Super Mario x Astro Bot
Image: Nintendo Life

There have been a lot of comparisons this year suggesting the PlayStation hit Astro Bot is more like a Super Mario or Nintendo game than a Sony one. With this in mind, it seems the game's director Nicolas Doucet might have finally put all of this debate to rest.

In a surprising moment during the 'Game of the Year' segment at this year's Game Awards, he took a moment to pay tribute to a few key inspirations...

Although his studio 'Team Asobi' is under the control of Sony, he acknowledged Super Mario Bros. and Nintendo for driving his passion and inspiring the entire team. Here's what he had to say, all whilst carefully avoiding actually saying the company's name.

"Last and not least...and I didn't plan to say it, but I'm going to say it anyway, you know platformers, you know PlayStation 30 years, and we made a platformer which is great - it's very nostalgic and fresh at the same time but let's not forget that even before PlayStation there were people making platformers. I remember I was a kid in 1989 Christmas, and I got a grey box, there was a game packed in, it was called Super Mario Bros. and it was really, really great - so we are in Japan, we are in Tokyo, they are in Kyoto, but I want to pay tribute to the company who really put like platformers and showed us innovation and quality consistently, and inspired us to actually make the game that we made...And I've managed not mention them, have you noticed? But you all know who they are"

Comparisons aside, Astro Bot is a magnificent 3D platformer that celebrates 30 years of PlayStation. Our friends at Push Square gave the game an "outstanding" ten out of ten stars when it arrived in September, labelling it one of the greatest platformers of all-time.

What are your thoughts about all of this? Have you played Astro Bot yourself yet? Let us know in the comments.