Gato Roboto

After receiving a distress call from an abandoned research facility, a star pilot decides to investigate. During the planetary entry, his cat jumps on the controls, causing a crash landing. With the pilot out of commission, it’s all up to his feline friend in a mech suite.

Gato Roboto is the distilled essence of a metroidvania, snack-sized. It plays all the hits you expect: a connected open world, finding upgrades to unlock previously untraversable paths and optional pickups to reward exploration. The combat is snappy and the movement satisfying. It doesn’t subvert genre tropes - it celebrates them. It doesn’t attempt to innovate for the sake of it - it is just an honest, hardworking, salt of the earth videogame.

If you are new to metroidvanias, this is a great title to get started with. You’ll “get” what the genre is all about. The journey from feeling overwhelmed and underpowered to becoming capable. The feeling of being lost subsiding to the joyous realization: “I know where to go next”. And the confidence that a lost fight only requires you to get up and try again.

If you are a veteran, you’ll find a very capable game that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It doesn’t really let you get lost and there is very little backtracking. Some of the later enemies are very spongy. Nitpicks aside, this is a great way to spend three hours on a weekend.