What a strange nice quick Metroidvania. A very basic 3-4 hour Metroidvania borrowing a lot from Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission. Most of the game you are a cat in a mech, yes you read that right, but occasionally you have to leave the comfort of your mech to reach certain areas. When this happens you cannot damage enemies and you are insta killed by anything the hits you. It reminds me a lot of the zero suit mission in Metroid Zero Mission.
The music is catchy enough to not get old but nothing stellar. The art is all simply in black and white. One of the main collectibles are palette cassettes. You can change the screen to look more like an old gameboy or virtual boy.
While the game is fun it isn’t without flaws. The game is extremely floaty. By the time you get use to it the game is over since it is so short. While nothing in this game is difficult there is a sizeable noticeable difference in difficulty from the boss fights and the rest of the game. Once you learn the patterns it isn’t to bad but its a noticeable difference for sure.
Overall it is a good solid game and isn’t a bad way to spend a few hours when you want to try a quick Metroidvania.
Here’s where it landed on my Metroidvania list.
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/-metroidvanias-ive-played-ranked-/
The music is catchy enough to not get old but nothing stellar. The art is all simply in black and white. One of the main collectibles are palette cassettes. You can change the screen to look more like an old gameboy or virtual boy.
While the game is fun it isn’t without flaws. The game is extremely floaty. By the time you get use to it the game is over since it is so short. While nothing in this game is difficult there is a sizeable noticeable difference in difficulty from the boss fights and the rest of the game. Once you learn the patterns it isn’t to bad but its a noticeable difference for sure.
Overall it is a good solid game and isn’t a bad way to spend a few hours when you want to try a quick Metroidvania.
Here’s where it landed on my Metroidvania list.
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/-metroidvanias-ive-played-ranked-/
"Charm" is the word that defines this game. It features a fluid and nicely-crafted level design and progression in a homage to classic Metroid games, coated with a very simple artstyle that evokes its cuteness and weirdness since the beginning of the game. The story is nice enough but the difficulty spikes in the bosses took me by surprise.
Simplicity is the thing that can strum a chord, but it's up to you to add to the harmony.
There are many games out there that stun the player with amazing graphics, astute gameplay, and top-of-the-line stories. But yet as man stands as one of the most complex creatures Mother Earth graced, man finds itself immersed into the most… simple. There is nothing that caps the human mind, there is nothing our conscience cannot conceive; yet we do not paint the statues that stood time and history, we do not add color to the Mona Lisa. These pieces of historical art stood time because they refused to be complex, instead embracing simplicity. Gato Roboto is of course no Metroid Dread, it is no The Last of Us or Majora’s Mask. It is, in some sense, a grace of beauty in simplicity.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” - Da Vinci
Gato Roboto can be summed up in a simple sentence: You are a cat in a robot suit in a fun metroidvania. That’s it. There is no special gimmick, there is no incredible jaw-dropping story, there is only Kiki and the Robot Suit. As Kiki, I felt safe, I felt okay. This game is not a masterpiece, but it is to me. I am diagnosed with a multitude of mental illnesses. I, like many others, find a feeling of solidarity in things that make us happy, to distract us from the outside world. The year is 2021, Summer. I just got done with another year of high school. This was, in all regards, the worst summer, the worst 3 months of my life. I remembered, in those moments, I had a cute little game called Gato Roboto in my Steam library. Sure, I had already played it prior, yet I felt as though I should play through it again, just one short playthrough. That, of course, was not “one” short playthrough
“Nature is pleased with simplicity” - Isaac Newton
It became two, then three, then ten, then 15. I, right now, have most likely over 50 playthroughs not including speedruns of Gato Roboto. I have speedrunned, 100%’d, and randomized the game so many times that it would be a lie to say it is not the game most ingrained into my soul.
“Gato Roboto is the best game of all time” - Me :)
There are many games out there that stun the player with amazing graphics, astute gameplay, and top-of-the-line stories. But yet as man stands as one of the most complex creatures Mother Earth graced, man finds itself immersed into the most… simple. There is nothing that caps the human mind, there is nothing our conscience cannot conceive; yet we do not paint the statues that stood time and history, we do not add color to the Mona Lisa. These pieces of historical art stood time because they refused to be complex, instead embracing simplicity. Gato Roboto is of course no Metroid Dread, it is no The Last of Us or Majora’s Mask. It is, in some sense, a grace of beauty in simplicity.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” - Da Vinci
Gato Roboto can be summed up in a simple sentence: You are a cat in a robot suit in a fun metroidvania. That’s it. There is no special gimmick, there is no incredible jaw-dropping story, there is only Kiki and the Robot Suit. As Kiki, I felt safe, I felt okay. This game is not a masterpiece, but it is to me. I am diagnosed with a multitude of mental illnesses. I, like many others, find a feeling of solidarity in things that make us happy, to distract us from the outside world. The year is 2021, Summer. I just got done with another year of high school. This was, in all regards, the worst summer, the worst 3 months of my life. I remembered, in those moments, I had a cute little game called Gato Roboto in my Steam library. Sure, I had already played it prior, yet I felt as though I should play through it again, just one short playthrough. That, of course, was not “one” short playthrough
“Nature is pleased with simplicity” - Isaac Newton
It became two, then three, then ten, then 15. I, right now, have most likely over 50 playthroughs not including speedruns of Gato Roboto. I have speedrunned, 100%’d, and randomized the game so many times that it would be a lie to say it is not the game most ingrained into my soul.
“Gato Roboto is the best game of all time” - Me :)
Cute adventure with a kitty.
Very short map with so few routes;
still charming - wholesome not gritty.
One thing I found a bit shitty:
Battles with this damn, asshole mouse.
Very short map with so few routes;
still charming - wholesome not gritty.
One thing I found a bit shitty:
Battles with this damn, asshole mouse.
What a fantastic little metroidvania!
And boy I do mean little, going for 100% on my first play through took a little more than 3 hours, but what a fun 3 hours it was! Everything including the collectibles, movement, enemy variety, and music was absolutely awesome. While not a huge fan over the art style, the collectible palettes that let you change the the games two-toned colors to a different variety were an awesome and welcoming touch!
Though not many, the boss fights were very well designed but not difficult as long as you took time to learn the patterns, and varied greatly!
This game reminds me so much of Metroid: Zero Mission, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they took inspiration from that game. The sections where you must go without your mech is so similar to the zero suit section from that game, and though frustrating at some points, left me with a smile on my face.
The only downside to this game besides it being so short is the ending, which goes so quickly I was wondering if there were multiple endings and I somehow got the bad one. Even so, what can I expect from a game where you are a saw cat who is controlling a mech suit?
I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes metroidvanias, anyone who wants to get into them, and really anyone that enjoys 2D platformers!
And boy I do mean little, going for 100% on my first play through took a little more than 3 hours, but what a fun 3 hours it was! Everything including the collectibles, movement, enemy variety, and music was absolutely awesome. While not a huge fan over the art style, the collectible palettes that let you change the the games two-toned colors to a different variety were an awesome and welcoming touch!
Though not many, the boss fights were very well designed but not difficult as long as you took time to learn the patterns, and varied greatly!
This game reminds me so much of Metroid: Zero Mission, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they took inspiration from that game. The sections where you must go without your mech is so similar to the zero suit section from that game, and though frustrating at some points, left me with a smile on my face.
The only downside to this game besides it being so short is the ending, which goes so quickly I was wondering if there were multiple endings and I somehow got the bad one. Even so, what can I expect from a game where you are a saw cat who is controlling a mech suit?
I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes metroidvanias, anyone who wants to get into them, and really anyone that enjoys 2D platformers!
Curtinho, estiloso, divertido, engraçado, cheio de personalidade e desafiador na medida certa.
I hate Metroidvania. I cant take it no more.
Love when cats do cat things such as imploding micro-nuclear reactors.
Kibby : )
I love when games have level design that allows exploration by different sized characters. This one does that excellently, with the cat and mech based gameplay blending together seamlessly. I really liked how distinct the different zones felt, despite being limited by the low resolution and 1-bit palette.
