The 20 Most Obscure Unlockable Characters in Astro Bot

Aspirational Cat & Streetwise Cat

Unless you know how Sony operates in Japan or at least know a fair amount of PlayStation history, you probably didn’t recognize these two adorable kitties. Toro and Kuro have longed served as the Japanese mascots for not just PlayStation, but Sony as a whole. And if you have been playing PlayStation games for the past decade or so, you’ve probably seen these two already and not even realized. Before “Astro Bot”, Toro and Kuro did appear in “PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale” and, strangely enough, “Street Fighter X Tekken”. You may have even spotted one of them in “Hot Shots Golf” or “LittleBigPlanet”!

Racing Model

We already have a couple of racing game reps in “Astro Bot”, most notably “WipeOut” with five different racers and “Gran Turismo” if you saved that bot in “Astro’s Playroom”. But who is this lady playing with an RC car? Why, that is Reiko Nagase, the longtime bodacious face of the “Ridge Racer” franchise! Sadly, “Ridge Racer” has not been relevant since “Ridge Racer Unbounded" in 2012, which many fans scrutinized for trying to copy “Burnout” with its heavier focus on road rage and demolition. The only games to have come out since were two mobile games released in 2013 and 2016. Since then, “Ridge Racer” has faded into obscurity, and in a world where “Gran Turismo” and “Forza” dominate the racing sim and arcade racing subgenres, it’s hard to say if we’ll ever see “Ridge Racer” again outside of cameos in games like “Astro Bot”.

Dreamwalker

“Astro Bot” pays tribute to many vintage PS1 titles as we’ll see later on. But “Alundra”? That wasn’t on our bingo cards for “Astro Bot” cameos! “Alundra” was the very first game developed by Matrix Software in 1997, and it managed to sell more than one hundred thousand copies within its first month just from North America. Critics even compared the quality and imagination to Nintendo’s “The Legend of Zelda”. While we did see an “Alundra 2” in 1999, that was really the last we had seen of her. Alundra hasn’t really made her presence known since then, and Matrix Software has gone on to work on mobile ports of other games. Who knows, maybe this is the spark that will kick off a resurgence?

Magical Graffitist

If you had no idea who this bot was, we honestly can’t blame you. This struggling artist is Ash, and he hails from a PS4 exclusive that Sony themselves swept under the rug. “Concrete Genie” was an open world game that encouraged players to create their own friendly monsters to solve puzzles and navigate the world. Unfortunately, on the game’s launch day, Sony decided to drop news about the PlayStation 5, sucking up any and all attention “Concrete Genie” could have had. As a result, the game sold next to nothing, and developer Pixelopus was closed in 2023. This was only their second game, but it’s nice that the team’s legacy lives on through “Astro Bot”.

Creepy Sightjacker

Surprisingly, there are quite a number of M-rated games represented in “Astro Bot”, and one that was perhaps most surprising to see was “Siren”. When talking about horror games on PlayStation, “Siren” is rarely ever among the first for players to think about. But if you lived and breathed PlayStation 2 when it was out, this was one of the must-have games. The coolest part about these games was a unique mechanic this bot’s name references to, a mechanic dubbed “sightjacking”. This was your ultimate tool in avoiding monsters as it let you see the world from their perspective, cluing you in on where they might be hiding and waiting to ambush you. Even though “Siren” got a sequel in 2006 and a remake for PS3 in 2008, the franchise currently only exists in the form of a PS4 port that you can grab for ten bucks.

Dice Tumbler

The PS1 saw a ton of experimental titles coming out of the woodwork, and of them all, “Devil Dice”? That’s a really, REALLY deep cut! This was the very first game developed by Shift, Inc., a studio credited as working on games such as “Pokemon Legends: Arceus”, “Code Vein”, and the “God Eater” series. “Devil Dice” was an odd little puzzle game where you had to match dice with equal values in order to slowly reveal the board. While the game has received a few awards from gaming magazines that were around in 1998, “Devil Dice” has been largely forgotten with no sequels or ports having been made. Perhaps we’ll see it come to PS5 as a part of Sony’s initiative to bring their old games forward? At least “Astro Bot” has immortalized the game in some capacity.

Gifted Soul

Say what you will about Quantic Dream, but this one was worth pointing out. On the surface, it looks like “Astro Bot” included some random character from a long-forgotten Japan-only horror game or something. However, this is Jodie Holmes, the protagonist of the often-shunned “Beyond: Two Souls”. “Beyond” was arguably Quantic Dream’s most disliked game, many citing how Quantic failed to evolve from their flaws shown in previous games like “Heavy Rain” (which is also referenced in “Astro Bot”). The game was also swamped in controversy after explicit images of Jodie’s character model started making the rounds online, which led to Sony conducting an investigation into taking the images down and finding the person responsible. So, for a game that was so heavily plagued by negativity by the public, it’s kind of astonishing to see “Astro Bot” recognize this PS3 exclusive most would rather move on from.

