$7.99Gato Roboto A cat in heavy armor
Squeeze through tunnels as a cat, blast through an alien outpost in a mech suit, and save your stranded captain before the evening is over.
Is Gato Roboto worth it?
Gato Roboto is worth it if…
- you want a metroidvania you can finish in a few evenings
- you love cats, or at least the idea of one piloting a robot
- you grew up on NES-era action games and want that feel again
- you are new to the genre and want a friendly place to start
- you like games that get to the point, with no tutorials or filler dialogue
Screenshots
A cat, a mech, and one hit point
Kiki the cat has two ways to move through the world, and they feel completely different. In the mech suit you are a tank: jump, shoot, fire rockets, shrug off hits. Step out of it and you are a small animal with one life to spare, but you can climb any wall and swim, reaching places the bulky armor never could. The game keeps swapping the rhythm: a corridor of enemies for the mech, then a crack in the wall only Kiki fits through. Later you get a submarine for underwater stretches, and upgrades like a double jump and a dash that open up old areas in new ways. It plays fast and responsive, like the arcade classics it imitates.
A compact world full of secrets
The whole adventure takes place in the underground labyrinth of a deep space outpost, drawn in stark black-and-white pixel art. Even without color, you always know what is water and what will hurt you. The map is small and clean: no bloat, no endless backtracking, and the upgrades you need arrive quickly. Hidden rooms reward curiosity with health boosts, palette swaps and mech improvements, and later areas encourage clever use of your abilities, even sequence-breaking if you know what you are doing. Save points are placed generously and there is no lives counter, so a failed attempt costs you nothing but a moment.
How hard is it?
How hard is Gato Roboto?
Fair but challenging, is the short answer. Regular enemies are manageable, and the bosses each have their own attack patterns to learn, which is where the real fights are. There is no difficulty setting, and the game leans easy overall, though some late jumps ask for precision. Generous save points and no lives system mean you can retry as often as you like without losing ground. Extra health upgrades are easy to find and make a real difference.
Is it worth playing if you have never touched a metroidvania?
Yes, and it is often recommended exactly for that. The map is small and readable, objectives are clear, and there is no hand-holding or bloat to wade through. You get the full loop of the genre, exploring, finding upgrades, and unlocking paths you walked past earlier, in a compact form that respects your time. If you enjoy it, you will know whether the bigger classics are for you.
What is the story about?
Your captain has crash-landed and is trapped in his wrecked ship, so Kiki the cat takes the mech and heads into the alien underworld to rescue him. Along the way you uncover what happened in the outpost before you arrived, told through short, funny dialogue with a light tone throughout. It stays simple and never takes itself too seriously, though the ending has a small twist worth reaching.
Can you pet the cat, or at least make it meow?
You cannot pet Kiki, since you are Kiki. You can, however, press the meow button as often as you like, and there is no penalty for doing so. It serves no purpose in combat or exploration, which is exactly why it exists.
