James Sawyer Ford
Member
Guy finishes game and doesn't have anything to come back to
That's true of literally every single game
When I collected 120 stars in Mario 64 I had nothing left to do either
Where do you rank Astro Bot amongst 3D Platformers?
- Thread starter onQ123
- Start date
Guy finishes game and doesn't have anything to come back to
That's true of literally every single game
When I collected 120 stars in Mario 64 I had nothing left to do either
Maitre_Piccolo
Neo Member
Probably the best "simple" 3D platformer with relatively small levels, where you quickly go from one level to the other without ever feeling bored.
So when you're craving this, it's the best. But if you want something else, there are better candidates.
So when you're craving this, it's the best. But if you want something else, there are better candidates.
VeganElduderino
Member
Mario 64 is my favorite platformer but most of the love comes nostalgia, Mario Galaxy is probably the best platformer in the series, Astro bot is very very close to Mario galaxy
Personally its in near the bottom of my top 10 favorite 3d platformers.
1. Banjo Kazooie
2. Super Mario 64
3. Banjo Tooie
4. Spyro the Dragon
5. Super Mario Galaxy 2
6. Crash Bandicoot Warped
7. Spyro Year of the Dragon
8. Bowsers Fury
9. Conkers Bad Fur Day
10. Astro Bot
Objectively its in the top 5 though.
1. Banjo Kazooie
2. Super Mario 64
3. Banjo Tooie
4. Spyro the Dragon
5. Super Mario Galaxy 2
6. Crash Bandicoot Warped
7. Spyro Year of the Dragon
8. Bowsers Fury
9. Conkers Bad Fur Day
10. Astro Bot
Objectively its in the top 5 though.
Ogbert
Member
That shows how little you know about platformers.
3D Mario ihas a very high skill ceiling. You learn the tool kit and then you master it, the speed and finesse at which you can go through levels. That's the joy of 3D platformers. That's what keeps you coming back.
Your mastery of Astrobot was pretty much done after a couple of minutes play. After that it was an exceedingly polished but forgettable playground.
Last edited:
James Sawyer Ford
Member
I know plenty about platformers and each game has a different focus. The moveset of AstroBot is limited, but that doesn't mean it's not a good platformer. They explicitly use all of the little moves you can do (and powerups) to create an experience that is challenging for those specific levels.
A platformer doesn't need to be difficult to be great. I didn't find the galaxy series to be anything too insane, but it's one of my favorites.
What sets AstroBot apart is the attention to detail in its moment to moment gameplay, where everything feels fresh and paced to perfection. In terms of production values and pacing, it's basically near perfect, and the boss battles are far more interesting than the recent mario games.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Couldn't pay me to make a worse list. Never cook again.
ShadyAcshuns
Member
Still haven't played it. Is it on PS+ yet?
Feel Like I'm On 42
Member
Astrobot hurts, because the polish and production values are insane but the game is painfully easy. All that potential is ruined when the platforming and levels are always short of offering the slightest challenge.
Mario Wonder was exactly the same in this respect and it's clear this is the trend with devs right now. Apparently gamers and critics don't want a challenge because look how critically acclaimed both these titles are. For me I need it to stay engaged and a game needs challenge for replayability.
A Hat in Time and Odyssey are both great recent 3d platformers. Crash 4 was good too if not a little too difficult for the masses. I know Odyssey was easy but Nintendo knew how to design levels so that you have platforming is both accessible but also no so forgiving that you didn't need to try. Astrobot makes every platform an easy hop and and skip away. No room to mess up- that's a problem.
Mario Wonder was exactly the same in this respect and it's clear this is the trend with devs right now. Apparently gamers and critics don't want a challenge because look how critically acclaimed both these titles are. For me I need it to stay engaged and a game needs challenge for replayability.
A Hat in Time and Odyssey are both great recent 3d platformers. Crash 4 was good too if not a little too difficult for the masses. I know Odyssey was easy but Nintendo knew how to design levels so that you have platforming is both accessible but also no so forgiving that you didn't need to try. Astrobot makes every platform an easy hop and and skip away. No room to mess up- that's a problem.
Last edited:
James Sawyer Ford
Member
What's the last difficult platformer you played?
AstroBot has challenging moments and the end levels are no joke. It's not an insanely hard game, but it has enough challenge at times. I haven't really played a platformer that's extremely difficult unless you go the indie route. Mainstream stuff like Mario, etc. just isn't designed to be too brutal.
Durin
Member
I'd rank it a bit outside of the top echelon of great platformers. It's definitely a solid game though.
Mainly because the moveset isn't that deep, and a lot of the great moments are riffing on ideas I've seen done in other platformers.
I think its charming presentation, high production values, Sony property nostalgia, and just being really polished for what it does could push it higher for some people though.
Mainly because the moveset isn't that deep, and a lot of the great moments are riffing on ideas I've seen done in other platformers.
I think its charming presentation, high production values, Sony property nostalgia, and just being really polished for what it does could push it higher for some people though.
ReasonBeing
Member
I've only spent a few hours with the game at a friends house, so I could be ignorant to some mechanics that get introduced later in the game. With that in mind, I would put it above Mario Sunshine and behind Odyssey, both Galaxies, and M64. From my little time with it, the platforming mechanics didn't seem as deep and layered as a Mario game (which is really my only reference point, I don't play many platformers outside of the Mario series). I have played through the original Astro Bot on the PSVR1, and there seemed to be more gameplay variety this go around. I did miss what VR brought to the table, such as the ability to physically look around to find hidden routes as well as the overall increased immersion.
I would suggest going back and hunting some of the later higher skill ceiling stars. There are always enough easier stars in a Mario game to allow a less skilled player to beat the game, but the skill ceiling climbs dramatically when going for them all. This holds true for pretty much all of the 3d Mario games. I can't speak for "Super Mario 3D World" as I never played past the first zone.
