As we’re speaking about video games from 2024 that did one thing very well, for me, one recreation stood excessive above the remaining (and can be a recreation I keep in mind enjoying this yr that truly launched this yr – sorry, Resident Evil 4 Remake, my mind forgot you launched in 2023!). Astro Bot obtained me proper within the feels this yr. Different video games undoubtedly had extra affecting storylines and characters, however as somebody who clearly loves video video games a terrific deal, Sony’s PS5 nostalgia-fest drilled proper into whichever a part of my mind processes pleasure. And let’s be sincere, that half has been used much less and fewer in recent times.
I’ve owned each PlayStation system because the platform burst onto the scene 30 years in the past – I make that seven consoles and two handhelds, plus a couple of refreshes. But, regardless of that fanboy-level of possession, I by no means thought I had a lot of an emotional connection to Sony’s console. Do not get indignant, but when I used to be pressured to choose the gaming manufacturers I’ve essentially the most fondness for, I might go together with Sega and Xbox. I did ask you to not get indignant. Sega was every little thing once I was a younger lad and Xbox offered an thrilling new future for gaming at concerning the time I ventured into my profession. PlayStation was simply the cool console in between, so I believed. I used to be fallacious.
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I’ve lengthy believed that my love of retro video games is not concerning the video games themselves, however the best way they take you again in time. Within the spare room/workplace I work from at house, the very first thing I see once I stroll in is a stunning boxed copy of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Mega Drive. I am unable to say I am determined to play it, however each time I look at it, I am reminded of the sort of unbounded glee that is just about reserved just for youngsters nowadays. I felt that, as soon as, I remind myself. Late nights making an attempt to defeat Robotnik – me, my brother, and cousin leaving the Mega Drive turned on in a single day so we did not lose our progress. Higher instances, perhaps. Less complicated instances, for positive.
Astro Bot has taken criticism for being a giant advert that you need to pay for, a cynical means for Sony to faucet into an viewers that loves the PlayStation. I’ve no downside with folks pondering that (I, personally, do not perceive the recognition of Animal Crossing, if we’re sharing unhealthy opinions). I simply do not care. Perhaps I must be analysing it extra deeply and really feel deeply ashamed of myself, however I merely do not wish to.
From a gameplay perspective, Astro Bot is prime notch. Mechanically it is tremendous tight (if not as ripe for god-level mastery as a few of the 3D Mario video games), the degrees are bathed in creativity, and it is a feast for the eyes and ears. It is good. Nevertheless it’s not only a recreation. It is a portal – like my copy of Sonic the Hedgehog, it is a gateway to a different time. Rather a lot was made from the traditional character Bots you acquire all through the sport, and these are nice, getting into the hub/interactive museum as soon as discovered. However there’s one second that obtained to me greater than the rest.
I will not spoil it in full, however in the direction of the tip of Astro’s journey the sport shifts gears and you end up in a 3D homage to traditional shm’ups, the side-scrolling shooters from the previous. Throughout this sequence, a second is highlighted by the enjoying of the unique PlayStation boot jingle. I truthfully do not know what it was about this tune, performed at the moment, on the finish of an excellent jaunt by means of my very own gaming historical past, however my eyes began to water.
Video video games imply so much to me, greater than most I might count on. I’ve constructed my whole working life round them, my profession devoted to celebrating the perfect and highlighting the worst. As a job, it is as tiring and exhausting, typically exasperating, as another, and it is easy to lose sight of why I selected this path all these years in the past. Only for a second, within the darkened early hours, a dim gentle from the DualSense portray the room in an ethereal glow, I used to be 12 once more, and it was unimaginable. For that, I like Astro Bot, and I suppose I like PlayStation too.
