Reviews: Gato Roboto
Spoiler free review of the game Gato Roboto played on the steam deck OLED.
About the game
Pounce inside of your cozy armored mech and set off on a dangerous trek through an alien underworld full of irritable creatures and treacherous obstacles in a valiant effort to save your stranded captain and his crashed spaceship.
Margot’s stats
Device: Steam Deck Oled
Difficulty: Can’t remember
Completed: yes - main story
Time: ~4 hours
Summary: Retro black and white pixel art side scrolling game. It has some metroidvania vibes and collectibles throughout. You play a cat in different robotic suits. What more do you need?
Score: 8.5/10
Narrative
The game’s story is pretty light, but in essence you crash land on a planet and need to help your trapped captain. On your search to help them, you use different robotic suits and platform around the world. The world is pretty old school/retro looking with black and white pixels but it kinda fitted the space theme for me and you may know by now that I have a soft spot for retro looking side scrollers.
I also have a soft spot for playing animals so this was very likely to be a winner.
Gameplay
The gameplay is pretty standard. You have some decent platforming challenges, light puzzles and combat. The combat evolves with the different robot suits you get to wear. It is really charming and fun. There are extra collectibles you can go after beyond the main story line as well, if you are a completionist and like those sorts of challenges.
A bit more unique is that to solve some of the puzzles you are required to take off your armour and explore as the cat itself, leaving you vulnerable but able to get to different areas. I liked this aspect as a lot. It added a unique aspect.
If you need more convincing, the main website gives a nice impression of the style and vibe of the game too.
https://gatoroboto.com
It is a great game for the steam deck and is also available for the switch. I don’t want to say much more as it is a great little game full of charm. And despite being a metroidvania, I don’t think it should put people off. To me it is more light touch metroidvania and actually really approachable. The world is reasonably open, but often levels have hints on the map to show you that you can go back to find a different way. This encourages some exploration and makes finding the collectibles a tiny bit easier.
Verdict 8.5/10
This is an inexpensive charming game, perfect for a handheld. While short it does deliver variety of to any gamer’s backlog. It reminds me of old school Game Boy games. After discovering the metroidvania genre, this was one of the first I played and it helped me through a dark time. It was engaging enough to let me switch off and each area / chapter brought something new which kept me wanting more. And you play as a cat wearing robot suits. That should really be enough to want to play the game.
Do you enjoy retro inspired side scroller games? Do you have a favourite?
Nice review! I went to watch the trailer and it looks really good, even though it has 1-bit graphics. Manic, energetic, and very modern.
I think that's the great thing about retro-style games today. Back then, games looked a certain way because of limitations. Now, developers can take those styles and make them pop in a new way.
Loved this game! I believe I was close to the end game but never completed it. This review convinced me to go back and finish it!