Former Nintendo boss says "I have to admit it," Astro Bot "almost outdid Nintendo at its own game"

News
By published

High praise from the House of Mario

A little bot in a Gex costume adorably waving his arms as he watches TV with a bucket of popcorn on his lap. I hope nobody knocks it over
(Image credit: Team Asobi)

As anyone who has played it can attest, Astro Bot is a bit of a banger. I know it, you know it, and seemingly, the former president of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aimé, knows it, too.

The former Nintendo boss was once again co-hosting the New York Game Awards this week, which arguably means he'd inevitably speak about Team Asobi's throwback platformer. After all, it was up for four awards and even won the 'Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year' prize.

Given the House of Mario's own track record of platforming excellence, Fils-Aimé knows a thing or two about the genre, so the following playful comment was high praise, indeed. "I have to admit it," he said. "Astro Bot almost outdid Nintendo at its own game."

Alongside the top prize, Astro Bot also won the 'Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game' and the 'Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game.' That's hardly the only show Astro Bot has done well, with the platformer also doing well at the Golden Joysticks.

"Astro Bot doesn't just deliver on the promise and potential displayed in PS5 pack-in demo Astro's Playroom, but soars above and beyond to serve up a near-perfect platformer to rival – and possibly surpass – the best of Super Mario's Mushroom Kingdom romps," we said.

Clearly, we're just about on the same page as Fils-Aimé. Thankfully, given that Nintendo Switch 2 hype is amping this year, Ninty's right of platforming reply may not be all that far away.

Iain Harris
Iain Harris
News Editor, Games

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the games side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one side to play the hottest JRPG of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.