To prepare for Astro’s newest game, fittingly just called “Astro Bot,” I’ve decided to knock out a game that's been sitting on my backlog for several years now, that being Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. For the longest time, I’ve always heard this game as being one of the greatest VR experiences ever, so I went in with high expectations. Little did I know that those expectations would be crushed to dust, and would be replaced with those same regards I’ve heard for so long. This might be the best VR game, let alone the best platformer, I’ve played.
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission is a linear 3D platformer where you’re tasked at controlling Astro Bot on a mission to rescue his fellow bot friends from an alien force. Pretty on the nose, I’d say. While this game doesn’t have much of a story per se, it’s backed up with some great design elements.
First of all, I cannot believe how user friendly it is. VR can be pretty overwhelming depending on the game, and if the game doesn't properly show its mechanics or controls properly, one might be lost in the thick of it, and it’s downhill from there. Astro Bot is different. There are only six actions the player has to worry about. Move, jump, hover, attack, spin attack, and easy to use touchpad controls. This lets the player just focus on the game itself, rather than needing to climb this huge learning curve. It’s easy to learn, satisfying to beat, great to play, and great to look at too.
This game is just eye candy for the player. One part of the VR experience is just the scale of things. Boss Fights are the best example of scale. Astro is a TINY robot, so fighting these beasts that are ten times the size of YOURSELF, it leaves your jaw on the floor. It is a very memorable part of the game.
In addition to the memorable bosses, each level leaves you wanting more. Despite there being only 20 levels, each one stands out among the others, and even with the reused theming of levels too. With the low level count, this just lets the designers of the game focus on the levels themselves, whether it's climbing a giant vine, enjoying the light show at a carnival, or getting scared to death by giant eels underwater. There’s just so much to look around at, and you’ll need to when finding the collectables, which might be my favorite part of the game.
There are 8 bots in each level, and a hidden chameleon that unlocks special challenge stages. These bots can be super hidden, which means moving your head all around is a necessity for finding them. All the bots have fun animations too depending on where they’re hidden, and it just adds to the charm of the game. While the bots can be rescued by Astro, the chameleons require you to look everywhere, since you need to stop and stare. It lets the player just take in the sights and helps the appreciation of the charm and detail of each stage, it's a smart move for a VR environment. But the best part of the collectibles? If you miss a bot or the chameleon, you can collect them, and quit out of the level, without needing to beat the whole stage again. This is the best quality of life feature a platformer can do, and for some reason, so few can get it right. It just isn't necessary when you’ve already beat the level, missed one collectible, and need to run it through again. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission gets mad props for such an easy feature.
Although if I did have ONE complaint with the game, it’s that you can’t backtrack in levels. You being the camera and all, I’d understand if moving backwards in a level might get disorienting for the player. Plus, many levels have sections that travel from one part of the level to the next, so you wouldn't be able to backtrack there either. This is a very specific nitpick, since it’s mainly for wanting to get all the collectibles in one run, but since you are able to just quit the level after getting what you missed, it’s not too big of a deal.
Overall, I can’t praise this game enough. I can’t praise this series enough. Astro Bot just does what’s right for games. It keeps it fun. Whether that's in the simple controls, engaging worlds, bopping music, the rounded design of the bots, the personality of Astro, and with the newer games including legacy PlayStation references, it all started with Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (if we don’t count Playroom VR). The barrier of entry with this game may be high, with it needing an outdated VR system that also needs a proprietary adapter if you want to play it on PS5, but with Astro Bot: Rescue Mission’s polish, this game is the reason to own a PSVR.