Astro’s Playroom has you controlling one of the Astro Bots as you explore different areas to find artifacts. These aren’t just any items but other accessories and items from PlayStation’s history. Collecting all the items feels like you’re a curator at a PlayStation museum. Suits like these are creative enough not to make the motion control feel like too much of a gimmick and eventually make you hate it. Having bows as weapons isn’t mind-blowing; it’s a staple in many games.

As you’re exploring Playroom’s levels you’ll also stumble across Astro Bots wearing a blue cap and holding a camera. They’re mostly there for the fun of it all rather than to accumulate anything, but every single one of them made me smile, even the few that I had to take a moment to try and guess at. I won’t spoil any more here so as to not rob anyone of the joy of first discovering them.

It’s not bloatware that permanently takes up precious space on the PS5’s relatively small SSD. But even with the Platinum in hand (my first PS5 Plat), I’ve decided to keep it around as a brilliant showcase of what the PS5 and DualSense can do. TG88 that it’s a pack-in pre-installed on every PS5 and will most likely be the first thing everyone plays while they wait for their first games to download and install is a pretty amazing bonus. It strikes that fine balance between serving its purpose as a pre-installed pack-in for new PS5 owners to cut their teeth on, and actually being genuinely fun and entertaining. The frog suit of Cooling Springs is an absolute treasure in its DualSense use, though the levels are not necessarily my favorites. My favorite of them is GPU Jungle’s full robotic monkey suit, which leads to vertically-scrolling, 2D-view levels.

All Special Bot Locations

Once you finish all the levels at least once you’ll unlock a series of “speed run” levels that are variants off of the game’s main levels. I appreciated these because they weren’t just the same exact levels with a timer added, but instead offered totally new paths and obstacles through a stage that was merely themed after the existing level. You’ll recognize backgrounds and a few elements, but they may as well be new levels.

It also supports customizeable controller profiles that can be selected via one of the two Fn switches below the analog sticks. Four profiles can be loaded onto the controller itself, letting them be taken to other PS5 systems. This also allows the currently-selected profile to be used on other platforms, such as a PC. The same as the previous artefact, but specifically designed to be held by a right hand! This version has the Circle, X and Options buttons, while the left-hand controller from before has the Square, Triangle and Create buttons. It’s also the first PlayStation controller to have textured analog sticks and monochrome face button symbols (preceded by the PSP and Vita handhelds).

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The first two hits on an animal will give you one Coin each, which the third will give you five, for a total of seven! I can’t imagine playing it with a standard controller — though I’m sure my family hopes I run out of new discoveries soon. I’ve developed an incredibly annoying habit while playing Astro’s Playroom. Another unlockable display for the Labo area are some canisters with white logos in them. These are the icons for the Xross Media Bar, which debuted on the 2003 PSX console in Japan, but is more known for its use on the PSP, PS3 and on Bravia TVs. The logos are still in use today, with the exception of the old PSN logo.

Each of them can be completed in around a minute or less and there’s a leaderboard to see how you stack up. Without spoiling anything, Astro’s Playroom essentially takes place inside the inner workings of a PS5 console. Each of the four main zones are themed after hardware concepts such as the SSD Speedway and the Cooling Springs. Cooling Springs for example is chocked full of various PS3 models, the PS Sharp Shooter gun, the PSP, Vita, and so on. Luckily, Sony seems intent on reliving their past in more than one way with the launch of the PS5. Puzzle Pieces 4/4 – In the area with the stomping television, use the two clouds by the checkpoint to jump on top of it when it’s on the ground, then jump to the puzzle piece when it’s in the air.