Cute, fun little metroidvania. Pretty simple but I liked it a lot. I wish they'd done a bit more with other mechs than your main one, and maybe some out-of-mech upgrades, but it's a neat main gimmick that doesn't get old over the short playtime. Would be interested in a sequel that does more with this idea.
Mini Metroid with some really fun movement.
it's ok. a little short and easy i think. the game has the audacity to directly tell you to 100% while making the final cartridge hidden so deviously it's infamous
This review contains spoilers
What seems to be the key ingredient to succeeding with any new intellectual property? Put a fluffy little animal front and center. It could be a dog, rabbit, or even an alpaca to cater to that niche audience of irreverent hipsters and or the vital Latin-American demographic. But really, it’s best to stick with a domesticated creature, and which fluffy animal seems to have tapped into the collective consciousness the most efficiently? Cats. The little buggers have persisted as the dominant pet in the entertainment landscape. Also, there seems to be a prevailing trend of interest in putting furry animals in mechanical marvels like mech suits. Is it the dichotomy between the size of the cat and the mech that grasps people’s interests, or is it the pairing of something cute, organic, and mostly harmless with something horrifyingly cold and destructive? Whatever the core appeal is, indie Metroidvania title Gato Roboto shamelessly taps into this phenomenon by placing a cute little kitty in the most futuristic of kinetic death machines (and the clever wordplay in the title also grips that bankable Latin-American demographic as well. Nicely done). The question that remains is if Gato Roboto can still craft something of substance while showcasing this arguably cheap gimmick as the crux of its foundation.
Surprisingly, a cat piloting a mech suit as the premise for a game is an inspired decision. That is, it would be a downright laughable one if it were the premise of a game in any genre other than Metroidvania. It’s been well documented that Metroid’s primary influence is the iconic 1979 science-fiction horror film, Alien, hence the female protagonist persisting through the darkest crevices of a hostile space environment with indescribably terrifying creatures galore to contend with. While Ridley was an obvious case of main character syndrome in her respective horror film, she wasn’t the sole survivor from that mission like the annals of pop culture have often wrongfully noted. Lest we forget that an adorable orange tabby cat named Jones (nicknamed “Jonesy”) used his small size and his advanced cat-like nimbleness to evade the Xenomorph and escape with Ripley. Given that this cat managed to cross the proverbial finish line of survival with the movie’s only notable human character, I’d say that cats have proven themselves to be competent space warriors. Kiki, the eponymous “gato,” crashes her master Gary’s spacecraft on an alien planet after he receives a distress signal. As either a punishment for wrecking his ship and or an excuse to sit on his lazy ass and cheer from the sidelines, he tasks Kiki with trekking out to find the source of the dissonance.
Gato Roboto’s visual style presents an interesting idea. Many Metroidvania titles obviously ape the core design philosophy of Nintendo’s flagship science-fiction series, but Gato Roboto almost begs the question: “what if the Metroid series began with the first game’s protagonist as a mirror of Jones instead of Ripley?” Gato Roboto delves into this deep hypothetical with its intentionally minimalistic aesthetic. Most Metroidvania games are inspired by Super Metroid rather than its NES predecessor because the latter was so primitive that it would be more appropriate to refer to it as a treatment for the genre rather than a rough draft. Yet, one saving grace from the first Metroid game was that its rudimentary minimalism exuded the sparse eeriness of space effectively, even if it was inadvertent on the developer’s part. Before Gato Roboto, I had never played another Metroidvania game that tapped into this deferred aspect of Metroid’s makeup. However, Gato Roboto decided to approach this minimalistic factor from Metroid with black and white pixels, since 8-bit graphics had become kitsch in the years before its release. Nothing is prominently defined here on this space station Kiki finds herself, and the prevailing darkness of the background with the ghost-white properties of the foreground evokes that same sense of isolation and confusion as the first Metroid did.
Gato Roboto doesn’t only borrow assets from the first Metroid game. It seems that Gato Roboto has taken a helping from the underrated GBA title Metroid Fusion in how the game approaches its level progression. Similar to that game, the hub of the facility branches down to five distinctive areas: the aqueducts, the heater, the ventilation, and the incubator. The final path will take Kiki to the laboratory, but a sentient supercomputer will lock this area from Kiki until she completes the missions in the other ones. Each area is distinctive enough, but I remember criticizing Metroid Fusion for using this type of progression. I think that Gato Roboto can get away with this form of streamlined progression because it's a new IP, and it doesn’t have to meet the colossal standards that a pioneering icon like Metroid does. That, and the game never explicitly points to a direct objective on the map, spoon-feeding progress at every waking moment. Gato Roboto still respects the player’s intelligence and allows them to become acclimated to the Metroidvania staple of using the map as a consistent point of reference. If the game insisted on not having a map as a call back to the first Metroid game not having one, that would be a differently dreadful story. Also, like with any competent Metroidvania, exploration will also reward Kiki with health upgrades and cassette tapes that not only grant the player additional color pallets for the game’s graphics but a certain number of them can be traded for weapon upgrades.
Blaster Master, another NES contemporary to Metroid whose place as an early Metroidvania title is more contentiously disputed, is also an evident influence on Gato Roboto. Simply put, Kiki can exit the mech and roam around the grounds with her own gameplay mechanics like the protagonist of that game. Although Kiki might need to exit the mech to crawl through the tight spaces of ventilation shafts or prove that cats can swim if they are coaxed into it out of a desperate situation, leaving the suit behind comes with a severe caveat. Kiki’s naked state will render her completely vulnerable to enemy harm, and she’ll be decimated in one hit which sends the player back to the nearest save room. This dynamic between all three gameplay modes in Gato Roboto is a constant that shakes up the Metroidvania gameplay. The mech suit is the only one of these granted with consistent upgrades, but its capabilities never superseded the use of Kiki or the submarine mech used for underwater combat. Gato Roboto’s variation between the three modes is somewhat refreshing in a genre where one character gradually becomes the almighty being of power and traversal by the end with all upgrades on hand. Even with this dynamic dividing the aptness of the modes, Gato Roboto is still on the easier side of the spectrum thanks to save rooms being littered all over the facility.
Enemies in Gato Roboto are easily dealt with because they are all animals with weak defenses against laser blasts and rocket launches. However, there is one rat whose various machines serve as the game’s more formidable bosses. He appears with a new deadly device for each area, and his encounters are the only source of challenge the game provides. As the story progresses, the player becomes privy to how this mouse has the supernatural ability to talk and where his persistent vindictiveness for Kiki stems from, for it’s actually not just a cheeky point of subversion of predator and prey. Throughout the game, Kiki finds audio logs like Bioshock where a mad scientist details the struggle of preserving the life of his sick dog. Apparently, the beacon that sent Gary’s ship crashing down was a ruse from the mad scientist to enact his evil plan of swapping bodies with Gary, for his consciousness is currently trapped in the rat. After he succeeds with Gary, the mad scientist also has plans to swap his dog’s consciousness for Kikis. He fails in one epic final duel with Kiki, but Gary’s body is never recovered. Who knew a game starring a cat in a mech suit could also have an interesting plot with a sympathetic villain?
To conclude my thesis that wondered if Gato Roboto was more than the sum of its parts, the answer is a clear yes. Gato Roboto is an excitingly fun Metroidvania that harkens back to the genre’s minimal roots while presenting enough deviation from the genre’s tropes to craft something refreshing. Some may decry it’s too short and easier than most Metroidvanias, but I think the compact experience is more short and sweet than fleeting. It’s a game with a cat in a mech suit, for god’s sake. Lighten up and live a little.
------
Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
Surprisingly, a cat piloting a mech suit as the premise for a game is an inspired decision. That is, it would be a downright laughable one if it were the premise of a game in any genre other than Metroidvania. It’s been well documented that Metroid’s primary influence is the iconic 1979 science-fiction horror film, Alien, hence the female protagonist persisting through the darkest crevices of a hostile space environment with indescribably terrifying creatures galore to contend with. While Ridley was an obvious case of main character syndrome in her respective horror film, she wasn’t the sole survivor from that mission like the annals of pop culture have often wrongfully noted. Lest we forget that an adorable orange tabby cat named Jones (nicknamed “Jonesy”) used his small size and his advanced cat-like nimbleness to evade the Xenomorph and escape with Ripley. Given that this cat managed to cross the proverbial finish line of survival with the movie’s only notable human character, I’d say that cats have proven themselves to be competent space warriors. Kiki, the eponymous “gato,” crashes her master Gary’s spacecraft on an alien planet after he receives a distress signal. As either a punishment for wrecking his ship and or an excuse to sit on his lazy ass and cheer from the sidelines, he tasks Kiki with trekking out to find the source of the dissonance.
