You begin to learn more about the facility, the history of the scientists who work there, and even meet up with a talking rat who serves as many of the game’s bosses when it climbs into a mech for a fight. Kiki does get to be the hero though because the player is the one controlling the feline, and the player is able to interpret the things she finds along her adventure even though she seems to be rather ambivalent. Gary, surprisingly, doesn’t seem to hold the crash against Kiki at all and tries to be supportive and helpful by giving tips over a communicator, but Kiki really is just a cat, only able to mew in response and Gary unsure if the cat even understands what he’s saying. Since Kiki was the only other living thing aboard the vessel, the little cat is sent out to explore the planet and the strange facility that sent out the signal in the first place. The ship is mostly intact, but Gary is pinned in the cockpit unable to move. However, before he can land on the planet, his cat Kiki jumps up on the control panel and leads to a terrible crash landing. Gato Roboto kicks off when a dashing space adventurer named Gary heads to the source of a strange distress signal.

Gato Roboto is certainly the heartier and more traditional of the two despite a 100% run being possible in less than 4 hours, but it definitely does a better job of concentrating the genre’s appeal while still having an identity separate from its inspirations.

While the exploration focused platformers that make up the Metroidvania genre are often defined by their large interconnected maps full of secrets and excursions to old locations with power-ups you picked up along your adventure, games like Spooky Ghosts Dot Com and now Gato Roboto have begun paring that experience down to provide the same experience but only in a few hours.

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