MEOWtroid

Gato Roboto is an adorable little Metroid clone with a cat in a power suit.

It has doors that you shoot to open; it has elevators connecting different sections of the map; it has ability upgrades that allow you to overcome progression obstacles, including a double-jump that looks a lot like the screw attack.

Sometimes you'll need to exit the suit and scamper through small tunnels or ventilation shafts ... kinda like morph-ball mode. Even the low-fidelity underground-laboratory aesthetic is highly evocative of Samus's early adventures.

So there's one problem: this game doesn't bring many new ideas to the table. Its cute theme and occasional humor - when a human monologues at the cat, and the cat just meows back - are pretty much all that separate it from Metroid II.

My other problem with Gato Roboto is that it is, at times, brutally difficult. A few enemy- and trap-filled gauntlets are frustratingly unforgiving, and one boss fight in particular is a maddening bullet hell with limited health and slippery movement.

Before the end, I went and got all the health upgrades and other collectibles, not because I "wanted" to 100%-complete the game; but because the upgrades felt necessary to keep up with the difficulty curve.

Gato Roboto is a perfectly competent Metroid-alike, but not much else. I enjoyed more of my 4-5 hours with it than not, and I like the game's cute personality, but too much of it feels like a tribute to Samus rather than an original creation.

Better than: Shantae: Risky's Revenge, Teslagrad
Not as good as: LaserCat
Pretty comparable to: Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

Progress: 100%