Gato Roboto’s visual style presents an interesting idea. Many Metroidvania titles obviously ape the core design philosophy of Nintendo’s flagship science-fiction series, but Gato Roboto almost begs the question: “what if the Metroid series began with the first game’s protagonist as a mirror of Jones instead of Ripley?” Gato Roboto delves into this deep hypothetical with its intentionally minimalistic aesthetic. Most Metroidvania games are inspired by Super Metroid rather than its NES predecessor because the latter was so primitive that it would be more appropriate to refer to it as a treatment for the genre rather than a rough draft. Yet, one saving grace from the first Metroid game was that its rudimentary minimalism exuded the sparse eeriness of space effectively, even if it was inadvertent on the developer’s part. Before Gato Roboto, I had never played another Metroidvania game that tapped into this deferred aspect of Metroid’s makeup. However, Gato Roboto decided to approach this minimalistic factor from Metroid with black and white pixels, since 8-bit graphics had become kitsch in the years before its release. Nothing is prominently defined here on this space station Kiki finds herself, and the prevailing darkness of the background with the ghost-white properties of the foreground evokes that same sense of isolation and confusion as the first Metroid did.
Gato Roboto doesn’t only borrow assets from the first Metroid game. It seems that Gato Roboto has taken a helping from the underrated GBA title Metroid Fusion in how the game approaches its level progression. Similar to that game, the hub of the facility branches down to five distinctive areas: the aqueducts, the heater, the ventilation, and the incubator. The final path will take Kiki to the laboratory, but a sentient supercomputer will lock this area from Kiki until she completes the missions in the other ones. Each area is distinctive enough, but I remember criticizing Metroid Fusion for using this type of progression. I think that Gato Roboto can get away with this form of streamlined progression because it's a new IP, and it doesn’t have to meet the colossal standards that a pioneering icon like Metroid does. That, and the game never explicitly points to a direct objective on the map, spoon-feeding progress at every waking moment. Gato Roboto still respects the player’s intelligence and allows them to become acclimated to the Metroidvania staple of using the map as a consistent point of reference. If the game insisted on not having a map as a call back to the first Metroid game not having one, that would be a differently dreadful story. Also, like with any competent Metroidvania, exploration will also reward Kiki with health upgrades and cassette tapes that not only grant the player additional color pallets for the game’s graphics but a certain number of them can be traded for weapon upgrades.
Blaster Master, another NES contemporary to Metroid whose place as an early Metroidvania title is more contentiously disputed, is also an evident influence on Gato Roboto. Simply put, Kiki can exit the mech and roam around the grounds with her own gameplay mechanics like the protagonist of that game. Although Kiki might need to exit the mech to crawl through the tight spaces of ventilation shafts or prove that cats can swim if they are coaxed into it out of a desperate situation, leaving the suit behind comes with a severe caveat. Kiki’s naked state will render her completely vulnerable to enemy harm, and she’ll be decimated in one hit which sends the player back to the nearest save room. This dynamic between all three gameplay modes in Gato Roboto is a constant that shakes up the Metroidvania gameplay. The mech suit is the only one of these granted with consistent upgrades, but its capabilities never superseded the use of Kiki or the submarine mech used for underwater combat. Gato Roboto’s variation between the three modes is somewhat refreshing in a genre where one character gradually becomes the almighty being of power and traversal by the end with all upgrades on hand. Even with this dynamic dividing the aptness of the modes, Gato Roboto is still on the easier side of the spectrum thanks to save rooms being littered all over the facility.
Enemies in Gato Roboto are easily dealt with because they are all animals with weak defenses against laser blasts and rocket launches. However, there is one rat whose various machines serve as the game’s more formidable bosses. He appears with a new deadly device for each area, and his encounters are the only source of challenge the game provides. As the story progresses, the player becomes privy to how this mouse has the supernatural ability to talk and where his persistent vindictiveness for Kiki stems from, for it’s actually not just a cheeky point of subversion of predator and prey. Throughout the game, Kiki finds audio logs like Bioshock where a mad scientist details the struggle of preserving the life of his sick dog. Apparently, the beacon that sent Gary’s ship crashing down was a ruse from the mad scientist to enact his evil plan of swapping bodies with Gary, for his consciousness is currently trapped in the rat. After he succeeds with Gary, the mad scientist also has plans to swap his dog’s consciousness for Kikis. He fails in one epic final duel with Kiki, but Gary’s body is never recovered. Who knew a game starring a cat in a mech suit could also have an interesting plot with a sympathetic villain?
To conclude my thesis that wondered if Gato Roboto was more than the sum of its parts, the answer is a clear yes. Gato Roboto is an excitingly fun Metroidvania that harkens back to the genre’s minimal roots while presenting enough deviation from the genre’s tropes to craft something refreshing. Some may decry it’s too short and easier than most Metroidvanias, but I think the compact experience is more short and sweet than fleeting. It’s a game with a cat in a mech suit, for god’s sake. Lighten up and live a little.
------
Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
Neat artstyle with the harsh monochrome pixel look and has some cool ideas with ability progression, but the movement is agonizingly slow for a Metroidvania (in my opinion one of the genres that needs a lot more versatile & quick movement) & a lot of points kind of hit a progression roadblock that was more annoying than a thinker. Decent-ish, don't pay too much for it.
Only 3 hours long? Fucking bullshit, this game should have been arbitrarily bloated out to the point of tedium
Short and sweet metroidvania. Any game with a cat as the player character is an easy win. I really like the color palettes as hidden pickups its nice playing in a different vibe every few minutes. The puzzles do a pretty good job of testing your skill/understanding of the mechanics as well. Beat it in just about 2 hours though with 78% items so it is REAL short.
A simple and short metroidvania that's not too difficult, so you'll clear it pretty easily. The soundtrack and visuals aren't anything special, and I do wish they gave you the phasing ability earlier (for better overall movement), but all in all I had a good time with this game.
Cute and neat visual style, but not much else. it's perfectly functional game, but it's very simple in its the designs, and maybe makes it a perfect introduction to the metroidvania genre, but as it is, it's nothing special on it's own.
Fun but frustrating. Bosses are very hard and you can't skip the dialogue.
The 2bit style is pretty and well made but it's sometimes hard to tell scenery from enemies.
Cat mechanics are clever.
It's fairly short, which is a plus, I got about halfway through but the Boss encounters are not fun for me. I cheesed the 2nd boss and gave up against the 3rd.
Metroidvania fans will probably enjoy this more.
The 2bit style is pretty and well made but it's sometimes hard to tell scenery from enemies.
Cat mechanics are clever.
It's fairly short, which is a plus, I got about halfway through but the Boss encounters are not fun for me. I cheesed the 2nd boss and gave up against the 3rd.
Metroidvania fans will probably enjoy this more.
Gato Roboto is a neat little cat-based Metroidvania-lite with a neat art style, kick-ass OST and really solid movement mechanics. While the game is a little too linear and is pretty short, this is still one of the more underrated entries into the genre. Perfect for when you have a free afternoon or evening.
8 / 10
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This was certainly one of the more pleasant gaming-related surprises I experienced this year. I picked up this game entirely on a whim after I saw some YouTuber briefly mention it and talked about how great the art was, and that the player character was a cat. Naturally, after the disappointment that was 2021’s Stray - in which you also ostensibly play as a cat, but only insofar that the character you’re controlling looks like a cat, and only very little in the way of actually simulating the experience of being a cat - I had to check it out. While Gato Roboto admittedly doesn’t really scratch the itch of making me feel like I’m a flesh-and-blood kitty either, it certainly is a whole lot more fun though.
