Genre: 3d Platformer
Developer: Team Asobi
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

This latest Astro Bot title takes everything from the pack-in title and bumps those elements up several notches: the texture resolution is superb, the HDR is brilliant, the image is razor sharp, and the framerate is absolute silk. The game doesn't use any fancy path-traced lighting, but for a pure-raster style game it doesn't get much better than this. There are even segments with dozens upon dozens of small, full-physics modeled objects on screen, which can be spun all over the screen by the player, along with real-time deformation on meshes such as balloons, or flowing water. The game's aesthetics and bright colors are also immaculate, with believable materials like wood, metal, and fabric.

Unfortunately for this reviewer's ear drums, Kenneth Young has returned as composer from the previous game, and it's mostly more of the same with the hokey pokey major-key scale compositions and humpty dumpty chord progressions. That said, there are a couple of stage songs which are much better than anything in "Playroom", such as the "Casino!" tune. The character makes this incredibly grating shouting, or cooing, noise anytime the player stands still, which is a shame. Meanwhile and mercifully, the auto-tune vocals have been relegated to only a small handful of songs this time around.

Just like in the prior games, the character's moveset is pretty limited: the player can jump, punch, and hover "Super Mario Sunshine"-style. The levels are generally pretty linear, but that's ok because it lets the game designers tightly control the pacing. Nearly every stage has a "gimmick" move which gets unlocked, such as the ability to freeze time or utilize giant springy boxing gloves. The levels have text book design, and tend to flow well. Boss encounters follow the typical "Nintendo formula" of requiring three hits, delivered after navigating increasingly complex patterns. There is also a basic overworld map, and a hub planet.

Astro Bot is a fairly "by the numbers" 3D platformer. The basic moveset, the core physics, and the ability of the player to freely rotate the camera allows for precision action, and lends the whole thing a very solid, polished, and well put together feel. Little flourishes in the user interface combined with the overall pristine image quality put it a large cut above average. It even elevates itself beyond those high notes occasionally, such as in the mind blowing mouse level with the ragtime music, tilt-shift camera, and Bokeh depth of field effect. It's too bad the game is so ironic and self-aware. Maybe Team Asobi could be commissioned to make a new "Ape Escape" release using this custom engine?