Galactic Pirate

“Rogue Galaxy” was a beautiful RPG that very, very few folks from the PS2 days will remember, and if someone says they remember playing “Rogue Galaxy”...be suspicious. Before Jaster made his cameo here in “Astro Bot”, “Rogue Galaxy” was among the worst-selling PlayStation games in the platform’s history. The game never sold more than four hundred thousand units worldwide, and the director’s cut barely met a fraction of that. Sales data from the 2023 Insomniac leak even show that as of June 2023, “Rogue Galaxy” made only roughly fifty grand between its PS3 and PS4 ports. So, it’s surprising that even Team Asobi knew what a Jaster was. Look, story may not be its greatest strength, but some of you might really enjoy “Rogue Galaxy” for its gameplay and side quests. If you got a few bucks to spare, you can still get it on PSN.

Quiz Master

For a time, trivia games were popular on consoles like PS2 and PS3, and “Buzz!” was the biggest series in that genre! So if you played any of those games or even had the special controllers made specifically for those games, you probably recognized the titular host in “Astro Bot”! While we haven’t had a new installment since 2010, Buzz has cropped up in a couple of spots you may have seen him in such as “PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale” where he invades the Dreamscape stage and makes you answer trivia while fighting. Of course, we got to see a sizable rendition of the Buzz controller in “Astro’s Playroom” and even got a costume of the host in “LittleBigPlanet”. Hey, Sony - you clearly haven’t forgotten about him. Why not make “Buzz” one of your live service projects? Not all of us want to keep playing the new versions of “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy”.

Pup Pal & Pup Pal+

Oh, did you think only games were in “Astro Bot”? No, the Pup Pals are both references to Sony products known as “Sony Aibo”, and the only way you’d be able to grab these two is if you took some time to explore Safari Park. Chances are that you’d only recognize them if you grew up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. These robo-puppos came in during a period where digital pets were incredibly popular. However, popularity drastically declined in the mid-2000’s, prompting Sony to cease support for Aibo. It wasn’t until 2017 when Sony resurrected the Aibo brand with a new dog, the one “Astro Bot” has called “Pup Pal+”.

Unlucky Salaryman

Honestly, we got confused by this one and almost thought this was supposed to pay tribute to Shuhei Yoshida, one of PlayStation’s oldest and longest-serving executives who today, helps fund and curate indie titles as exclusives for Sony. On the contrary, unlocking this guy’s collectible quickly revealed that this is actually a character referencing the cult PS1 gem, “Incredible Crisis”. This was a game created from complete chaos as characters experienced a litany of odd situations as they simply tried to get ready for Grandma’s birthday. Like most Japan-centric PS1 titles, “Incredible Crisis” rarely gets a shoutout like the one it received from Team Asobi here. As for its developer, Polygon Magic, they have long moved on from this title and are still producing games today under their parent company, Future Institution Corporation, while running their own social media platform, Porimaji Games.

Forgotten Mascot

So, you now know about Toro and Kuro being Sony mascots in Japan. Well, then, who is this guy supposed to be? Well, this is Polygon Man, and the “Forgotten Mascot” misnomer is absolutely fitting for him. Polygon Man was a short-lived mascot made specifically to be the face of the original PlayStation console…and no one liked him! The public found Polygon Man to be more frightening than intended, and Sony quickly threw him away before perception could get any worse. It wasn’t until 2012 when Polygon Man was resurrected to serve as the final boss for “PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale”, and since his reappearance, he has now been accepted has a lost part of PlayStation history, a piece that we can joke about in a more lighthearted manner than before.

Classical Conductor

Unless you beat every level in the Lost Galaxy, you will never find this guy, and very, very few PlayStation will ever recognize this character. This character is Takt, the protagonist of the forgotten PS2 game, “Mad Maestro”! Rather than focus on a specific instrument like most music games at the time, “Mad Maestro” put you in charge of a whole orchestra and required a certain amount of pressure on the buttons and analog sticks to execute motions correctly. It was a bit brutal to play, too, as making too many mistakes could result in failure. Yeah, and we thought “PaRappa” was hard! Nevertheless, Takt has been lying dormant for well over a couple decades now, “Mad Maestro” being his only game and the only game he ever appeared in before “Astro Bot”. Maybe this is a sign that his game is being explored by internal teams to bring to PS5 in some capacity?

Urban Survivor

There are a surprising number of pets to collect between the Pup Pals, Spyro, and even the Shiba Inu from the recent puzzle game, “Humanity”. But what about this one, the random robo Pomeranian found in the Crash Site? Well, some PS3 owners know why this dog is in “Astro Bot”. One of the most overlooked titles we saw on PlayStation 3 was “Tokyo Jungle”. It was one of those rare survival games focused on the wildlife food chain, but set in a modern world where all of humanity vanished. The Pomeranian dog was one of your very first animals to play as you learned how to survive, repopulate, and potentially turn your species into the apex predator. Honestly, if Sony ever gets around to putting PS3 games on the PS5, we sincerely hope “Tokyo Jungle” is one of the first handful to be brought forward.