I’ll admit right away that this game isn’t anything special in any capacity. This is no Hollow Knight or Blasphemous. It doesn’t have the best combat, nor does it have the best world design. Level design is solid enough, but once again, doesn’t blow my mind or anything. I probably wouldn’t even write this review if I didn’t feel like the game is being viewed a bit unfairly by a lot of die-hard fans of the MV genre who probably expected more out of this than it ever intended to deliver. It does have some surprisingly fun and polished movement mechanics, and above all, it has a lot of charm. At the end of the day it’s just a very cute and well made game.
The game begins with a cutscene of an astronaut/space marine named Gary and his cat flying around some solar system, when they spot a strange planet with conspicuous energy readings. Kiki, the little kitty, being the rascal she is, accidentally walks all over the buttons on the ship’s console, leading it to crash on the planet. The ship crash-lands right on top of some secret tech lab hidden beneath the surface. The pilot is seriously wounded, and sends out Kiki to go investigate the planet in his stead. Your first task is to find one of many pilot-able security mechs hidden throughout the lab, which leads me to the core gameplay mechanic here:
Kiki has 2 modes, one being her normal kitty form in which she can run around pretty fast, is very small (meaning she can fit through all sorts of crevices) and has the ability of climbing just about any wall, which includes the ability to wall jump. She cannot fight back or make use of other abilities though. This is where the other form becomes relevant, the security mech. It can shoot enemies, is a lot heavier than Kiki, and has actual health points. Kiki, other than the mech, dies in a single hit - which makes sense, seeing how she is a small cat. It can also add multiple abilities to its repertoire, like shooting missiles, surviving scorching heat, a double jump, a dash, etc. Standard stuff. Mechanically, it unsurprisingly feels like “kitty meets Metroid”. The suit controls fairly similar to Samus, especially towards the end when you have some mobility upgrades unlocked. That’s not the only inspiration it takes from the Metroid series. Obviously the fact that it’s structured like a MV is one thing, but the whole aesthetic of it, the music, the weapons, the enemies and most importantly, the feeling of being on a lost research station deep in space are all very Metroid-inspired. Kiki will often have to abandon her mech though, and sneak through some sections making use of her small stature. You will find a new suit any time you find a new save room, but you’re vulnerable the entire time you’re not in the suit, making for a very interesting gameplay loop that gives you a similar feeling of “oh thank god, I did it” in a similar way to finding one of Dark Souls’ bonfires.
Combat basically works exactly like Metroid as well, with you alternating between a normal energy gun and missiles, with the latter mostly used during boss fights. There are some cues it takes from other MVs too, like the dash ability for example. Platforming, naturally, also takes the bulk of its inspiration from Metroid, not only in the more obvious ways of copying the typical abilities, but also in the same way that Metroid games typically allow you to sequence break and/or speed run certain sections by grasping the many uses of certain abilities that the game doesn’t tell you about. For example: the missiles are of course mostly used for combat, but also allow you to rocket-jump by jumping right into the explosion for some extra height and reach. This lets you access some later-game upgrades a bit earlier than you’re supposed to. Sadly this doesn’t really make that much of a difference in the greater structure of the game, but it’s neat that the ability to sequence break some of the game with enough skill is in here at all.
Speaking of structure, let’s talk a bit about world layout and level design.
Overall, the layout of the world is kept fairly linearly. In fact, it’s so linear that calling this a “Metroidvania” could perhaps be seen as contentious. Of course, it does have the classic lock-and-key progression system built around acquiring new abilities, you have a winding, vertically stacked map that encourages exploration, and you also have backtracking to previous areas to find new stuff. That is pretty much it, however. There are no grand “AHA” moments about connecting two parts of the map, there are no cool creative shortcuts, no real secret areas and no alternate endings to unlock. It should be mentioned, given the obvious and heavy inspiration from Metroid in particular, that said series also had very linear world structures, especially Fusion and every game after that one.
Structurally, this map is built less like Super Metroid, SOTN or Hollow Knight, and more like one of most Souls-likes. In fact, the world layout is surprisingly similar to that of FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls. You have a starting area that serves mostly as a tutorial but does feature some stuff for you to find if you decide to come back later, which then leads to a central hub area that connects to all other remaining levels. That area is even called the “Nexus”, just like in Demon’s Souls. Other than Demon’s Souls however, Gato Roboto doesn’t allow you to pick between multiple paths, but rather makes you go through them in a linear progression once again, since areas you’re not supposed to be yet are gated from you via lack of certain abilities. While I understand that this was done so the difficulty and pacing made sense all the way until the end, it felt a little constrictive. Perhaps there are ways to sequence break certain parts of the game? I didn’t find any, even though I certainly tried to get into some areas before I was allowed to.
As for the actual areas; I have to admit I didn’t find them particularly memorable. Probably one of the biggest factors for that was which is paradoxically also one of the game’s coolest features; the ability to change the colour palette on the game on the fly. The pro’s of this obviously being: you get full control over this game’s hues and shades. It’s made all the better by the fact that these colour palettes come in the form of cartridges you can find across the map. I was particularly fond of the Goop, Port, Grape, Meowtrix and Coffee Stain modes. The flip side to this being that; if you don’t go out of your way to purposefully change the palette for each new area, they’re going to feel very samey. What’s worse is that I DID do just that, and I still can’t really tell them apart in my head. Of course, colours aren’t the only important part of a level’s aesthetics, the actual design/layout and individual art direction also determines a large part of it. And I would say that the game does a good-enough job in distinguishing the areas gameplay wise.
The first level after the Nexus, the Aqueduct, probably fares best with introducing new, interesting gameplay concepts. As a matter of fact, it’s the only area to introduce and entirely new game mode; the submarine. Trading her mech in for a sub, Kiki can now swim underwater and progress through areas that way. The sub has less health than the mech, but the mech can’t swim in water, obviously. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Gato Roboto’s levels is that all of them (or at least, I think so?) have 2 states. In this case, the Aqueduct is flooded first, requiring you to constantly switch between cat, mech and sub, to then later drain the water, making it much more accessible and allowing you to traverse most of it in your trusty mech. In this case, you’re required to activate three separate drains to allow the system to clear the flooded halls. Every area also obviously features a big boss battle by the end, but I’ll get to that a bit later. Beating this level awards us the spin jump ability, which - just like in Metroid - allows us to break through certain barriers.
The next area is called the “Heater Core”, and it’s exactly what you’d think. The gimmick here, obviously enough, is having to deal with extreme heat. First you’re required to find and disable 3 heater cores, which double as small mini-boss battles. This turns down the heat in many previously inaccessible rooms, letting you explore more until you eventually find a coolant module for your suit, allowing you to freely traverse the rest of the level. Gameplay wise, I think this area was perhaps the most interesting. For beating this area, you’re awarded the “Phase” ability, which lets you dash through enemies and some obstacles, in this case some large walls of fire.
Next up is the Ventilation area which, as you might imagine, consists mostly of very narrow and tight passages, requiring you to mostly ditch your mech and let Kiki find her way through this claustrophobic maze. Since you have no way of fighting back without the suit, most challenges here are built around you avoiding damage entirely rather than combat. A big portion of this comes in the form of a lengthy mini-boss section in which you are chased around a big stretch of map by a bulldozer. The traversal gimmick in this level takes the form of certain ventilators which block you from progressing with huge gusts of wind, requiring you to shut them off. There is also an optional pick up here, the Big Shot module, which is a simple gun enhancement. While not necessary to beat the game, picking it up is definitely recommended.
Finally, the last stretch of the game comes in two halves; first the Incubator area which is a rather short section that’s mostly focused on combat and has a little mix of all previous level hazards here. The thing that makes it special is that it’s stacked to the brim with enemies in test tubes. It’s nothing too special, but there are some more optional pick ups here that are once again definitely recommended. After heading back to the Nexus one last time, it’s off to the final section of the game; the Laboratory.
This is where we should briefly catch up on this game’s story and boss fights. Well, more like boss fight, since we keep fighting the same boss over and over again.