Last edited:
NeverYouMind
Member
James Sawyer Ford
Member
That's true of AstroBot as well, the challenge levels are really good
I suggest playing through the rest of AstroBot if you get the chance
kevboard
Member
Alice, now that's really high on the list of overrated games... what an absolute jank fest, and the boss fights, my god...
NeverYouMind
Member
Git gud.
Last edited:
kevboard
Member
American McGee should git gud at making games.
it's so hilariously badly designed. all the fucking secrets are either ammo or health packs, even tho you never need them... so you go along some janky ass platforming section (that you can use auto jumps for anyway) only to find health... while you're on full health... because every enemy gives you health...
it's so ass
Last edited:
NeverYouMind
Member
Sounds like you got filtered.
kevboard
Member
Sounds like you got filtered.
yeah, by how shit it is.
imagine having full health 100% of the time (because why wouldn't you? every enemy fills you back up)... then you see some secret path, you follow it doing the most brain-dead platforming imaginable (aka. pointing on the floor and pressing a button to automatically jump there) only to find... health...
it's so unspeakably bad. and somehow it also wants to be a third person shooter, at which it also sucks.
Last edited:
NeverYouMind
Member
ShadyAcshuns
Member
Good ole platformer wars, that really takes me back.
Playroom is the weakest of the 3 astros, it feels like a demo. Although a really good one.
Strangely I haven't really played the PlayRoom on PS5 but I used to mess around with the PS4 version with the camera.
I think I started it up a few times but I don't remember really playing it
Feel Like I'm On 42
Member
I explained it in my original post. Mario Odyssey isn't brutal in fact its fairly easy, but Wonder and Astrobot are outliers in how easy they are. Two other 3d playformers that are much more difficult than Astrobot are Sackboy (which is actually pretty challenging) and Crash 4. In
Mario Odyssey, platforms have to be at least calculated and executed so that you can miss a platform if you're not careful. Astrobot, except for a few of the end levels (similar to Wonder where only the last 10% of the game has any challenge), the game is designed to where you can't miss any jumps. In other words every platform challenge is lets say 30% more forgiving than an Odyseey platform, a Hat in Time platform, or Sackboy.
The design is consistent throughout Astrobot and same with regular enemies ...in Mario you at least have to line up an enemy to jump on their head and they're not always 1 hit kills, whereas in Astrobot they're again much more forgiving, just jump in the air and if your hover beam touches them anywhere on their body it's an instant kill. Or you can just punch them with a large, forgiving hitbox- 1 hit kill. The bosses in Astrobot were designed better though.
MacReady13
Member
I mean, it's not even the best Astro Bot 3D platformer! That goes to Astro Bot on PSVR.
This is a fine game and very solid 3D platformer but it doesn't touch the Mario 3D platformers, Banjo Kazooie games and even many of the Sony platformers like Crash and Ratchet are far better.
This is a fine game and very solid 3D platformer but it doesn't touch the Mario 3D platformers, Banjo Kazooie games and even many of the Sony platformers like Crash and Ratchet are far better.
Ogbert
Member
Well, this is where we differ.
The movement *is* the magic of a platform game. And limited movement means limited gameplay.
I liked Astrobot a great deal and even think it's a worthy GoTY. It was a lot of fun. But in terms of gameplay, I think it shares more DNA with an action platformer like Ratchet than it does Mario.
And the movement toolkit that Mario gives you allows for challenge like the Champion Road.
I'd have Astrobot around six / seven, but behind 64, both Galaxies, Odyssey and 3D world.
This
Astro i really good - but it really is just a copy of what nintendo has done since.. well N64
I would rank Astro pretty high, but below every single 3d Mario except PERHAPS Mario Sunshine
KungFucius
King Snowflake
Right up there with Mario, but slightly below. I am really curious to see how the new DK game compares to it. I don't doubt that the next one could out Mario, Mario. The only thing Mario has over Astro is scope, Mario tends to be just a bit larger. In some ways I like the scope of Astrobot better. Its a tight game you can finish in a weekend, but I don't want it to end that soon. This is a contrast to most dialog-heavy open world games where I want the thing to start wrapping up after playing that much.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
New DK looks much more action than platforming oriented. This is a bit like the Banjo games that are more adventure oriented. Astro Bot like Mario 64 or Galaxy is almost a pure 3D platformer, or at least, as pure as a AAA 3D platformer can get.
NPlusEnjoyer
Neo Member
As a lifelong Nintendo fans, AstroBot is for me one of the best contemporary platformers (contemporary = disregarding nostalgia). Probably just behind SMO.
It doesn't copy Nintendo platformers too much and does enough its own things to stand apart. It also shows how the extra horsepower can be used in a linear platformer. Finally, it makes a great use of the DualSense. I'd argue that DualSense was a bigger gamechanger for platformers than Wiimote or GamePad was. In a sense, Asobi beat Nintendo at their own game (no platformers as a whole, but enhancing the platforming formula with non-standard controller features).
It doesn't copy Nintendo platformers too much and does enough its own things to stand apart. It also shows how the extra horsepower can be used in a linear platformer. Finally, it makes a great use of the DualSense. I'd argue that DualSense was a bigger gamechanger for platformers than Wiimote or GamePad was. In a sense, Asobi beat Nintendo at their own game (no platformers as a whole, but enhancing the platforming formula with non-standard controller features).
PurePlatinum
Member
It's a great game but it's nowhere close to even lower tier Mario games like sunshine or 3D world.
When compared to galaxy or odyssey it's just not even close.
When compared to galaxy or odyssey it's just not even close.