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Astro Bot has come a long way. Created by Tokyo-based developers Team Asobi, the character first arrived in 2013. The games rooma collection of augmented reality games that featured this adorable pint-sized bot living inside the DualShock 4 game controller. From there, Astro Bot became the star of the 2020s Astro’s game rooma free demo that came with every PS5 console to help players familiarize themselves with the new technology in a fun, interactive way.

Now the little mechanical guy is getting his first full-fledged platformer. Team Asobi announced the new title during PlayStation’s State of Play presentation on Thursday, and studio head Nicolas Doucet gave Entertainment Weekly exclusive information on what we can expect when the game launches on September 6th on PS5.

“We wanted to make a big game,” Doucet tells EW of the platformer with more than 80 different levels. “It’s really going up a notch — really a few notches — and having the big story of Astro. We call it Astro Bot because we take this as a new beginning. It’s a really, really big game. I think for us it’s the biggest game we’ve ever played.”

The premise centers around an accident that crashes Astro’s DualSense spacecraft (in the form of PlayStation gaming equipment) and scatters its parts across the universe. Now the bot must embark on a mission to find all the parts.

According to Doucet, there are 80 planets spread across six galaxies. One world, he explains, includes an island in the shape of a giant crab. Others, as seen in the announcement trailer released on Thursday, include other environments such as jungle, volcano and desert. “We really wanted to make sure the player had a refreshed experience every 10 minutes,” he says.

And similar to Astro’s game roomthere will be various bot versions of classic PlayStation characters to meet along the way, including Kratos from God of WarNathan Drake of UnchartedAloe from Horizon games, and the titular duo of Ratchet and Clank.

Behind the scenes, Doucet calls the game a “PlayStation fiesta” given that it’s packed with so many nods to all of PlayStation history. There’s even a bot version of PaRappa the Rapper, the canine hip-hop star first introduced in the 1990s. And this is no accident Astro Bot arrives during PlayStation’s annual 30th anniversary celebration.

“It’s kind of eye candy,” Doucet says of all the cameos. “There will be more. We’ll talk over time about what they mean for the game, but, yes, there will be a big reunion. There are many characters from the PlayStation universe crossing Astro’s path. It’s an Astro Bot story, of course, with Astro being the main character, but there are a lot of PlayStation characters playing a part.”

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However, it’s more than just characters from the vast PlayStation lexicon. Scenes from the trailer include the Whispy Woods tree from Kirby’s world, as well as Aladdina dark style gin that serves as a boss.

“I would say it’s pop culture in general in a very broad sense,” Doucette notes of these revelations. “That’s something we’ve always done as part of our games – look at iconic real-world inspirations, many from Hollywood movies or famous animations – and look at themes that really cross generations.”

It’s surreal that Team Asobi can now consider Astro Bot a hero on par with Kratos and all the other first-party PlayStation heavyweights that the new game features in some way. Doucet remembers how Astro’s game room “it was really about focusing on the PS5 and sharing what we could do with the controller.” He notes, “The appeal of the Astro and the way it resonated with people exceeded our expectations. At that point, we decided to make a big play.”

Don’t let the Easter eggs and Kratos cameo fool you. “The main effort has gone into creating Astro’s own game so that he can stand on his feet as a new PlayStation hero with good reputation and confidence,” adds Doucet. “But on top of that, there’s this whole veneer of nostalgia.”