I’ll give a little SPOILER WARNING for the endgame, bosses and conclusion to the story at this point, even if I don’t feel like the story really warrants that, but I don’t know how sensitive someone reading this might be.
This game’s repeating boss comes in the form of an evil mouse, which suspiciously has the ability to talk and comprehend human language. These fights are TOUGH. I would have probably criticised this game for being a bit too easy over all if it weren’t for these battles. The mouse controls different machines in every stage you find it. Every one of these is a multi-phased, fast paced bullet-hell style fight that requires you to be on your absolute A-game to beat them. While they are fun and surprisingly challenging, I would argue that the gap of difficulty between the main game and these boss fights is probably a bit too much. Nothing in the rest of the game prepares you for how rough these are. I will admit that they are thrilling and mechanically quite interesting though.
But just what - or who - is this mouse? If we explore thoroughly, we will come across some video logs from years back, when this station was still being used. On these logs we can find 2 characters in particular; some security guy and, more importantly, the resident scientist who worked on this station. If we find all the logs, we can piece together the story quite easily. The scientist, Otto, has been working on the station for years, but is socially extremely isolated from the rest of the crew, which is mostly made up of armed brutes and grunts. His only companion on this entire station is a little dog, which was initially just brought here as fodder for the autonomous mech suits. The dog is in very bad shape and close to death. He’s initially been given to Otto to fix him up and turn him into a killing machine, but Otto takes pity on the dog and desperately tries to keep it alive, finding a friend in the animal. Over time, his desperation turns into mad obsession, as he steals supplies from the military to keep Barkley (the name he gave the dog) alive. Eventually, the station experiences a big catacylism (I’m sorry, I forgot the details lol) and Otto is forced to transfer his consciousness into the body of a rat/mouse. Still, he is obsessed with keeping Barkley alive, and so hatches a plan to draw in people - like Gary and Kiki, for example. He plans to use Gary’s body to implant his own consciousness into it, and Kiki’s body to do the same with Barkley. During the final confrontation with the rat, it reveals itself as Otto and explains its plan to us. Somewhere along the way, it managed to kidnap Gary while we weren’t looking, and transfers himself into his body, making the final boss fight hit particularly hard, as we have to kill our friend’s body.
After a long and gruelling fight, Otto manages to destroy our suit, and all looks very bleak. We’re about to be transformed into a dog, when Kiki unknowlingly utters the passphrase to unlock the test tubes; “MEOW”. This releases Barkley from the tube, who then suddenly turns on his master, seemingly in strong disapproval of Otto’s actions. Barkley then proceeds to attack Otto/Gary, rendering him either dead or unconcious. After a brief, uh, “conversation” between the cat and the dog, both of them make their way to a secret escape pod, leaving everything behind, including Gary’s body. The game closes on a shot of the rat hanging on to the ship, giving the camera a cheeky little wink. It’s not clear whether or not this is Otto, or somehow Gary, who has been transformed into the rat by Otto. In either case, credits roll, and we’ve beaten AND 100%ed the game at around 3,5 - 4 hours. Or I did, at least. You could probably do it a lot faster than I.
Now, that is admittedly quite short for a game like this. But I honestly wouldn’t say that it’s TOO short. While I agree that the game’s individual moments probably could’ve used a little more room to breathe by making the areas a bit bigger, or more levels to explore could’ve added to the Metroid-esque feeling of uncovering a whole new world, I think the game just prioritised doing as much as possible with as little as possible. There isn’t an ounce of fat on this game, which is something that can’t be said about most Metroidvanias. Even my beloved Hollow Knight and Blasphemous have certain sections that can drag a little, this game has nothing of the sort. It keeps up its level of quality literally from the first minute right until the credits roll. That is a pretty hard thing to do in this genre of game, even if the game’s structure had to suffer a little. But this is a matter of preference more than a fixed law of game design or whatever. I would argue that this game goes for a certain thing and does it masterfully. Now, I will admit that an extra 1 or 2 hours probably wouldn’t have dragged the game down or made it worse in any capacity. At least, it’s certainly nothing I would be actively upset about. I was personally more disappointed by the lack of alternate paths to choose or serious endgame secrets than I was with the runtime. I can enjoy a short game if it’s good, especially if its this dense with content.
Before I end this review - which ultimately took me almost as long to write as it took to beat this game - I have to talk about the game’s OST, mostly because it didn’t really fit anywhere else in the text. It’s fantastic, unqiue, memorable and perhaps my favourite aspect about this game. While, once again, obviously taking some inspiration from Metroid, the influences range far wider than that, to straight up rave and dance music. The soundtrack slaps WAY harder than it has any right to. It’s tasteful, but also playful and funky enough to never get repetitive. It does sound something you’d hear on a proper German techno EP or something. Kinda reminds me of something you might hear on an Alan Backdrop, Monolake or Ben Klock record. It feels less like “video game music” than it feels like some legitimately sick electronic music. Definitely one of my favourite MV soundtracks to date, specifically for being so different and wild. The ambient pieces of music, like the Save Room or Landing Site tracks are spacey, mysterious and droney, and offer a great contrast to the driving, pumping kick drum laden techno tracks of the other levels.
So, in conclusion:
If you have a free afternoon or evening, and you’re a big fan of MVs or even just a well made, nicely polished action-platformer in which you can control a cat in a mech, give this one a try. It’s typically priced somewhere in the range of 5-8€, I even got it for 2. No matter what, I don’t think you’re gonna make much of a mistake in trying this out. Worst case, you spent 5€ on a mediocre experience, best case, you’re gonna love it.
8 / 10
8 / 10
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This was certainly one of the more pleasant gaming-related surprises I experienced this year. I picked up this game entirely on a whim after I saw some YouTuber briefly mention it and talked about how great the art was, and that the player character was a cat. Naturally, after the disappointment that was 2021’s Stray - in which you also ostensibly play as a cat, but only insofar that the character you’re controlling looks like a cat, and only very little in the way of actually simulating the experience of being a cat - I had to check it out. While Gato Roboto admittedly doesn’t really scratch the itch of making me feel like I’m a flesh-and-blood kitty either, it certainly is a whole lot more fun though.
I’ll admit right away that this game isn’t anything special in any capacity. This is no Hollow Knight or Blasphemous. It doesn’t have the best combat, nor does it have the best world design. Level design is solid enough, but once again, doesn’t blow my mind or anything. I probably wouldn’t even write this review if I didn’t feel like the game is being viewed a bit unfairly by a lot of die-hard fans of the MV genre who probably expected more out of this than it ever intended to deliver. It does have some surprisingly fun and polished movement mechanics, and above all, it has a lot of charm. At the end of the day it’s just a very cute and well made game.
The game begins with a cutscene of an astronaut/space marine named Gary and his cat flying around some solar system, when they spot a strange planet with conspicuous energy readings. Kiki, the little kitty, being the rascal she is, accidentally walks all over the buttons on the ship’s console, leading it to crash on the planet. The ship crash-lands right on top of some secret tech lab hidden beneath the surface. The pilot is seriously wounded, and sends out Kiki to go investigate the planet in his stead. Your first task is to find one of many pilot-able security mechs hidden throughout the lab, which leads me to the core gameplay mechanic here:
Kiki has 2 modes, one being her normal kitty form in which she can run around pretty fast, is very small (meaning she can fit through all sorts of crevices) and has the ability of climbing just about any wall, which includes the ability to wall jump. She cannot fight back or make use of other abilities though. This is where the other form becomes relevant, the security mech. It can shoot enemies, is a lot heavier than Kiki, and has actual health points. Kiki, other than the mech, dies in a single hit - which makes sense, seeing how she is a small cat. It can also add multiple abilities to its repertoire, like shooting missiles, surviving scorching heat, a double jump, a dash, etc. Standard stuff. Mechanically, it unsurprisingly feels like “kitty meets Metroid”. The suit controls fairly similar to Samus, especially towards the end when you have some mobility upgrades unlocked. That’s not the only inspiration it takes from the Metroid series. Obviously the fact that it’s structured like a MV is one thing, but the whole aesthetic of it, the music, the weapons, the enemies and most importantly, the feeling of being on a lost research station deep in space are all very Metroid-inspired. Kiki will often have to abandon her mech though, and sneak through some sections making use of her small stature. You will find a new suit any time you find a new save room, but you’re vulnerable the entire time you’re not in the suit, making for a very interesting gameplay loop that gives you a similar feeling of “oh thank god, I did it” in a similar way to finding one of Dark Souls’ bonfires.
