In the future, a spaceman is on patrol when he receives a distress call from the planet below.  Unfortunately, his pet cat Kiki jumps on the keyboard and causes the ship to crash.  The spaceman is trapped in the wreckage, but the cat escapes.  Now it’s up to Kiki the cat to explore the planet and find robot suits to defend herself and rescue her master in this retro styled 2-D action platformer.  The planet is a maze full of power-ups that will allow you to reach new areas, similar to games like Metroid.  So yeah, this is a “Metroidvania” title, or better yet, a “Meowtroidvania.”  It’s available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

Kiki herself is completely defenseless, and dies if you get hit once.  But she can climb up walls, fits into small spaces, and can swim, so there will be many times where you must explore as Kiki alone.  But luckily, you can find robot suits that allow Kiki to fight enemies and take more hits.  She can hop out of the mech at any time if need be, though.  As you explore the maze-like planet, you’ll find power-ups that upgrade Kiki’s mech suit.  These allow you to do things like break blocks with missiles, or do a spinning double jump similar to Samus’ Screw Attack from Metroid.  Using these power-ups, you’ll be able to explore more of the planet and fight bosses, including a pesky mouse with mech suits of his own!

You can view a handy map at all times, which is great.  And save points are littered about, and if you enter one without a mech suit, you’ll usually get another one as well.  Sometimes you can find special mech suits in the mazes that’ll help you out, like a submarine or stationary gunners.  Other hidden items to look for include health kits and other goodies.  This game is all in black and white, similar to retro computer games.  But some of the hidden items you can get can change the colors in case you want to mix things up.  One of them even changes your colors to be red and black, like a Virtual Boy!

Gato Roboto does have a few problems, though.  I felt the controls were a bit loosey goosey.  They weren’t bad, it’s just that other games like this, such as Metroid, do control much better.  The game is a bit more linear, but that might be a good thing for some if you hate backtracking.  While I do like the retro styled graphics as it made things easier to see and great in handheld mode, I can’t help but wonder if a splash of color might’ve helped the atmosphere.  Also, the game is very short.  I was able to beat it in four hours, and I don’t think there are any rewards or better endings for beating it faster.  Not any that I’m aware of anyway.  The game is also pretty hard, but it seemed to get easier as I progressed.  Even with these problems, the game did hold my interest all the way through, so it must’ve not have been that bad.  Plus the price is right at less than ten bucks.  So if you like Metroid-style games, you may want to give this one a try.

Kid Factor:

Gato Roboto is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  You can shoot alien frogs and other critters, but they just explode into black and white pixels, as do you when you run out of energy.  Reading skill is needed for the text, and younger gamers may find it a bit too difficult.

Tags: Game Reviews