There are some impressive launch titles for Sony’s PlayStation 5, but one of the console’s biggest surprises is actually a game that comes preloaded onto the PS5, Astro’s Playroom. Astro’s Playroom is a delightful platformer that impressively highlights the new features of the PS5 and its DualSense controller. Astro’s Playroom is satisfying on a gameplay level, but it’s also full of fun tributes to Sony’s history and some of the biggest games to come out on PlayStation consoles.
Various Astro Bots that are dispersed through levels wear costumes or perform actions that are nods to past games. It’s easy to notice the references to Crash Bandicoot, Devil May Cry, or Castlevania, but some Astro Bots get more intricate or subtle with their designs.
10 Death Stranding
Hideo Kojima is one of the most influential and ambitious video game developers of all time and his works have been signature pieces of the PlayStation. The Astro Bots reference his Metal Gear Solid games in a way that’s hard to miss, but the nod to Death Stranding comes as much more of a surprise. Death Stranding is a recent game, yet it feels like the definitive Kojima experience in many regards. The Astro Bots depict the strange events of the series with a character that has about five times his weight strapped to his back as he trudges forward.
9 Ape Escape
The Astro Bots that reference the Ape Escape franchise aren’t exactly doing anything out of their box for their depiction of the games, but it’s an especially strange image for those that aren’t familiar with the games. One Astro Bot wields a net and chases another, who has a siren on their head. Ape Escape represents an important part of the PlayStation’s history and the game’s innovative control scheme helped the console’s DualShock controller become the norm. The series has been dormant for many years, so it’s nice to see it get a shout out in Astro’s Playroom.
8 PaRappa The Rapper
The rhythm genre has grown substantially over the past few generations of gaming, but it was much less established during the days of the original PlayStation. PaRappa the Rapper is a title that didn’t just help educate audiences on what a rhythm game could be, but it turned into one of the more iconic exclusives for the PlayStation during its earlier days.
Astro’s Playroom tries to do something more creative for its representation of PaRappa and so it comes up with some paper cutout versions of Astro Bots who are rocking out, which alludes to PaRappa’s distinct art design.
7 Jumping Flash!
Jumping Flash! is very much a product of its time, but it’s a major piece of gaming history and it has the honor of being classified as the first platform video game in a truly 3D world. Jumping Flash! feels more like a tech demo for the original PlayStation, but its dated look is now also part of its charm. A gigantic rabbit Astro Bot will jump over the player’s head in the game’s throwback to the PS1. This quick anomaly may just confuse most gamers, but it’s actually a reference to one of the PlayStation’s most important early titles.
6 Resident Evil
Resident Evil has never been a series that’s been exclusive to the PlayStation, but in many ways the series has helped the different Sony consoles find a much larger audience and they’ve taken real ownership of the Resident Evil series. Astro’s Playroom puts together a rather large diorama together to honor the original Resident Evil. There are Astro Bot STARS members who stand near an isolated doorframe, which is in reference to the game’s loading screens. A rabid Astro Bot stands behind the doorframe while another scientist creates a virus in the background. A full story is told here.
5 Dreams
Many of the games that the Astro Bots single out are long-running franchises. Surprisingly, Dreams is a game that’s under a year old, but Astro’s Playroom proves that it knows the lasting power of this title with how it singles it out. Dreams is more of a creation tool than a conventional game, but it’s led to some remarkable creations from its community.
The nod to Dreams is easy to miss. It involves a blocky dinosaur that would be easy to confuse with other series, but it’s the presence of the “Astro-Imp” over the dinosaur that confirms the Dreams connection.
4 God Of War
The God of War series has become a lynchpin for PlayStation consoles and it makes sense to see the Astro Bots pay it some service. However, Astro’s Playroom actually finds a way to reference the original God of War games in a rather obvious way, but also 2018’s God of War reboot in a way that’s less obvious. A number of Astro Bots can be found playing a copy of “Bot of War,” but there is also a father and son Astro Bot duo that are on a boat in the water who are supposed to represent Kratos and Atreus.
3 Detroit: Become Human
Detroit: Become Human is a gripping vision of a future dystopia where machines are quickly making man obsolete. The title centers around the level of freedom that it gives the player and the consequences that stem from the player’s actions. It’s easy to miss the reference to the series in Astro’s Playroom, but it’s a rather clever distillation of the game. There are a number of even more robotic than usual Astro Bots that are on display, while one in the corner twitches and malfunctions as a chilling hint towards what’s to come in the game.
2 Patapon
Astro’s Playroom focuses more on Sony’s home console efforts, but they don’t try to erase the company’s contributions to the handheld market. Patapon is a series that’s later been remastered and ported over to the PlayStation 4, but for a while it was a creative spin on the rhythm genre that helped define Sony’s PlayStation Portable handheld. Astro’s Playroom references Patapon with a cave painting that depicts an action-filled scene from the series. It’s a smart Easter egg that finds a way to reference the games’ style and aesthetic rather than just put some Astro Bots in a costume.
1 Doko Demo Issyo
Sony’s PlayStation has had some interesting characters that have functioned as unofficial mascots for the consoles over the years, but the Sony Cats, Toro Inoue and Kuro, were specifically designed to be the mascot back during the days of the original PlayStation. Toro Inoue’s presence is larger in Japan and the character’s signature title, Doko Demo Issyo, never came out in America. The shout out to this game with not just Astro Bot cats, but also a large PocketStation, is the perfect way to honor a game and characters who haven’t been given as big a chance overseas.