The Best Console Launch Game of All Time

Script written by Ty Richardson

The Best Launch Game of All Time: Astro’s Playroom

Those of you familiar with what I post on Twitter and some of the videos we’ve put out recently will know I’ve vocally teased Sony and Burger King for the 1000-PS5 deal that occurred weeks before launch. To an extent, I personally believe this had a hand in the shortages we’ve been facing since launch. Well, somehow, it happened. I managed to finally get my hands on a PlayStation 5.

That being said, a couple of things real quick - “Miles Morales” should only be experienced on PS5, and “Demon’s Souls” is unbelievable.

However, there is one game in particular we’ll be analyzing today. In my first couple days with the machine, “Astro’s Playroom” was all I played and for good reason. There’s so much done right with this game that it raises the bar for what launch games should be. Or, assuming this is the last generation of consoles, what launch games SHOULD HAVE been.

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen of the internet! My name is Ty with MojoPlays, and this is the BEST Launch Game of All Time - “Astro’s Playroom” for the PlayStation 5!

Typical launch games serve as a simple tech demo or feature a collection of minigames with little or no direction as to what it wants to focus on. It may show off just the graphics, maybe touch on a small, neat feature, and provide an arcade-y experience. Sure, some of them have earned a spot in video game fame, but “Astro’s Playroom” has a more unique concept. As the titular and adorable robot, you’ll explore four different worlds based around the various improvements PS5 comes with. Throughout your journey, you’ll grab PlayStation Coins to use for a gacha machine, find hidden puzzle pieces, and traverse tricky areas to retrieve PlayStation-themed artifacts.

Yes, this is another 3D collectathon similar to “Banjo-Kazooie” and “Super Mario 64”, but the thing is that this is an entire game, a whole new adventure that utilizes the power of the PlayStation 5. That alone is better than just a generic collection of simple games. What’s funny is that “Astro’s Playroom” did start out as just a simple tech demo, and developer ASOBI supposedly went through eighty different iterations before this.

Even with origins like that, “tech” is still a big theme in “Astro’s Playroom”. As I mentioned a little bit ago, you’ll venture through four distinct worlds inspired by the power of PS5 - Memory Meadow, SSD Speedway, GPU Jungle, and Cooling Springs. These locations are not just beautiful to look at, but their themes also visually explain what each part of the console does. SSD Speedway is filled with other bots zooming around on rockets to signify the faster processing while GPU Jungle shows off by covering itself in various assets at once and rendering them all without struggle. Memory Meadow presents the PS5’s insanely fast load times with its unique transitions between segments. And Cooling Springs? ...I mean, it’s a beach with water physics and ice. Anyways, this was a heck of a way to introduce the player to their new machine without throwing a mess of technical jargon at them. It properly shows you what your console is capable of and does so in fun ways.


Of course, the PS5 isn’t the only one in the spotlight here. “Astro’s Playroom” places just as much focus on the DualSense controller as it does on the console. Let me tell you, I didn’t believe the technical capabilities of the DualSense controller at first. The game replicates almost every possible feeling in your controller. You can feel raindrops hitting your umbrella hat, colossal enemies hitting the ground, strong winds, walking through mud, the resistance of water as you swim - it’s incredible.

Just when I thought the DualSense couldn’t be any more of a technical marvel, “Astro’s Playroom” demonstrated its unique adaptive triggers. Not to downplay the Xbox Series X/S controller, but I have yet to experience anything like this on the platform. I’ve felt the impact of using weapons through vibrations within the triggers. However, “Astro’s Playroom” displays how its adaptive triggers function in a handful of ways. You’ll feel the resistance in pulling a bow, the impact of firing a toy chaingun, and the blast in launching a small rocketship. It’s something that adds to the immersion, which is part of what makes “Astro’s Playroom” such a magnificent tech demo.

Now, on the surface, it seems like I could be making a big deal about nothing, that I’m simply hyped about a tech demo doing something that a tech demo is meant to do. The thing is that we haven’t really seen one this unique since the days of the Nintendo Wii. Even before then, we didn’t have something like this. Sure, “F-Zero” shows the advancements the SNES brought with it, but that’s really all it did. As for the Wii, we were graced with the one game that got everyone playing the system - “Wii Sports”.

All due respect, “Wii Sports” was and still is a fantastic game. Admittedly, it’s nothing exceptional in the grand scheme of things, just a simple sports sim consisting of baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, and boxing. What made it so special, though, was the timing. Motion controls were not yet refined in the gaming landscape nor were they commercially available. If anyone attempted it, it was usually with half the effort and quality Nintendo put into their system, or it was simply too expensive for a company to be interested in. So, when Nintendo began placing kiosks in malls, you better believe folks were crowding every booth possible. I, myself, distinctly remember a time where I could barely get around the kiosk because of how many people were there.

“Wii Sports” was a product of its time and is still a simple, fun game to revisit every now and again. While it did show everyone what the Wii was all about, in the end, it didn’t do a heck of a lot to showcase the technical prowess, and we aren’t just talking graphically. Each of the five core modes utilizes swinging motions and not much else. We didn’t see the full potential of the Wii’s motion controls until other titles released such as “Wii Sports Resort”, which, thanks to the MotionPlus accessory, allowed the controller to be more accurate. Even then, very few titles supported the attachment. Don’t get us wrong - “Wii Sports” is a great game, but for a tech demo? It simply doesn’t do a lot outside of showing the novelty.

One last thing that “Astro’s Playroom” needs to be recognized for is how it celebrates the PlayStation ecosystem, culture, and history. There is a massive amount of love for the platform here that hasn’t been seen in any other launch game. Every minute of the game features an Easter egg referencing something from PlayStation’s history whether it be a piece of the environment or one of the many camera guys you’ll find. As someone who has been a fan of PlayStation since I was a little tyke, I was going insane seeing how many games I could name off from obvious references like “Jak & Daxter” and “God of War” to smaller titles like “Flower” and “Vib-ribbon”. Then, there’s a massive banner you’ll assemble over the course of the game that shows a massive timeline of PlayStation’s history. And lest we forget all the “artifacts” of PlayStation hardware dating all the way back to 1995. In other words, “Astro’s Playroom” isn’t just another tech demo - it’s a celebration of the brand’s 25-year history and of what the future will bring for the PS5.

Of all the launch games to have crossed my path, none have put a better light on their consoles than “Astro’s Playroom”. It’s a technical marvel with its breathtaking levels and impressive demonstration of the PS5, and it even focuses a good amount of its attention on the DualSense controller. On top of that, it’s an imaginative take on the PlayStation brand and pays an insane amount of respect to the games that came before. Honestly, I can’t think of any other title that not only throws a party for a console launch, but educates and informs its players on the company’s history. Really, if you manage to get a PS5, this is the first game you need to play. And that is why we’re naming “Astro’s Playroom” the Best Launch Game of All Time!