Format: PSVR
Genre: 3d Platformer
Developer: ASOBI Team
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Even compared to its younger brother PlayStation 5, it's amazing the kind of material and shader quality the PlayStation 4 Pro can produce: in stereoscopic 3D especially, it almost feels as if one could reach over and brush fingers against the game's various metal, wood, and stone surfaces. The underground cave levels with their spooky lighting and giant spiders, or the boss fight above the clouds, or the stage which submerges the player in waves... there are many memorable moments in Rescue Mission.

Kenneth C M Young composed the music, and while it's radically better than the contemporary du jour selections of Hollywood garbage music, it's not among the best examples of melodic mascot platforming selections. In the moment they are serviceable though, and some of the melodies went on to be recycled in "Astro's Playroom". The sound effects are another story, as the constant chirping and ear-piercing high-pitched screams of the miniature robots is enough to drive one crazy.

Rescue Mission's physics are nothing to write home about: just a jump, a hover, and a punch. But where the game shines is in its level design: every single design hook one could think of to show off the potential of virtual reality platforming is present-- examples include forcing the player to stand up and peek around corner, to head-butt footballs back at juggling robots, to submerge his face underwater to look into drain tunnels. Even the touchpad is used to launch ropes and shurikens in various stages.

As a 3D platformer Rescue Mission is sort of bland and ho-hum-- but in terms of showing off PSVR, it has moments so astonishing that it continually brought big smiles to this reviewer's face. The boss fights and overall game structure take mightily from the Nintendo playbook of design, and that's no bad thing. If the title had the aesthetic qualities of something like a "Super Mario 64" or a "Ape Escape", it would be an all-time classic: but as it stands, it's way too hipsterish and self-aware for its own good.