Combat basically works exactly like Metroid as well, with you alternating between a normal energy gun and missiles, with the latter mostly used during boss fights. There are some cues it takes from other MVs too, like the dash ability for example. Platforming, naturally, also takes the bulk of its inspiration from Metroid, not only in the more obvious ways of copying the typical abilities, but also in the same way that Metroid games typically allow you to sequence break and/or speed run certain sections by grasping the many uses of certain abilities that the game doesn’t tell you about. For example: the missiles are of course mostly used for combat, but also allow you to rocket-jump by jumping right into the explosion for some extra height and reach. This lets you access some later-game upgrades a bit earlier than you’re supposed to. Sadly this doesn’t really make that much of a difference in the greater structure of the game, but it’s neat that the ability to sequence break some of the game with enough skill is in here at all.
Speaking of structure, let’s talk a bit about world layout and level design.
Overall, the layout of the world is kept fairly linearly. In fact, it’s so linear that calling this a “Metroidvania” could perhaps be seen as contentious. Of course, it does have the classic lock-and-key progression system built around acquiring new abilities, you have a winding, vertically stacked map that encourages exploration, and you also have backtracking to previous areas to find new stuff. That is pretty much it, however. There are no grand “AHA” moments about connecting two parts of the map, there are no cool creative shortcuts, no real secret areas and no alternate endings to unlock. It should be mentioned, given the obvious and heavy inspiration from Metroid in particular, that said series also had very linear world structures, especially Fusion and every game after that one.
Structurally, this map is built less like Super Metroid, SOTN or Hollow Knight, and more like one of most Souls-likes. In fact, the world layout is surprisingly similar to that of FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls. You have a starting area that serves mostly as a tutorial but does feature some stuff for you to find if you decide to come back later, which then leads to a central hub area that connects to all other remaining levels. That area is even called the “Nexus”, just like in Demon’s Souls. Other than Demon’s Souls however, Gato Roboto doesn’t allow you to pick between multiple paths, but rather makes you go through them in a linear progression once again, since areas you’re not supposed to be yet are gated from you via lack of certain abilities. While I understand that this was done so the difficulty and pacing made sense all the way until the end, it felt a little constrictive. Perhaps there are ways to sequence break certain parts of the game? I didn’t find any, even though I certainly tried to get into some areas before I was allowed to.
As for the actual areas; I have to admit I didn’t find them particularly memorable. Probably one of the biggest factors for that was which is paradoxically also one of the game’s coolest features; the ability to change the colour palette on the game on the fly. The pro’s of this obviously being: you get full control over this game’s hues and shades. It’s made all the better by the fact that these colour palettes come in the form of cartridges you can find across the map. I was particularly fond of the Goop, Port, Grape, Meowtrix and Coffee Stain modes. The flip side to this being that; if you don’t go out of your way to purposefully change the palette for each new area, they’re going to feel very samey. What’s worse is that I DID do just that, and I still can’t really tell them apart in my head. Of course, colours aren’t the only important part of a level’s aesthetics, the actual design/layout and individual art direction also determines a large part of it. And I would say that the game does a good-enough job in distinguishing the areas gameplay wise.
The first level after the Nexus, the Aqueduct, probably fares best with introducing new, interesting gameplay concepts. As a matter of fact, it’s the only area to introduce and entirely new game mode; the submarine. Trading her mech in for a sub, Kiki can now swim underwater and progress through areas that way. The sub has less health than the mech, but the mech can’t swim in water, obviously. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Gato Roboto’s levels is that all of them (or at least, I think so?) have 2 states. In this case, the Aqueduct is flooded first, requiring you to constantly switch between cat, mech and sub, to then later drain the water, making it much more accessible and allowing you to traverse most of it in your trusty mech. In this case, you’re required to activate three separate drains to allow the system to clear the flooded halls. Every area also obviously features a big boss battle by the end, but I’ll get to that a bit later. Beating this level awards us the spin jump ability, which - just like in Metroid - allows us to break through certain barriers.
The next area is called the “Heater Core”, and it’s exactly what you’d think. The gimmick here, obviously enough, is having to deal with extreme heat. First you’re required to find and disable 3 heater cores, which double as small mini-boss battles. This turns down the heat in many previously inaccessible rooms, letting you explore more until you eventually find a coolant module for your suit, allowing you to freely traverse the rest of the level. Gameplay wise, I think this area was perhaps the most interesting. For beating this area, you’re awarded the “Phase” ability, which lets you dash through enemies and some obstacles, in this case some large walls of fire.
Next up is the Ventilation area which, as you might imagine, consists mostly of very narrow and tight passages, requiring you to mostly ditch your mech and let Kiki find her way through this claustrophobic maze. Since you have no way of fighting back without the suit, most challenges here are built around you avoiding damage entirely rather than combat. A big portion of this comes in the form of a lengthy mini-boss section in which you are chased around a big stretch of map by a bulldozer. The traversal gimmick in this level takes the form of certain ventilators which block you from progressing with huge gusts of wind, requiring you to shut them off. There is also an optional pick up here, the Big Shot module, which is a simple gun enhancement. While not necessary to beat the game, picking it up is definitely recommended.
Finally, the last stretch of the game comes in two halves; first the Incubator area which is a rather short section that’s mostly focused on combat and has a little mix of all previous level hazards here. The thing that makes it special is that it’s stacked to the brim with enemies in test tubes. It’s nothing too special, but there are some more optional pick ups here that are once again definitely recommended. After heading back to the Nexus one last time, it’s off to the final section of the game; the Laboratory.
This is where we should briefly catch up on this game’s story and boss fights. Well, more like boss fight, since we keep fighting the same boss over and over again.
I’ll give a little SPOILER WARNING for the endgame, bosses and conclusion to the story at this point, even if I don’t feel like the story really warrants that, but I don’t know how sensitive someone reading this might be.
This game’s repeating boss comes in the form of an evil mouse, which suspiciously has the ability to talk and comprehend human language. These fights are TOUGH. I would have probably criticised this game for being a bit too easy over all if it weren’t for these battles. The mouse controls different machines in every stage you find it. Every one of these is a multi-phased, fast paced bullet-hell style fight that requires you to be on your absolute A-game to beat them. While they are fun and surprisingly challenging, I would argue that the gap of difficulty between the main game and these boss fights is probably a bit too much. Nothing in the rest of the game prepares you for how rough these are. I will admit that they are thrilling and mechanically quite interesting though.
But just what - or who - is this mouse? If we explore thoroughly, we will come across some video logs from years back, when this station was still being used. On these logs we can find 2 characters in particular; some security guy and, more importantly, the resident scientist who worked on this station. If we find all the logs, we can piece together the story quite easily. The scientist, Otto, has been working on the station for years, but is socially extremely isolated from the rest of the crew, which is mostly made up of armed brutes and grunts. His only companion on this entire station is a little dog, which was initially just brought here as fodder for the autonomous mech suits. The dog is in very bad shape and close to death. He’s initially been given to Otto to fix him up and turn him into a killing machine, but Otto takes pity on the dog and desperately tries to keep it alive, finding a friend in the animal. Over time, his desperation turns into mad obsession, as he steals supplies from the military to keep Barkley (the name he gave the dog) alive. Eventually, the station experiences a big catacylism (I’m sorry, I forgot the details lol) and Otto is forced to transfer his consciousness into the body of a rat/mouse. Still, he is obsessed with keeping Barkley alive, and so hatches a plan to draw in people - like Gary and Kiki, for example. He plans to use Gary’s body to implant his own consciousness into it, and Kiki’s body to do the same with Barkley. During the final confrontation with the rat, it reveals itself as Otto and explains its plan to us. Somewhere along the way, it managed to kidnap Gary while we weren’t looking, and transfers himself into his body, making the final boss fight hit particularly hard, as we have to kill our friend’s body.
