Astro Bot isn’t the franchise I think about when it comes to PlayStation’s version of Mario, but after several hours of playing the demo—here we are.

The demo of Astro Bot I played at Evo 2024 was nothing short of a surprise. Astro Bot at an event like Evo, which usually only shows upcoming fighting games, was a treat, especially as Sony’s charming platformer had intrigued me since its initial reveal at the end of May. The Astro Bot series has always been a love letter to the PlayStation IP, celebrating the history of the consoles and games from the past two decades under the guise of a pretty fun platformer.