Genre: 3d Platformer
Developer: ASOBI Team
Publisher: Sony

Reminiscent of the packed-in Panasonic 3DO Sampler Disc, Astro's Playroom is a beyond-the-call-of-duty piece of bundleware designed to show off its respective system's capabilities. For a game with a level called "Raytrace Ruins", this reviewer couldn't find any evidence of fancy "Big Navi" features at play. This isn't a bad thing however, as the title's marvellous materials work, clear resolution, and smooth framerate are combined in such a way not yet seen outside of gaming PCs.

The game's composer, a chap named Kenneth C M Young, has managed to produce one of the bottom-five aural presentations this reviewer has ever experienced in his entire thirty-five year history with the hobby, and one of the only times said reviewer has actively considered muting the music in a game: the vacuous "howdy dudey" major key compositions with auto-tune vocals, accompanied by the character's constant chirps, couldn't be more grating if they tried.

Initially, the physics in Astro's Playroom feel like something someone would have implemented in "Dreams" over a weekend: the core move set is limited to jumping, punching, and performing "Super Mario Sunshine"-esque hovering. But then the game opens its bag of tricks, such as "Super Monkey Ball" touchpad rolling levels, gyro-plus-trigger based jumping, and an ingenious set of ape wall-climbing segments.

Aggravating audio aside, by any standard Astro's Playroom is a very competent 3d platformer: as a piece of tech demo bundleware, it's sensational; with some more levels it could have been sold for full retail price. Most importantly from Sony's perspective, this shrine to the PlayStation brand's past is going to motivate players to buy more software and peripherals for this brand new platform.