As seen in Astro Bot: 10 PlayStation VIP Bot cameos and the games that inspired them

blog.playstation.com:

Having a blast with Astro Bot? I’m sure many of you are still working hard to rescue every last bot from the deepest reaches of space. I’m also sure that many of you have spotted a few PlayStation VIP bots that definitely look familiar… but maybe there are a few that you know you’ve seen before but either can’t quite remember where or are unaware of the historical context behind them. And maybe there are a couple that you don’t recall at all.

Astro Bot is packed with loving tributes to the global history and legacy of PlayStation spanning thirty years, so there were bound to be some deep cuts– so don’t feel too awkward if there’s a VIP you don’t recognize. What’s great is that, with a huge library of classic games available on PlayStation Store or PlayStation Plus Premium, it’s fun and easy to take an interactive history lesson to learn more about that oddball bot that caught your eye. Let’s take a look at some of the references of Astro Bot–and how you can play the games in the classic callbacks. 

Just when you thought you’d rounded up all those darn dirty apes forever, they’re up to their old tricks again in Astro Bot! Ape Escape was an action/adventure game released in 1999 that made use of the recently introduced DualShock controller on the original PlayStation console. You were tasked with rounding up a gaggle of intelligent (?) apes causing mischief throughout time, and the DualShock was crucial to this, allowing you careful movement to approach and capture the naughty monkeys. Apes On The Loose – the Ape Escape-themed level at the end of the Gorilla Nebula – apes (pun intended) this gameplay quite nicely, requiring you to strategize how to capture all the stage’s raucous primate-bots effectively. 

Play the original Ape Escape at PlayStation Store and as part of PlayStation Plus Premium. 

Released on the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in 2006, the strikingly colorful LocoRoco stood as one of the system’s marquee titles. The LocoRoco are a blob-like species