After a long and gruelling fight, Otto manages to destroy our suit, and all looks very bleak. We’re about to be transformed into a dog, when Kiki unknowlingly utters the passphrase to unlock the test tubes; “MEOW”. This releases Barkley from the tube, who then suddenly turns on his master, seemingly in strong disapproval of Otto’s actions. Barkley then proceeds to attack Otto/Gary, rendering him either dead or unconcious. After a brief, uh, “conversation” between the cat and the dog, both of them make their way to a secret escape pod, leaving everything behind, including Gary’s body. The game closes on a shot of the rat hanging on to the ship, giving the camera a cheeky little wink. It’s not clear whether or not this is Otto, or somehow Gary, who has been transformed into the rat by Otto. In either case, credits roll, and we’ve beaten AND 100%ed the game at around 3,5 - 4 hours. Or I did, at least. You could probably do it a lot faster than I.
Now, that is admittedly quite short for a game like this. But I honestly wouldn’t say that it’s TOO short. While I agree that the game’s individual moments probably could’ve used a little more room to breathe by making the areas a bit bigger, or more levels to explore could’ve added to the Metroid-esque feeling of uncovering a whole new world, I think the game just prioritised doing as much as possible with as little as possible. There isn’t an ounce of fat on this game, which is something that can’t be said about most Metroidvanias. Even my beloved Hollow Knight and Blasphemous have certain sections that can drag a little, this game has nothing of the sort. It keeps up its level of quality literally from the first minute right until the credits roll. That is a pretty hard thing to do in this genre of game, even if the game’s structure had to suffer a little. But this is a matter of preference more than a fixed law of game design or whatever. I would argue that this game goes for a certain thing and does it masterfully. Now, I will admit that an extra 1 or 2 hours probably wouldn’t have dragged the game down or made it worse in any capacity. At least, it’s certainly nothing I would be actively upset about. I was personally more disappointed by the lack of alternate paths to choose or serious endgame secrets than I was with the runtime. I can enjoy a short game if it’s good, especially if its this dense with content.
Before I end this review - which ultimately took me almost as long to write as it took to beat this game - I have to talk about the game’s OST, mostly because it didn’t really fit anywhere else in the text. It’s fantastic, unqiue, memorable and perhaps my favourite aspect about this game. While, once again, obviously taking some inspiration from Metroid, the influences range far wider than that, to straight up rave and dance music. The soundtrack slaps WAY harder than it has any right to. It’s tasteful, but also playful and funky enough to never get repetitive. It does sound something you’d hear on a proper German techno EP or something. Kinda reminds me of something you might hear on an Alan Backdrop, Monolake or Ben Klock record. It feels less like “video game music” than it feels like some legitimately sick electronic music. Definitely one of my favourite MV soundtracks to date, specifically for being so different and wild. The ambient pieces of music, like the Save Room or Landing Site tracks are spacey, mysterious and droney, and offer a great contrast to the driving, pumping kick drum laden techno tracks of the other levels.
So, in conclusion:
If you have a free afternoon or evening, and you’re a big fan of MVs or even just a well made, nicely polished action-platformer in which you can control a cat in a mech, give this one a try. It’s typically priced somewhere in the range of 5-8€, I even got it for 2. No matter what, I don’t think you’re gonna make much of a mistake in trying this out. Worst case, you spent 5€ on a mediocre experience, best case, you’re gonna love it.
8 / 10
Cute little Metroidvania. Some of the earlier bosses are a little annoying (the submarine one in particular comes to mind), but they're not anything truly egregious.
GATO ROBOTO REVIEW
If Gato Roboto was specifically created for anyone in the world, it was me. I’m an avid cat fan, I love metroidvanias (though I’ve only played a few), and I devour short indie games. So, as you can imagine, I was VERY excited to dip into this - what is essentially a standard, 4 hour metroidvania, but with the novelty of getting to play as a cat in a mech suit. Is that feline MC biasing me a little bit here? Maybe. But, come on, there’s a dedicated meow button.
In all seriousness, I think that GR has a very solid game going underneath the gimmick. While it certainly isn’t anything groundbreaking, it’s a good way to spend a few hours. I even had fun speedrunning it.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 3.5/5
Overall game score: 3.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
Gato Roboto boasts simple, charming pixel art that fits the metroidvania genre well - but what really makes its visuals stand out is the two-tone color palette. It’s a unique, remarkably executed style that I enjoyed a lot. In fact, my favorite part of the game might be the collectible cassettes, which unlock other palettes beyond the default black and white. On top of just being a cool idea, it helps keep things fresh for the short playtime. They all look nice, too, though some are less usable than others due to the clashing colors.
The enemies and environments aren’t very memorable, but they get the job done. While it would’ve been nice to see this stuff fleshed out more, I understand that the lack of any color theory makes that more difficult. It certainly isn’t bad, at least.
The menu setup is easy to understand and appealing. I thought it was cute how the cat was the center of the power-up screen. I found the map very helpful, too, as a room isn’t added until you’ve actually entered it. This might be standard for the genre, I’m not sure, but I still appreciated it.
The cat is extremely cute. Best purrtagonist in history, maybe.
Overall, 4/5.
Sound:
While the music here is really cool. It provides amazing ambience. However, it’s also loopy and short. Like, ‘a lot of the tracks are only around a minute and a half’ short. I think it’s a great style, but that repetitiveness is definitely noticeable for me.
I feel like focusing on this area more would’ve really benefited the overall game. Distinct, longer pieces for different levels/boss fights would’ve helped set things apart in a way the visuals lack.
The sound effects are satisfying and distinct.
The cat's meow is very cute.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Story:
The story isn’t anything too special, but it’s enough to move everything along. I’m not a fan of these plots driven entirely by going from one place to the next, but I can’t say I expected much more here.
The writing and childlike humor actually made me chuckle a few times. I’m used to indie stuff like this having awful comedy, and while this one still isn’t AMAZING, it’s decent.
Overall, 2.5/5.
Gameplay:
Others have pointed out that Gato Roboto borrows heavily from the original Metroid. I personally can’t compare the two, but I would agree that GR’s mechanics are pretty typical for the genre. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun, though!
While I wasn’t a big fan of its platforming initially, the ball jump and dash upgrades made it a lot more enjoyable to get around the world. There were still a few times where room/enemy setups annoyed me, but it was never egregiously bad.
I wish that the shooting felt more powerful early on. It seems obsolete for a large chunk of the game, since the missile launcher is just a lot stronger. Still, the limits put on the missile launcher incentivize shooting every once and a while, and it does become much more useful once you finally get to upgrade it.
The boss fights were fun! I only wish they’d been more diverse in visual design. They’re still entertaining, though, and most of them have a unique enough gameplay gimmick where it doesn’t get repetitive while playing. I especially enjoyed them while speedrunning, where the challenge became to beat them as quickly as possible.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
As I’ve mentioned, a lot of the environments are hurt by the lack of color. They don’t really stand out from each other, despite being drastically different settings. It’s just a sacrifice made for the two-tone style, unfortunately. That’s why I think more music would’ve helped to pick up the slack.
I really like the collectibles/hidden upgrades, though. They’re not often difficult to get, but they’re rewarding. It makes the world feel a lot larger and worth paying attention to. What Gato Roboto lacks in ‘lore’ or environmental design, it makes up for with the exploration aspect of the gameplay.
There are some ‘audio’ logs, too. It’s a nice touch that adds to the plot a bit.
Overall, 3/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
A good chunk of the achievements are progression-based, but there are a few that require additional playthroughs. To my surprise, I actually really enjoyed replaying to get those. While it was frustrating at times, it wasn’t unmanageable.
One of them is for beating the game in under an hour. This took me a few attempts, but I eventually got it while streaming for my friends. It was a very satisfying moment, and it’s probably one of my favorite achievements I’ve earned as a result.
Overall, 4/5.
Overall game score: 3.5/5. Gato Roboto is an imperfect, but fun and precise little metroidvania with a lot of heart. While I wish there was a bigger soundtrack, and the story and environmental design are lacking, the unique visual presentation, good gameplay, and great exploration make up for it. It managed to keep me entertained for multiple playthroughs. Worth a try if you’re a fan of the genre.
