Sony’s Team Asobi studio recently released Astro Bot as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, and it is blowing players away. Not only does it represent a level of love for PlayStation’s classic franchises that some felt had gone away over the past few years, Astro Bot is also a fantastic 3D platformer in its own right. Drawing many comparisons to the Super Mario Galaxy games, Astro Bot has already solidified itself as a must-buy PS5 title, and many hope that its success changes Sony’s approach to its legacy IPs in the future.
It’s hard to view Astro Bot in a vacuum right now, unfortunately, as the title has come hot on the heels of perhaps the most controversial period in the PlayStation 5’s life so far. Concord was un-released just two weeks after its launch, the PS5 Pro was revealed to an exceptionally negative reception, and, to top it all off, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki claimed that Sony is lacking in original IP while Astro Bot launched with the opposite message. Not only does Astro Bot put almost every PlayStation and PlayStation-associated IP on display, it gives a few special treatment — though the oldest of these risks stagnation if it doesn’t get a comeback soon.
Astro Bot Gives Some PlayStation Franchises A Bigger Spotlight
Near the end of each galaxy in Astro Bot, Astro defeats a major boss and rescues a special VIP Bot. These Bots lend Astro their appearance and powers in the next thematically appropriate level, where Astro reclaims a piece of the Mothership. In order of appearance, these VIP Bots are:
- Spike – Ape Escape
- Kratos – God of War
- Nathan Drake – Uncharted
- Kulche – LocoRoco
- Aloy – Horizon
Besides Uncharted and LocoRoco’s release order being reversed, these Bots hail from leading first-party franchises released on the PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP, and PS4, respectively. It’s a celebration of PlayStation’s historical successes — or at least, it’s supposed to be.
Ape Escape Is Astro Bot’s Odd one Out
While a PlayStation Portable or Playstation Vita representative was likely going to be niche no matter what, Ape Escape stands out as the PS1 choice. For as much as it deserves to represent Sony’s efforts on the PS1, Ape Escape arguably fell out of relevance before LocoRoco even debuted in 2006. While the series continued getting games up until 2010’s PlayStation Move Ape Escape, and enjoyed occasional cameos afterward, the last mainline title was 2005’s Ape Escape 3, and that was the last time Ape Escape truly felt like a relevant first-party PlayStation series.
Ape Escape Has A Chance, But Not For Long
Getting a whole Astro Bot level with mostly-faithful mechanics and aesthetics means Ape Escape is far from dead, but it needs to do something if it wants to stay that way. As passionate as legacy fans may be, their love isn’t going to rub off on multiple new generations that got into gaming after Ape Escape became a relic from PlayStation’s early days. The theme uniting the franchises with crossover levels in Astro Bot means Ape Escape should never feel too out of place, but to ensure it wouldn’t have been better off replaced by another Sony PS1 property like PaRappa the Rapper, Twisted Metal, or Wild Arms, it needs to justify itself.
Where Ape Escape Should Go Next
Hopefully, that’s exactly what’s in the cards for Ape Escape. Even if it was the best PS1 option to recreate within Astro Bot’s gameplay, it’s not hard to look at the Ape Escape level and see it as a prototype for a full game. While many would like to see Team Asobi continue with the Astro Bot franchise, reviving Ape Escape feels both within its ability and within its interest. More lower-budget single-player games is exactly what the PS5 needs right now, and continuing that trend with what could be the best Ape Escape game would be the perfect move after Astro Bot.
