Astro Bot Has Given a Possible PS All-Stars 2 The Perfect Antagonist

Astro Bot Has Given a Possible PS All-Stars 2 The Perfect Antagonist

Over the past couple of months, Astro Bot has exploded onto the scene as a shining new PlayStation 5 exclusive. It’s unknown if its 1.5 million sales in that time, as reported by Sony’s November financial results, actually turned a profit for Team ASOBI’s 3D platformer, but there’s an argument to be made that it did, and another to assert that it’s on track to become profitable during the holiday season. Whatever the truth may be, Sony’s gamble on Astro Bot getting a regular console game has paid off, and it looks like it has another strong IP and studio on its hands.




Astro Bot and Team ASOBI’s next moves won’t be visible for a few years, but at a time when PlayStation needs more PR wins like it, the mascot platformer does bring another celebration of all things PlayStation to mind. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was a 2012 PS3 and PS Vita platform fighter developed by SuperBot Entertainment, with support from the now better-known Bluepoint Games and Santa Monica Studio, and picked up similar sales to Astro Bot with a far worse reputation. A lot would need to change for a PlayStation All-Stars sequel to take off, but its fellow crossover Astro Bot could give a few pointers.

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Astro Bot is Set to Carry the Torch for PlayStation’s Legacy

Astro Bot is bringing back the mascot-platformer genre in style, and it’s sure to hearken back to PlayStation heroes of old in the process.

Astro Bot Managed To Produce A Strong Final Boss


Besides the obvious use of Captain Astro himself as the face of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale 2’s roster, the Astro Bot universe has a lot to offer to a new PlayStation fighting game. Rendering all of its characters as Bots is not one of them, with the fully proportioned versions of the original PSASBR being preferred, but Astro could justify their worlds coming together with his intergalactic expeditions. Beyond the “how” of PlayStation All-Stars 2, Astro Bot also provides the “why,” as it has an antagonist that would be perfect for another final showdown.

Space Bully Nebulax Is A Simple But Effective Antagonist

This may come as a surprise to new Astro Bot fans, but the Astro Bot series already consists of three games and has built a small recurring cast. Captain Astro goes without saying, but the giant green alien Nebulax has been his enemy since Astro Bot Rescue Mission for the PS VR headset. Nebulax served as the final boss in Rescue Mission and Astro Bot, and the PS5’s Astro’s Playroom pack-in game ends with a T. rex battle that takes many cues from Nebulax’s first fight. This cartoon space bully isn’t anything more than that, but his punch-able face has been the perfect center point for the Astro series’ climactic boss fights.


PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale 2 Would Be Great Stomping Grounds For Nebulax

With Nebulax surviving each encounter to sabotage the Bots another day, he would be the perfect villain to kick off another PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale crossover. It’s a premise simple enough to be set up in a single trailer or opening cutscene, and Nebulax has a limitless pile of gadgets that he could pull out for a final arcade or story mode bout. Being so large and lacking Captain Astro’s iconic status, but still having a fun personality that could play off even the most serious PlayStation mascot, Nebulax is the ideal crossover fighting game boss character.


Nebulax Could Put PSASBR’s Old Boss To Shame

It’s a good thing he is because the alternative is far from ideal. The original PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale made an impressive deep cut using the retired North American Sony PlayStation mascot Polygon Man as its final boss, but that initial “wow” factor is all he had. Polygon Man had some good battle quotes but relied on cloned characters to fight, and was just as forgettable as his real-life counterpart. Astro Bot‘s Nebulax taking over for Polygon Man in a PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale 2 would produce a much more satisfying experience and could reference PlayStation’s history even more in the process.

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