Guardian of Mankind

A good group of JRPGs got represented in “Astro Bot” like “Wild ARMS” and “Legend of Dragoon”. How many of you recognized the Guardian of Mankind, though? Don’t be ashamed - it took us a second before we realized who it was. This is Arc from the PS1 tactical RPG known as “Arc the Lad”. Once upon a time, this series was one of Sony’s biggest franchises, though development was handled by a different studio for almost every single game, gradually decreasing in quality with each entry. It’s almost the same story as “Ridge Racer” - great at one point, dipped over time until no one was interested anymore. The last time we saw Arc was in 2004 with “End of Darkness” before we got a remake on mobile platforms in 2018 from the original key talent behind the first “Arc the Lad”. Aside from that, the only game in the series that is widely available is the PS4 port of “Twilight of the Spirits”, the fourth game in the franchise.

Pure-Hearted Puppet

Bouncing back to the PlayStation 3 one last time, “Puppeteer” was a game from Japan Studio that sadly suffered a similar fate as “Concrete Genie” years prior. This platformer tasked players with using a magical pair of scissors to manipulate the environment, and almost no one played it. The reason? “Puppeteer” launched in September 2013, a mere two months before the launch of the PlayStation 4. Customers were too busy scrounging up and saving money to get the new console. Why would they get another new game for their soon-to-be-ancient hardware? Thankfully, Kutaro has not been left by the wayside, and he can live again through “Astro Bot”.

Puzzle Qube

The Puzzle Qube bot might look odd from a distance, but for those of us in our thirties or forties, a closer look brought back so many memories. Whether you experienced the full game back in 1997 or you tried out the unintentionally terrifying demo that had no music, “Intelligent Qube” was one of those niche corners of the PS1 many players forgot about or just never knew how to play. This game had you highlighting tiles in order to erase cubes from the board, and you had to erase all colored cubes before they reached the end. “Intelligent Qube” and its sequel, “Kurushi Final”, have been brought forward to PS5 within the last couple of years, so if you never got to play these games, we highly recommend you go try them out!

Malleable Motorist

Legendary PlayStation studio Polyphony Digital did have a life before “Gran Turismo”, back when they were an internal team at Japan Studio under the name Polys Entertainment. Originally, studio founder Kazunori Yamauchi believed that no one wanted to play a realistic racing game. And so, he and his team poured their efforts into making a racing game with cartoon physics. This little-known title was called “Motor Toon Grand Prix”, and it has never been acknowledged by Sony since the PS1 days. So, imagine our surprise when we were playing “Astro Bot” and found Malleable Motorist, who is dressed as the lead racer of the game, Captain Rock. You can even unlock Captain Rock’s car and watch him drive and bounce around in place!

Prodigious Chef

At first, we noticed some folks mistaking this funny little chef as a nod to “Overcooked”. Odd considering “Overcooked” hasn’t exactly had close ties with Sony in any way, shape, or form. No, this cooking connoisseur is a reference to a Japan-only PS1 game called “Ore no Ryouri”. Much like “Incredible Crisis”, this was a game with a frenetic feel as you filled out orders as quickly as possible before your customers lost their patience. If the footage you’re seeing looks familiar to you, then, hey there, fellow “Cook, Serve, Delicious!” fans! You have found the original title that would eventually serve as the inspiration for CSD. And yet, this small corner of PlayStation wasn’t the most obscure, the most random and unexpected character we encountered in “Astro Bot”.

Young Holidaymaker

Don’t recognize this one? Well, neither did we, at first! But hey, let’s go over the checklist, shall we? Ancient game from the first PlayStation console? Check. Only ever released in Japan? Check. Absolutely no acknowledgement from Sony in any way, shape, or form within the last decade? Check, check, check. “Boku no Natsuyasumi” was basically Sony’s own “Animal Crossing” where you play as a kid running around and catching bugs as you live out your summer vacation. While developer Millenium Kitchen is still around and making cozy games today, there hasn’t been another “Boku” game since 2009. The closest we’ve gotten to experiencing this game here in the West was 2023’s “Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid”, a spiritual successor to Boku that wasn’t even developed for PS4 or PS5 - it’s a Switch game! With life sims being more popular than ever thanks to “Animal Crossing” and “Stardew Valley”, how has Sony let “Boku” fade away instead of hiring Millenium Kitchen again so they can compete? Oh, well, at least “Astro Bot” has clearly remembered Sony’s Japanese roots.

What was the most surprising bot you found in “Astro Bot”? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!