While many will say that there was a lot of anticipation going into The Game Awards last night, there was also a lot of dread. No, not just because of Geoff Keighley and the perceived “greatness” he always feels happens with his shows, but because of a singular category: Game of the Year. Long before the show even started, Keighley and his “panel of judges” made waves by noting how DLC would be allowed in the GOTY category if it was “worthy enough,” signaling to fans that it was likely to win the big award. Thankfully, Astro Bot got the award instead.
The collective sigh of relief from fans could be heard all around the internet, as they were seriously dreading the DLC title by FromSoftware getting the win over Astro’s title or the great original RPG from Atlus, which also won multiple awards last night. Astro’s title was seen as not only a masterpiece of a platforming title but one of the greatest 3D platforming games ever! It was compared to Mario’s iconic titles many times over, all the while being a celebration of 30 years of PlayStation games.
At The Game Awards, some of the crew from Team Asobi took to the stage to not only thank everyone who helped make the game or donated their legendary characters to the game but also took a beat to thank Nintendo. Funnily enough, the man in charge didn’t name Nintendo, but he noted that in 1989, he got a “gray box” with a certain title featuring the Mario Bros., and his life has been set since then.
He noted that the platforming genre is still alive today because of the teams at Nintendo and a few other studios, which is very true. You can see the influences from those games in Astro’s award-winning title, and that’s fine! Games are supposed to be about taking what worked in the past and then putting your own spin on them or seeing how you can take it to the next level.
Despite it not being the greatest sales success, everyone who’s played Astro Bot has adored it, and that’s why it’s the “Game of the Year” in many people’s minds, and just about everyone is celebrating it:
If this doesn’t help seal a true sequel for the game, nothing will. Oh, but you won’t have to wait for a sequel to enjoy the game more, as there are multiple updates featuring new levels out, and DLC is coming soon enough.
