Astro Bot, in addition to being a pretty excellent 3D platformer in its own right, is primarily a celebration of all things PlayStation.
You fly around in a giant PS5, and a big chunk of the adorable robots you rescue are dressed up in costumes reminiscent ofclassic PlayStation game characters.
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When you visit your ship’s Crash Site, every rescued robot will be engaged in some manner of shenanigan reminiscent of the game their costume is based on, each onean Easter egg in its own right.
Which of these you consider the best will largely depend on your nostalgia for certain games, but for us, these particular animations really put a smile on our faces.
10The Prince Of All Cosmos
Oh Lonely Rolling Star
In the PS2 gameKatamari Damacy, the goal of the game is to roll your Katamari around the world, picking up anything and everything in order to make a star.
Your protagonist in this endeavor is the Prince of All Cosmos, whom you can find at the Crash Site alongside his trusty Katamari.
Give the Prince a nudge, and he’ll take off rolling around his Katamari in the sand. Stand in front of him, and you’ll get rolled up into it like so many random pencils, traffic cones, and bystanders before you.
Katamari Damacy Reroll
WHERE TO PLAY
9Jill Valentine
What Part Of “Don’t Open That Door” Didn’t You Get?
In the intro ofResident Evil, the STARS squad barricades themselves in the Spencer Mansion to hide from the marauding undead.
Jill wants to go outside to look for the missing Chris, but Wesker warns her not to open the door.
The reason why Jill shouldn’t open the door, as the Jill robot at the Crash Site reminds us when you poke her, is that a pair of mutant dogs will immediately charge in.
It’s a fun reference to a classic bit of schmuck bait from the early days of 3D gaming.
Resident Evil HD Remaster
8Slayer Of Demons
Don’t Forget To Retrieve Your Souls
If there are two things the original SoulslikeDemon’s Soulsis well known for, it’s beingextremely difficultand requiring you to go pick up your dropped souls when you die.
It’s only right, then, that the robot at the Crash Site dressed in the armor of the Slayer of Demons has the fortitude of wet tissue paper. One poke, and he immediately falls over, dead.
Don’t worry, though, he’ll pop right back up afterward, and even take a moment to retrieve the cache of souls that he dropped.
Demon’s Souls
Feel That Trance Vibrator
The PS2 game Rez had an optional peripheral device known as the Trance Vibrator, a small vibrating pack that was meant to be placed somewhere you could feel it.
As you played the game, the bopping soundtrack would induce powerful vibrations for you to experience.
The Trance Vibrator is one of the most memorable aspects of Rez, which is why the Rez bot at the Crash Site comes with a pair of companions sharing a fiercely rumbling controller.
Give the Rez bot a nudge, and it’ll shoot down several enemies, giving the companions some extra shakes to enjoy.
6Amaterasu
A Godly Shower Of Petals
In the PS2 cult classicOkami, the protagonist of thisFeudal Japan-erafairy tale is Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of the sun and verdure. In that game, wherever Amaterasu runs, a trail of beautiful flowers blooms along the ground in her wake.
When you give the Amaterasu bot at the Crash Site a nudge, she’ll pop to her paws and run a lap around her little shrine gate, punctuating her return with a triumphant howl.
The Ammy bot also has a little bot of her wandering artist friend Issun bouncing on her nose the whole time.
Welcome To The Spectral Realm
InLegacy of Kain: Soul Reaverfor the PS1, newly ghostly vampire Raziel is constantly bouncing back and forth between the living realm and the spectral realm of the dead.
In that game, whenever Raziel transitions from the living realm to the spectral realm or back, he performs an odd little arm motion, complete with a warping screen filter.
Both of these little qualities are exhibited by the Raziel bot at the crash site, who pulls us to the blue-tinted spectral realm for a moment when you smack him.
Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver
Smokin’ Sexy Style!
If there were a dominating design philosophy from theDevil May Cryseries, starting with the first game, it’s building up massive, varied combos of sword and gun attacks.
This is probably why the Dante bot at the Crash Site is constantly juggling a marionette in the air with his pistols.
If you nudge him, he’ll drop his combo and the marionette will fall. He won’t rest for long, though.
Dante whips out Rebellion, pops the marionette into the air with a High Time and bounces him off the ground with a Helm Splitter before resuming the onslaught of bullets.
Devil May Cry HD Collection
The God Of War Suffers No Shenanigans
Both in his original rage-fueled incarnations on the PS2 and in his modern PS5 days,God of War’s Kratos has been a strictly no-nonsense individual.
This is something you’ll learn first-hand if you attempt to smack the Kratos bot at the Crash Site.
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They’re the All-Father’s Eyes and ears, so stick an axe in ‘em!
Immediately, he’ll lose his temper, summon the Leviathan Axe to his hand, and chuck it at you, freezing you solid.
Kratos may have settled down a bit, but that doesn’t mean he tolerates nonsense, especially while he’s trying to spend time with his son.
God of War Ragnarok
2Psycho Mantis
“I Will Show You My Psychokinetic Power!”
When you first encounter FOXHOUND psychic soldier Psycho Mantis in the original PS1Metal Gear Solid, he opts to demonstrate some of his psychic abilities to Snake andyou, the player.
One of the tricks he employs is asking you to place your controller down, then bombarding it with psychic force to make it vibrate.
The Psycho Mantis bot at the Crash Site apparently loves this bit, which is why he’s hovering over a TV and PlayStation playing Metal Gear Solid.
He regularly makes the attached controller vibrate, cackling wildly every time he does.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1
“It Seems Very Spacious In Here…”
InPersona 4, originally released for the PS2, when the protagonist first discovers his ability to enter the TV, he tries sticking his head inside to get a better look.
This is likely what’s being referenced when you poke the Teddie bot at the Crash Site.
Startled, Teddie falls head-first into an old TV he was fiddling with, getting stuck for a moment before he manages to pull himself out.
It makes you wonder how Teddie was able to fit through the TV the first time he came to our world.
