Four years after their impressive free experience on Playstation 5, the complete adventure of Astro Bot has made players feel like children again. The celebration turns into disbelief when the credits roll and one cannot help but wonder: how is it possible that we no longer have more experiences like this on Sony?
The question is asked cyclically. With Sony’s increasingly evident drift towards a Western and mature audience, the times of titles like Ape Escape, PaRappa the Rapper, or even younger-adult sagas like Sly Cooper are long gone. The beginnings of Playstation 5 offered some hope, with the arrival of a new Ratchet and, above all, with the adventure of an old friend introduced to us on Playstation 3.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure was a curious turn for the LittleBigPlanet brand. The shift from 2D to 3D platforms was logical, but in the process, one of the main virtues was lost: the community-created content, the tool that allowed users to turn the game not only into a platformer, but into whatever they wanted.
With Media Molecule covering that ground with the sadly declining Dreams, Sumo Digital chose to focus entirely on their adventure in level design and mechanics. The result was one of the most fun and uncomplicated games the company has made, which before Astro Bot was already able to compete with Mario.
Throughout 6 worlds and 90 levels (to be divided between primary and secondary), Sackboy offered about ten hours of pure platforming fun. The character, once somewhat stiff and with “floating jumps,” had here comfortable controls suitable for the genre, with great motion control and feedback for actions, both basic and the numerous power-ups.
The familiar formula was not revolutionary, but it harked back to the greats of the genre like Mario 3D World. Isometric camera and a mishmash of themed levels of all shapes and colors that were as enjoyable at first contact as exploring them in depth to unlock collectibles. Abilities like wall walking, gliding, or using a grappling hook added welcome variety to the classic format of jumping, rolling, or hitting.
The franchise’s world of crafts, one of its great incentives, showed its best side here. The visual aspect is delightful: a homemade collage in high definition where every detail is appreciated. Materials like fabric, leather, wood, or paper had never looked better on a Playstation, creating picturesque levels that were a joy to traverse and admire.
Although it could also be enjoyed solo, it was clearly designed for multiplayer, whether online or from the couch. Not only were there exclusive levels for it with friendly cooperative challenges, the normal levels were clearly designed for more players, with multiple possible paths to take in parallel and fun interactions like being able to hit your teammates (a legacy of LBP) or throw them to save heights.
As with platformers for all audiences, the difficulty was a point of friction. The adventure leaned towards the easy side, with levels allowing for plenty of margin for error in jumps and accessible boss battles, and only some specific challenge levels added a bit of spice to the formula. But the charm of the adventure eventually prevailed, convincing even the most cynical.
Just as Sackboy arrived, he left and nothing has been heard of regarding a sequel. The reviews were positive, as were the sales. But it is sad to think that Sackboy’s “great adventure” was more of a market quota to fill in the new console’s catalog than an exciting project for the company. Let’s hope that Astro Bot’s success sends the message that there is room for more than one platformer title on the console.
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