Team Asobi’s Astro Bot serves as a direct sequel to Astro’s Playroom, featuring multiple galaxies to explore and over 200 Bots to rescue. Although the game is an easy and simple experience for the most part, it can also get surprisingly in-depth with its mechanics and exploration which can catch you off guard if you’re not paying attention.
Astro Bot isn’t a very difficult game to get into or complete, and its mechanics are pretty easy to learn. But there are some things that you need to keep in mind before starting in order to have a smoother experience and to avoid missing out on any secrets that the world may be hiding. So, here are some beginner tips to help you get started.
Explore, Explore, And Explore
When beginning Astro Bot, do not hesitate to explore every inch and corner of all the stages you go through. You can get tons of fun Easter eggs and surprises just from exploration. There are also secret areas and secret exits in various stages, so feel free to explore everywhere otherwise you’ll miss out on a ton of fun stuff.
There are checkpoints available in almost every area of a specific level, so go explore as much as you like. The stakes aren’t very high in this game (unless you’re counting The Great Master Challenge) and if you die trying to get somewhere or get killed by an enemy, you’ll respawn at the last checkpoint, so don’t be afraid to deviate from the main path and explore as much as possible.
Punch And Break Everything
Punching and breaking boxes and pots was one of the core aspects of Astro’s Playroom, and the case isn’t all that different for its sequel. While exploring, if you come across any type of box, pot or any type of breakable object, simply punch and break them, as they’re a great source of coins, and you will need coins as you progress through the game.
In addition to that, breaking boxes and other objects can reveal cables popping out of the ground, which can lead to secret areas, or sometimes, it can even lead to bots and Puzzle Pieces, the two primary collectibles in the game. If there are a lot of boxes and objects to break, simply use Astro’s spinning punch to get rid of all of them very quickly.
Get Your Timing Right
Timing is (almost) everything in Astro Bot, as it’s a platformer, and you will be facing some serious obstacle courses as you progress through the game. Jumping across platforms is one of the main things you’ll do in this platformer along with using Astro’s boosters to hover over platforms, and for that, you need to get the timing of your jumps and your movements right.
The platforming of most levels in Astro Bot is relatively easy, but then there are also stages like The Great Master Challenge that you’ll have quite a tough time completing. For that, you need to get the timings of your movements right, not just to avoid falling to your death but also to avoid getting hit by enemies and instantly dying before you can reach the next checkpoint.
Crash Into Asteroids And Meteors
When you’re hovering around a galaxy in Astro Bot, sometimes you’ll notice a stray asteroid going about or a ring of asteroids popping up in the galaxy. Boost your DualSpeeder and crash into them, as doing so will reveal secret stages and levels that you otherwise won’t be able to find.
Stages like Retro Rampage 1, Rolling Star Sola, etc. only pop up when you crash into these meteors and comets. Plus, they don’t spawn all the time, so you’ll need to wait a bit sometimes. In addition to that, these secret stages are also home to new Cameo Bots, so you don’t want to miss them, especially if you’re going for a completionist run of the game.
Spend Your Coins At The Gatcha Machine
As you progress through the various planets and galaxies of Astro Bot, you’ll accumulate a lot of gold coins from each one. But what are coins good for if you’re not spending them? Head on over to the Gatcha Machine to spend all your coins and get PlayStation-themed goodies and sometimes an empty can in return.
You’ll unlock the Gatcha Lab in the Crash Site after defeating the first boss of the Gorilla Nebula system. Along with PlayStation-themed collectibles and collectibles for the rescued Cameo Bots, you can also unlock new cosmetics for Astro and the DualSpeeder and customize them as you like. Astro has a ton of unlockable outfits worn by iconic PlayStation characters, so it’s a fun way to make your experience even better.
Replay Stages
If you’ve missed a collectible or forgotten to rescue a bot in a specific stage, you can simply replay that stage and then look for yourself. You may even end up finding new secrets and Easter eggs that you missed out on during your first playthrough. Plus, replaying stages is a great way of earning coins in the long run if you’re running low on them.
Another thing you must remember is that if you’re replaying a stage and you’ve found what you were looking for, you can quit the stage immediately instead of going to the very end of it. This saves much more time while keeping your newfound collectible in one piece. But again, replaying stages is a great way of farming coins, so you might as well take the pain of going through the entirety of it.
Keep Track Of Your Collectible Collection
If you’re aiming for a completionist run of Astro Bot, you’ll need to keep track of all your collectibles, which include the bot that you rescue, the Lost Galaxy secret exits that you find, and the Puzzle Pieces that you collect. Simply press Square on any of the worlds to find out how many collectibles you have and how many you’re missing out of the total number.
Once you 100% complete a stage, that stage is then marked with a golden flag so that is another indicator of missing collectibles. After completing a specific stage, if it’s marked with a blue flag, it means that there are still things to find in that very stage. So keep track of all your collectibles, and you’ll end up finding them in no time.
Use The Guiding Bird For Help
Once you’re done with a mission, upon replaying it, you’ll notice that a birdhouse has appeared at the beginning of it. This isn’t there just for show, as you can break the glass and then pull the cables for 200 coins to summon a bird. This very bird will guide you to collectibles and secrets that you may have missed on your first go.
The bird uses sonar waves to locate the collectibles that you’ve missed. If you’ve missed any bots, secret exits, or Puzzle Pieces and you don’t want to do all the work yourself, simply hire this bird for 200 coins per stage, and it’ll do the job for you without breaking a sweat.
