Gato Roboto

🎮 Steam ⏳ 12 hours ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Charming Concept Twist #

This videogame is a short but charming Metroidvania with a unique twist: you play as a cat piloting a mech suit. Its black-and-white pixel art gives the game a retro look reminiscent of early handheld titles, and the tight controls make exploring and fighting enemies feel smooth and satisfying. Don’t get fooled by the nostalgic appeal of this title’s visuals, this game is a very high quality one, despite all it’s limitations and design choices.

Concise Gameplay Loop #

The gameplay loop alternates between blasting through areas in your powerful mech and slipping out as the vulnerable cat to access tight spaces, creating a fun balance of risk and reward. The game’s biggest strength is how concise it is, it respects your time by offering a complete, polished experience in just a few hours, with minimal backtracking and enough upgrades to keep progression interesting. And even though this game’s genre has a lot of titles with inflated hours due to the backtracking, the shorter interpretation of all this genre’s mechanics is still a very complete experience.

Small but Memorable #

However, there is no denying that brevity also means it lacks the depth and variety of larger Metroidvania titles, with simpler mechanics, limited exploration, and environments that can feel repetitive. Despite its small scale, it stands out for its style, humor, and straightforward design. It may not rival the genre’s heavyweights, but as a compact, playful adventure, it succeeds at delivering a memorable experience without overstaying its welcome. As a fan of the genre, I highly recommend not skipping this one, it is one of the best indie titles that I’ve played.