Ben’s contest of the year 2024: Astro Bot

Until September, there was only one game that had left me with even a marginal Game of the Year vibe. That was Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. I wasn’t as impressed with the game as other GOTY titles from previous years, but by 2024 standards it felt a step above the rest. Then September came and Team Asobi debuted a platform game that reminded me why I love platform games so much. Astro Bot had all the qualities and all the charm to make it my solid, undisputed GOTY, an opinion many seem to share and an extra-large part struggles to choose between this and the also fantastic (but in my opinion not as fantastic) Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Astro Bot is the game that 2024 needed. It was a complete, beautiful, eccentric and varied platform game that managed to keep surprising and blowing fans away despite maintaining a tight and digestible length and duration. You could experience every part of this game well within a 20-hour time frame, something I personally discovered within a weekend where Astro Bot managed to turn me back into my former teenage goblin self for two days of uninterrupted Astro action. It was bliss, it was nostalgia at its best, and yet at the same time it was modern, inspired and refreshing platforming action that proves once again that Team Asobi is clearly the only developer who has any idea how to take full advantage of the amazing features embedded in the DualSense controller.

Much like last year’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder, where it felt like almost every level had a silly and interesting gimmick to discover and enjoy, Astro Bot also managed to impress at almost every turn. Whether it was interesting level structure and design, engaging power-ups, fun interactions, PlayStation cameos and a hilarious and delightful tone, Astro Bot proved and continued to prove that video games can and should be fun first and foremost. In an era often defined by grinding and endless live projects and sprawling hundred-hour JRPGs, Team Asobi served as the light at the end of the tunnel, a light I still strongly hope more developers follow and want to reflect.

There are parts of the game where a little improvement or emphasis on direction could go a long way, as in the various galaxies lacking proper theming and some PlayStation levels falling a little flat. But the soundtrack remains one of the best in the business, the audio design and art direction put a big smile on your face, and Astro’s ease of play and responsiveness all mean that this title stands head and shoulders above the competition this year.

PlayStation has some fantastic platform icons in its IP treasure trove, and while Ratchet & Clank continue to succeed, there’s no denying that the 2020s are the era of Astro, and as it stands, this is all just the world of Astro Bot and we’re just living in it.