Astro Bot Proves Nintendo's Impact on the Industry

Astro Bot may very well be one of the biggest surprises of 2024, unassumingly sneaking its way into this year's gaming lineup and already proving itself to be a worthy Game of the Year contender. A significant part of what has led to Astro Bot's rapid success is likely its bold pursuit of the mundane, taking players back to gaming's simpler days amid so many other titles attempting to redefine the industry with bigger and better-looking experiences. On that note, Astro Bot takes full advantage of the nostalgia of longtime Sony and PlayStation fans with Bots resembling the faces and images they've become familiar with over the last three decades.

Astro Bot may only be Sony on the surface, however, as the fundamental building blocks of its core gameplay loop prove its inability to deny the impact that Nintendo has had on the gaming industry as a whole. It's impossible to play Astro Bot without conjuring memories of Nintendo's classic Super Mario series, to the point that one perspective suggests Astro Bot may have beaten Mario at his own game. In addition to these apparent Super Mario influences, there is a generous smattering of other mechanics clearly inspired by some of Nintendo's most recognizable franchises.

Astro Bot Wears Its Nintendo Influences on Its Sleeve

Astro Bot's Platforming Mechanics and Level Design Are Reminiscent of Several Super Mario Games

Despite being designed to showcase decades of Sony's history, Astro Bot' s gameplay wears its Nintendo influences on its sleeve. Most noticeably, Astro Bot's platforming mechanics and level design are Super Mario through and through. Rather than drawing inspiration from classic iterations of Super Mario's platforming and level design, however, Astro Bot considers the philosophy and design principles of Super Mario's modern era, where the world is as much alive as the NPCs within it and players can progress through experimentation and occasionally shifting their perspective.

Some of Astro Bot's mechanics even mirror specific Super Mario games. Astro Bot's jetpack mechanics, for example, are almost identical to Mario's FLUDD pack in Super Mario Sunshine. Specifically, when players equip the Hover Nozzle to the FLUDD in Super Mario Sunshine, they can use it to cross large gaps and even stun enemies who get caught in the streams below. In the same way, players can use the jetpack in Astro Bot to hover across gaps and also stun or even kill enemies below the jetpack's flames.

Additionally, Astro Bot's primary attack is a punch, similar to Mario's in multiple Super Mario games.

Astro Bot Also Uses Gameplay Mechanics From Nintendo's Pikmin Series

Super Mario isn't the only clear Nintendo influence found in Astro Bot, as it also draws inspiration from Pikmin, from both a gameplay and a premise standpoint. The first Pikmin game saw Captain Olimar's ship crash-landing on an unknown planet. From there, players were required to befriend creatures on the planet called "Pikmin," and gather the parts of Captain Olimar's ship with their help. In Astro Bot, the bots' ship is torn apart by a strange alien, scattering pieces of it and its bots all over the galaxy. Players must then gather the remaining pieces at the Crash Site after rescuing bots from each world.

Pikmin is even more clearly seen in the way the Crash Site is navigated in Astro Bot, as players seek out obstacles that require the help of a certain number of bots. Upon approaching one of these obstacles and pressing the action button, Astro Bot summons the required number of bots with a whistle, just as Pikmin's protagonist does to rally Pikmin. There are also hints of other Nintendo games found in Astro Bot, like Animal Crossing and Splatoon, further proving the undeniable impact Nintendo has had on the gaming industry. If Sony can't even avoid being inspired by Nintendo in a game that's supposed to be about Sony, that says something.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image