METROID WITH CATS AND ROBOTS.

I mean, that’s basically it. Gato Roboto is the purest Metroidvania I have played in a long time.

Lots of platforming and shooting. There’s the lab area, the lava area, the water area, etc. The upgrades are even the upgrades one sees in the classic Metroid games.

The story of Gato Roboto is that after answering a distress call, space soldier Gary accidentally crashes his ship and hurts himself, leaving his cat Kiki to do his job for him.

PLATFORMS: PC, SWITCH
MSRP: $7.99
PRICE I’D PAY: $7.99

Kiki doesn’t start with a suit of armor like Samus does. Instead Kiki is able to jump, swim, and fit in small areas, but is extremely vulnerable to damage. Once inside the armor, Kiki gains a health meter and the standard pulse gun, with health upgrades and various other Metroid staples. Similar to the classic Blaster Master, there will be times where Kiki has to ditch the armor to go explore the station.

There’s also access to a small submarine and turrets. They switch up the gameplay a bit and are used in interesting ways.

Exploration leads to bonus upgrades as well as palettes. Gato Roboto is presented in monochrome (simply black and white) but with the palettes, change the two colors around. The game is very similar in style to Minit in its presentation and to anyone who didn’t like how Minit looked,I can say that there is probably nothing here to change that opinion.

Bosses are the main thing that took me a while to beat. I would find myself dying a bit, but usually not unfairly. There is one boss that Kiki does without armor that was irritating due to having to not take a single hit, so that was hard and at times I found myself irritated with the controls, but overall I rarely had any issues with the game being unfair. I felt most deaths outside of that boss were my own fault.

The only issue with this game is that it is short. I finished the title in under four hours and while that’s not a criticism (especially when the price is under $10) it felt like there was going to be more and then there wasn’t. Honestly though, I suppose the desire for more is better. The other option is I grow tired and ask why my time is being wasted on gameplay that isn’t fun (see my Days Gone review).

Gato Roboto is a great game that is designed well. I just wish there was more. This better not be the last we see of Kiki. I could definitely have spent another three or more hours in the world of this Gato Roboto. I hope if a sequel comes around we get to see some different mech types and some more power ups, but for $8 I have to recommend this game. It’s bite-sized Metroid and that is the highest of compliments I can give.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Art style
  • Music
  • The gameplay is as good as Metroid
  • Unlockable palettes are a good addition
Bad
  • Just a little too short
  • Boss fought as Kiki without the suit was a pain
8.5
Great
Written by
Anthony is the resident Canadian. He enjoys his chicken wings hot and drinks way too much Coca-Cola. His first game experience was on his father's Master System and he is a loyal SEGA fanboy at heart.