One Astro Bot Cameo Would Suit an Upcoming PlayStation Project Perfectly

by

One Astro Bot Cameo Would Suit an Upcoming PlayStation Project Perfectly

As a gamer who’s been around the block more times than I care to admit, it’s clear that Sony has been ruling the roost when it comes to console gaming for quite some time now. The exclusive first-party IP like Astro Bot have been a major draw for PlayStation, setting it apart from the competition. However, the mobile gaming market remains an untapped territory for PlayStation, and I believe that’s about to change.

For several generations, Sony’s PlayStation has held a strong lead in the console market, thanks in part to unique first-party games such as Astro Bot, which distinguish it from Xbox. Additionally, PlayStation has made efforts to penetrate the PC gaming market with generally positive outcomes. However, there remains one significant gaming platform that PlayStation has yet to master.

In essence, PlayStation hasn’t excelled much in the mobile gaming scene. Following a lackluster launch in 2012 with the now-infamous PlayStation Mobile app, Sony has predominantly kept out of the mobile market. The exceptions were modest games like “Run Sackboy! Run” from 2014 and “Uncharted: Fortune Hunter” in 2016. However, a job listing spotted by TweakTown in May suggests that PlayStation might be planning to re-enter the mobile market. The popular game “Astro Bot” could potentially play a significant role in their success, given its surprising appearance in one of their upcoming projects.

Astro Bot’s LocoRoco Cameo Proves It’d Suit PlayStation’s Mobile Project

Astro Bot’s LocoRoco Cameo Explained

In a nutshell, anyone who’s played just a tiny bit of it can tell you that Astro Bot is bursting at the seams with nods to PlayStation’s extensive past. These tributes usually take the form of Bots that the player must save, each dressed in garb reminiscent of a specific PlayStation character. However, Astro Bot sometimes goes a step further and pays homage to a PlayStation IP more profoundly, as can be seen with LocoRoco.

Making its appearance in 2006, the PlayStation Portable series known as LocoRoco, developed by Japan Studio, had a brief run. In this PSP game, players navigate a large, jelly-like creature through various stages. To overcome certain obstacles, players tap a button to split the ball into smaller spheres, and then recombine on the other side. Remarkably, the player doesn’t control these lively spheres, but instead manipulates the world itself by tilting it left or right using the PSP’s shoulder buttons. Although LocoRoco received a follow-up and a Halloween-themed spinoff, the series has essentially been inactive for 15 years.

However, quite unexpectedly, LocoRoco steals the show in Astro Bot in an impressive manner. At the conclusion of each galaxy within Astro Bot, players uncover a fresh world entirely themed around a PlayStation franchise, such as Uncharted and God of War. Among these five stages, LocoRoco is given its own dedicated area. In this stage, players assume control of a LocoRoco sphere, the view shifts to a 2D perspective, the motion controls on the DualSense are utilized to tilt the world, and the player must use Astro’s zap ability to split him into multiple parts in order to overcome obstacles.

The stage maintains the lively and colorful aesthetic similar to that of the original LocoRoco games, with a reworked version of its iconic theme song playing in the background. It’s delightful to witness a resurgence for overlooked series like LocoRoco, given their opportunity to take center stage.

LocoRoco Would Make For a Perfect PlayStation Mobile game

Previously mentioned, Sony’s PlayStation is rumored to re-enter the competitive mobile gaming scene again. In this anticipated comeback, it seems fitting for the beloved game, LocoRoco, to spearhead the charge. As a 2D platformer offering intuitive controls, vibrant graphics, and compact level designs, LocoRoco is an excellent match for mobile gaming. Its recent resurgence in Astro Bot’s limelight has rekindled interest among gamers. Now could be the ideal moment for LocoRoco to resurface, and this revival should occur on mobile platforms where it can potentially captivate a vast audience.

The game LocoRoco was also adapted for mobile devices, specifically for Sony Ericsson phones, and it was launched in the Western markets back in 2009 under the title LocoRoco Mobi.

Read More

2024-10-01 00:34