Gato Roboto Review

Game Type: Single-player
Platform: PC w/ Xbox One controller 
Also available on: Nintendo Switch
Time to beat: about 3 hours

The game starts with an intrepid adventurer in his spaceship, responding to an active distress signal from an abandoned planet. On descent, his faithful companion and cat jumps on the controls, sending them into a dive and crashing into the planet’s surface. The adventurer survives, but is pinned to his seat, able to use his radio, but losing blood fast. He must rely on his trusty Kitty to find help fast, hoping his encouragement and guidance is enough to save him and whoever is in distress on the planet. Took me about 3 hours to beat.

Graphics and Tone: The 2D platforming world in Gato is monochromatic pixel art, so just a black background with white pixels making up the various obstacles and enemies on the planet. Despite being mortally wounded, the adventurer’s dialogue with Kitty is always punctuated with semi-serious humor, mostly poking fun at the fact that a cat is the hero of the story. Made even funnier is the fact that Kitty can equip a mechanical suit that can blast through enemies and obstacles with ease. A cat face on your heads-up display let’s you know how Kitty is doing at any given time. Characters you meet trade jokes with you or are jokes themselves, keeping the light atmosphere of the already goofy game right where it needs to be. 

Mechanics: Gato is a blatant Metroidvania, and it adheres to its heritage well. You are limited to just jumping around and climbing walls at first, but when you find the suit you slide right into those traditional jump, gun, and dodge patterns. Enemies are varied so that they are challenging as a cat, but manageable in your mech. New abilities for your mech allow you to reach new areas of the map, but there are some places you mech can’t reach. These sections of the game force Kitty out of the suit to explore, leading to some tense moments. 

What I liked about the game: This game feels so smooth to play. Despite the black and white pixel art style, the animations brings the pixels to life as they bounce away from an exploding rocket or land hard after a big jump. In addition, the responsive controls give the player a very streamlined experience. Especially in a platforming game, if the simple act of moving around feels good, the whole experience of playing the game is much more enjoyable. Gato shines in how few obstacles are set in between the player and playing the game. Saving is super quick and heals your mech. Transitions between levels are smooth, and text conversations can be scrolled through extremely fast to just get on with the action.

What I didn’t like about the game: In Metroidvania style games, a big part of the exploration is finding secrets and power-ups hidden throughout the world. Gato did have these in the form of health and missile upgrades, but the only other treasures to find are different color filters to play the game with. The new colors are fun, but feel much less rewarding than health or ammo, or a new ability.

What made the game great for me: Despite some slightly underwhelming treasures, the focus on the minimal mechanics and settings is Gato’s greatest strength.  The commitment to crafting the game so those few mechanics are allowed to complement the exploration and gameplay shows a lot of restraint by the creators. The extent of what the mechanics could do felt great. Nothing got stale, I never got bored or tired of jumping around, and by giving each new mechanic time to shine, the game felt complete at the end. 

What ruined the game for me: Not a thing. The world is just as big as it needs to be to take advantage of the mechanics it uses. 

Overall: Fantastic little game for the price, recommended as a good palate cleanser between bigger games. A no-frills breath of fresh air for those who enjoyed Metroid growing up. 

That feeling: Coming home from playing outside all morning as a kid, and your mom handing you a ham and cheese sandwich and a glass of lemonade for lunch. The meal is simple, refreshing, and reminder that even a small thing made with love is sometimes the best of all.