This year’s family Christmas at my mom’s place was like a scene from a postcard. Her quiet and cozy home was briefly filled with the spirited chatter of loved ones reminiscing about old times. The smell of cinnamon and nutmeg wafted off the apple pie in the oven and filled the house. After dinner, everyone gathered in the living room, bundled up in their sweaters and blankets, telling stories and laughing long after they were all meant to be on their way. And then there was me, alone in the next room, screaming at the TV because an Astro Bot level was making a fool of me.
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If you’re caught up on the bonus speed run level added to Astro Bot post-launch, I’m sure you already know which one I’m talking about. Rising Heat is a race up a lava-drenched mountain using the adorable monkey power-up that was one of my favorites – until I played this level. Unfortunately, its demanding and imprecise motion controls make this Astro Bot’s most excruciating level to complete, and the reason my entire extended family now thinks I have anger issues.
Hard Levels Aren’t Necessarily Bad
This is not the first Astro Bot level that has challenged me. The infamous Splashing Sprint level, another lava-themed gauntlet, is regarded as Astro Bot’s most difficult, and I don’t mind admitting that it took me more than a few tries to complete. Using the rubber ducky to make a path requires incredible timing and precision platforming, so you likely won’t get through it on your first, or tenth try.
While replaying it over and over was frustrating, I appreciate that there’s a level in the game that requires some commitment and perseverance to complete. The games I grew up with always had that one random difficulty spike that made you want to rip your hair out, and I think that’s a valuable experience for kids that also makes games more memorable.
Rising Heat is not like Splashing Sprint though. It isn’t a hard level you have to learn, it’s a torture sequence designed by masochists to make you hate Astro Bot, as well as your family and Christmas, apparently. Rising Heat defiles the social contract by taking motion control, a silly little gimmick we’re just supposed to ooh and ahh at, and forcing you to use it exclusively for precision, high-intensity platforming.
I liked goofing around with the monkey power in the regular game, but it has no place in a speed run level. This is the final speed run level, the only thing standing between me and 100 percent completion, and I have to spin my controller left and right like it’s a steering wheel? Imagine if you got to the end of Elden Ring and on the final boss someone took away your controller and handed you a DDR dance pad. This is not the game I’ve been mastering over the last 90 levels. This is BS.
Motion Control Are Bad And Astro Bot Should Feel Bad
There’s a time and place for motion control gimmicks, and a speed run level ain’t it. It goes against the entire evolution of video game inputs. We want precision and consistency, the elimination of the physical gap between the player and the character. That’s why we’ve seen game pads evolve from awkward joy sticks into ergonomic controllers that slip perfectly into your hands, with instant-response buttons and frictionless sticks that feel like an extension of your thumbs. The next stage of inputs will be games that connect directly to your brain stem.
Holding your DualSense in the air and twisting it back and forth is as far from precision as you can get. There’s no physical pivot point, no resistance, no range limiters. Just you flailing around in the air hoping the monkey grabs the banana you’re aiming for.
It’s frustrating when you miss a jump or run into an enemy in Astro Bot, but when you make a mistake you can recognize what you did wrong and learn from it. When the monkey doesn’t grab the right banana, I am convinced 100 percent of the time that the controller is wrong, not me. I don’t trust the accuracy of the motion controls, so I can’t trust the results of my motions. It feels like I’m playing a level where the X button will randomly stop working. That wouldn’t be a fun challenge to overcome, it would just be frustrating and demoralizing – and that’s exactly what Rising Heat is.
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