If Gato Roboto was specifically created for anyone in the world, it was me. I’m an avid cat fan, I love metroidvanias (though I’ve only played a few), and I devour short indie games. So, as you can imagine, I was VERY excited to dip into this - what is essentially a standard, 4 hour metroidvania, but with the novelty of getting to play as a cat in a mech suit. Is that feline MC biasing me a little bit here? Maybe. But, come on, there’s a dedicated meow button.
In all seriousness, I think that GR has a very solid game going underneath the gimmick. While it certainly isn’t anything groundbreaking, it’s a good way to spend a few hours. I even had fun speedrunning it.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 3.5/5
Overall game score: 3.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
Gato Roboto boasts simple, charming pixel art that fits the metroidvania genre well - but what really makes its visuals stand out is the two-tone color palette. It’s a unique, remarkably executed style that I enjoyed a lot. In fact, my favorite part of the game might be the collectible cassettes, which unlock other palettes beyond the default black and white. On top of just being a cool idea, it helps keep things fresh for the short playtime. They all look nice, too, though some are less usable than others due to the clashing colors.
The enemies and environments aren’t very memorable, but they get the job done. While it would’ve been nice to see this stuff fleshed out more, I understand that the lack of any color theory makes that more difficult. It certainly isn’t bad, at least.
The menu setup is easy to understand and appealing. I thought it was cute how the cat was the center of the power-up screen. I found the map very helpful, too, as a room isn’t added until you’ve actually entered it. This might be standard for the genre, I’m not sure, but I still appreciated it.
The cat is extremely cute. Best purrtagonist in history, maybe.
Overall, 4/5.
Sound:
While the music here is really cool. It provides amazing ambience. However, it’s also loopy and short. Like, ‘a lot of the tracks are only around a minute and a half’ short. I think it’s a great style, but that repetitiveness is definitely noticeable for me.
I feel like focusing on this area more would’ve really benefited the overall game. Distinct, longer pieces for different levels/boss fights would’ve helped set things apart in a way the visuals lack.
The sound effects are satisfying and distinct.
The cat's meow is very cute.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Story:
The story isn’t anything too special, but it’s enough to move everything along. I’m not a fan of these plots driven entirely by going from one place to the next, but I can’t say I expected much more here.
The writing and childlike humor actually made me chuckle a few times. I’m used to indie stuff like this having awful comedy, and while this one still isn’t AMAZING, it’s decent.
Overall, 2.5/5.
Gameplay:
Others have pointed out that Gato Roboto borrows heavily from the original Metroid. I personally can’t compare the two, but I would agree that GR’s mechanics are pretty typical for the genre. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun, though!
While I wasn’t a big fan of its platforming initially, the ball jump and dash upgrades made it a lot more enjoyable to get around the world. There were still a few times where room/enemy setups annoyed me, but it was never egregiously bad.
I wish that the shooting felt more powerful early on. It seems obsolete for a large chunk of the game, since the missile launcher is just a lot stronger. Still, the limits put on the missile launcher incentivize shooting every once and a while, and it does become much more useful once you finally get to upgrade it.
The boss fights were fun! I only wish they’d been more diverse in visual design. They’re still entertaining, though, and most of them have a unique enough gameplay gimmick where it doesn’t get repetitive while playing. I especially enjoyed them while speedrunning, where the challenge became to beat them as quickly as possible.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
As I’ve mentioned, a lot of the environments are hurt by the lack of color. They don’t really stand out from each other, despite being drastically different settings. It’s just a sacrifice made for the two-tone style, unfortunately. That’s why I think more music would’ve helped to pick up the slack.
I really like the collectibles/hidden upgrades, though. They’re not often difficult to get, but they’re rewarding. It makes the world feel a lot larger and worth paying attention to. What Gato Roboto lacks in ‘lore’ or environmental design, it makes up for with the exploration aspect of the gameplay.
There are some ‘audio’ logs, too. It’s a nice touch that adds to the plot a bit.
Overall, 3/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
A good chunk of the achievements are progression-based, but there are a few that require additional playthroughs. To my surprise, I actually really enjoyed replaying to get those. While it was frustrating at times, it wasn’t unmanageable.
One of them is for beating the game in under an hour. This took me a few attempts, but I eventually got it while streaming for my friends. It was a very satisfying moment, and it’s probably one of my favorite achievements I’ve earned as a result.
Overall, 4/5.
Overall game score: 3.5/5. Gato Roboto is an imperfect, but fun and precise little metroidvania with a lot of heart. While I wish there was a bigger soundtrack, and the story and environmental design are lacking, the unique visual presentation, good gameplay, and great exploration make up for it. It managed to keep me entertained for multiple playthroughs. Worth a try if you’re a fan of the genre.
Nos mesmos moldes de Metroid, Gato Roboto é um excelente metroidvania, curtinho, dinâmico e bem divertido.
Com cerca de 3h pra finalizar em uma sentada, foi um dos melhores jogos que joguei no ano.
Com cerca de 3h pra finalizar em uma sentada, foi um dos melhores jogos que joguei no ano.
really solid linear metroidvania with a cat so like,, how could you hate it. movement felt really nice, the cat controls could have been a bit better, but thankfully not a lot of precise platforming had to be done outside of the suit. as previously mentioned it did feel very linear but it made up for that with its level design. still felt rewarding as a 'metroidvania' experience.
stray if it was a good game
Just good, clean fun in this little metroidvania romp starring a cat in a mech suit. A catroidvania, if you will. No? Fine. The game is quite good, though. Really nothing to complain about except that you always want a game this solid to be longer than the nearly exactly three hours it took me to beat it, and I think maybe the game really didn't need to have any difficulty at all so everyone could enjoy it. That one boss in the heating department is going to be a bit of a shocker for more inexperienced players. Outside of that oddly difficult boss, compared to everything else in the game, there really was no room or time to get bored and the game is a very enjoyable evening's worth of gaming.
Have to give a little shoutout to the hidden color schemes you can find, which is the game's only real collectible and reason to find secret rooms. If you told me that palette swaps for the game was the only thing to really find, I might not have bought it, but finding and enabling each visual theme as I found them was much more fun than I had ever thought it would be, even if some of them were kind of eye-burning. My favorite was, uh, the one named Urine. Though that's a final negative note; I don't really know why this cutesy game needed a bunch of color schemes named after things like piss and shit. Keep it cute, guys!
(Oh, and dog lovers needn't worry! A dog is a major part of the plot as well, and not as the villain. The villain is a mouse.)
Have to give a little shoutout to the hidden color schemes you can find, which is the game's only real collectible and reason to find secret rooms. If you told me that palette swaps for the game was the only thing to really find, I might not have bought it, but finding and enabling each visual theme as I found them was much more fun than I had ever thought it would be, even if some of them were kind of eye-burning. My favorite was, uh, the one named Urine. Though that's a final negative note; I don't really know why this cutesy game needed a bunch of color schemes named after things like piss and shit. Keep it cute, guys!
(Oh, and dog lovers needn't worry! A dog is a major part of the plot as well, and not as the villain. The villain is a mouse.)
Short, Fun, Simple, Cat
Fun, short little bite-sized metroidvania. Mostly on the easy side, but has these obnoxious difficulty spikes for the boss fights. Plus there's also an entire long sequence where you play as the cat out of your mech in which any hit is an instant kill. It expects a lot more from the player than any other part of the game, which led to me getting significantly more frustrated than I thought I would from a cute game like this. Doesn't help that the controls outside the mech are slippery as hell, so trying to do precision platforming often just feels awful.
Regardless, it's good. While in the mech, the controls are fine and there's a surprising amount of variety packed in such a small package. Just don't expect anything groundbreaking.
Regardless, it's good. While in the mech, the controls are fine and there's a surprising amount of variety packed in such a small package. Just don't expect anything groundbreaking.
A monochrome version of Metroid featuring a cute cat. Yup, that's pretty much it. Ok, it actually also features pet affection, an evil mouse and the fact that once you beat it, if you didn't get everything you have to replay it from the beginning... ugh.