Sony has said there’ll never be another VR Astro Bot game but maybe that doesn’t matter when you have indie homages as good as this.
There’s something incredibly compelling about VR games, the best ones transporting you to alternate worlds in a way that watching games on a TV several metres away never can. Taking advantage of the uncanny impression of being there, a lot of developers understandably make first person games, but some of the most successfully immersive VR games are actually third person.
Max Mustard is one of them, giving you control over the Chucky-sized Max as she runs, jumps, and hops on the heads of enemies, while you drift along behind her, able to take in the scale and beauty of the game’s shiny, pin sharp worlds as they animate around you. You’ll also follow her on brief log flume-style downhill sections, which are always careful to move slowly enough not to cause motion sickness for players unused to the medium.
This is a platformer that’s clearly been inspired by PlayStation VR game Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. The cheerful colours, jet-booted protagonist, and a lot of level mechanics are almost identical in Max Mustard, making it feel immediately familiar. Originally released on Meta Quest back in March, its appearance on PlayStation VR2 is especially welcome, given Sony has said there is ‘no chance’ of another VR Astro Bot game. The new Astro Bot is great but Mad Mustard is the closest thing to a spiritual sequel for Rescue Mission.
First impressions are very strong indeed. After watching Max run over a giant brain-in-a-jar with robotic octopus tentacles, you wind up in her flying camper van with the game’s first world spread out on the tabletop in front of you, its smorgasbord of miniature multicoloured levels looking like a modern take on Super Mario World.
Each of Max’s four worlds is a network of levels eventually leading to a boss. Like Astro Bot, your own presence in each level goes beyond simply controlling its hero. You’ll also be called upon to use two guns, one of which fires toy darts, the other creating a cone of suction that lets you activate windmills that move platforms or hoover up enemies and nearby coin-producing fruit.
Those coins, which you also find strewn around levels and left behind by dispatched enemies, are used in each world’s shop. They let you upgrade Max with a longer boost from her boots, faster running speed, more coins from enemies, and a plethora of other incremental buffs. You don’t particularly need any of them but it adds a bit of extra spice, and makes its more challenging levels approachable – not that any is nearly as tricky as Mario’s more challenging moments.
There are also levels that eschew platforming entirely in favour of coin frenzies, where Max collects as much gold as possible against the clock; as well as shooting galleries where you fire at targets or, in one case, swooping space invaders. While brief, these interludes demonstrate how refined the game’s aiming mechanics are, with the guns looking and feeling rock solid, their aim near perfectly predictable. It makes you wonder why there aren’t more The House Of The Dead-alikes in VR, because the combination of intuitive aiming and sense of genuine peril work brilliantly together.
Most of the time though, Max is exploring beautifully rendered landscapes that float magically in the air, with sheer, bottomless drops on every side. We have to admit to the odd palm-sweating moment hopping between moving platforms, while being fired on by enemies, but generally it’s a charming environment that feels great to spend time in.
While it does borrow wholesale from Mario and Astro Bot, there’s still a delight in discovering where you’ll end up next. There are inevitably lava, space, and river levels, but there’s so much more, from one with cloud trampolines that bounce Max high into the air while you avoid rotating spiky barriers, to a Frogger level with logs to jump between on rivers, and fleets of mine carts to avoid rather than conventional traffic.
There’s not much enemy variety but the inventive level design helps to make up for that. However, you will find yourself regularly jumping on the heads of beasts that look like a cross between Minions and Ewoks, making it all the more satisfying to end them. The fact that the game dresses them up in fuzzy felt crocodile outfits in the Frogger level is just one example of its winning attention to detail.
The slight problem with its choice of inspirations is that you can’t help comparing it to them, and there’s no way it can ever match up. There’s nothing in the world that comes close to Super Mario, and so far, at least, nothing on PlayStation to compete with Astro Bot in or out of VR, even if Max does a great job of trying.
Max Mustard gets a lot of things just right, most notably the feel of controlling the heroine, whose jump physics and blasts of rocket boot have a great sense of weight and momentum. Making mistakes is always your fault, rather than a problem of wobbly mechanics. The art style is also delightful throughout, even if, again, it’s not terribly original.
It’s fair to say that Max Mustard does have one massive advantage over the six-year-old Astro Bot: Rescue Mission: it’s something you can actually play on the PlayStation VR2. It may be derivative, but it’s also clearly a labour of love, its polished mechanics and glorious scenery making for a lovely four or five hours of VR escapism.
Max Mustard review summary
In Short: Colourful VR platforming in the style of Astro Bot: Rescue Mission and while it can’t quite live up to its obvious inspirations it does come surprisingly close.
Pros: Highly polished throughout, with jaunty music and scenery. Imaginative set pieces and continually changing level design, with some light replayability for completists.
Cons: Borrows wholesale from Astro Bot and Mario (admittedly the world’s two best platformers) and could have done with a few more levels, although the price does reflect that.
Score: 7/10
Formats: PlayStation VR2 (reviewed), PC, and Meta Quest 2 and 3
Price: £21.99
Publisher: Toast Interactive
Developer: Toast Interactive
Release Date: 2nd October 2024 (PC TBA)
Age Rating: 3
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