. Despite looking like a handheld, the PlayStation Portal doesn’t run games by itself.

Its cutesy aesthetic of chibi robots and villains is a hoot, too, acting as a small toybox to explore. Each level has four distinct stages, and nearly all are filled with PlayStation Easter eggs. All the modern flagship series – Uncharted, God of War, Spider-Man, and The Last of the Us – make appearances, but there are also callbacks to the days of the original PlayStation. Some franchises and games, such as Gran Turismo, are relegated to references in trophy descriptions, which have not been listed below.

Tie-in With Astro’s Playroom

Astro’s Playroom’s new update is an excellent way for fans of the charming platformer series to get reacquainted with the game, as a lot of them may not have played it again after launch. Hype for the upcoming full-fledged title in September is also running high, as preorders for Astro Bot went live recently, offering a plethora of bonuses for those who secure a copy before launch. It’s also a breath of fresh air to see PlayStation backing a smaller game like this, as the company has shifted its focus to bigger AAA titles in recent years. If Astro Bot sees a healthy amount of success, Sony may be encouraged to further invest in delightful platformers like it.

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Astro’s Playroom has always been the PS5’s best cair 78 friend, as it is a free demo of what the console and its controller are capable of. What took everyone off guard back when the PS5 was released, however, is that the silly little tech demo inside the console was actually a banger of a game. In fact, it’s so great that it gained a full-on sequel in the form of Astro Bot. Every time I had fun with the game, it always ended in me encountering an area that is simply impossible for me to finish. This includes all the aforementioned key areas of levels with physical mandatory controls, but also some minor elements that appear briefly through the game.