Astro Bot has become a rousing success for Sony since its release at the end of 2024. Between its glowing critical and commercial success and its numerous Game of the Year wins, Astro Bot has charmed and delighted audiences of all ages. Between its clever platforming gameplay and loving odes to Sony’s long history, it stands out as one of the best games on the PlayStation 5 today.
Between its success and Sony’s previous entry in the series, Astro’s Playroom, it appears Astro Bot has become the new premier platformer franchise for the PlayStation family of consoles. As Sony has made several bigger, darker, and flashier titles, Astro Bot is its opportunity to keep things simple and old-school with a widely appealing platformer. While its success should influence Sony to keep the series going, this shouldn’t dissuade Sony from making games in another platformer franchise: LittleBigPlanet.
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An Astro Bot Sequel May Not Be Able to Drink from the Same Well as the Original
Astro Bot is a loving celebration of PlayStation’s long history in the gaming world, but it might not be able to be able to rely on that in a sequel.
LittleBigPlanet Can Co-Exist Alongside Astro Bot
LittleBigPlanet Was Sony’s Astro Bot Before Astro Bot
Before Astro Bot was making its way onto the PlayStation and bringing its blend of old-fashioned charm, LittleBigPlanet was Sony’s major platformer franchise on the PlayStation 3. The first two titles became some of the most beloved games on Sony’s seventh-generation machine, and they brought that all-ages joy at a time when Sony’s first-party titles were starting to grow up. The franchise continued on the PlayStation 4 with its third entry, albeit with less involvement from the franchise’s main developer, Media Molecule.
With the developer inevitably moving its focus to working on 2020’s Dreams, the LittleBigPlanet franchise continued on with Sackboy: A Big Adventure on the PlayStation 5. Now developed by Sumo Digital, this title represented a change-up for the franchise, playing out like a straightforward 3D platformer as opposed to the side-scrolling predecessors. Furthermore, this game also did away with the content creation elements that made the first three LittleBigPlanet games so unique.
LittleBigPlanet’s Creative Elements Set It Apart From Astro Bot
With Astro’s Playroom being a pre-installed game on every PlayStation 5, it felt like it took away some of the shine that Sackboy: A Big Adventure may have gotten at the console’s launch. Thus, between that and Astro Bot’s release, the LittleBigPlanet series has taken something of a backseat for Sony as of late. There’s plenty of room for Sony to keep the franchise going, however, and Astro Bot’s success shouldn’t dissuade Sony from making more LittleBigPlanet games.
After all, LittleBigPlanet is distinct from Astro Bot in its creative elements. While LittleBigPlanet was always a fun platformer on its own, one of its biggest selling points was its level editor, which allowed players to create their own stages and share them online with others. There’s still a market for creative platformers like this – look no further than Nintendo’s rousing success with Super Mario Maker 2 – and a new LittleBigPlanet game could fit perfectly alongside other comparable titles on the market.
Astro Bot’s success shouldn’t dissuade Sony from making more LittleBigPlanet games.
LittleBigPlanet Could Be The 2D Brother To Astro Bot’s 3D Gameplay
LittleBigPlanet would also sit nicely next to Astro Bot by returning to its pre-2020 roots. While Sackboy: A Big Adventure was the first title in the series to be a fully 3D platformer, LittleBigPlanet was always a side-scrolling 2.5D franchise. Now that Astro Bot has filled the gap for a 3D platformer in Sony’s wheelhouse, LittleBigPlanet can sit alongside it as a side-scrolling counterpart, giving Sony a strong footing in both platforming styles.
Whether Sony chooses to continue LittleBigPlanet or let Astro Bot fill its gap, Sackboy will still appear throughout several Sony games. Even so, it feels like Astro Bot’s success wouldn’t overshadow LittleBigPlanet, and a new title could differentiate itself from PlayStation’s other platforming masterpiece. Here’s hoping Sony continues to bring platformer goodness and charm to gamers through both Astro Bot and LittleBigPlanet.
- Released
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September 6, 2024
- ESRB
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E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
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Team Asobi
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment