Gato Roboto Brings Its Meow-troidvania to Mobile Through Crunchyroll

Gato Roboto is now available on iOS and Android through Crunchyroll, bringing doinksoft's wonderfully compact monochrome Metroidvania to phones. The setup remains excellent: a cat is stranded on an alien planet and must rescue its owner, which would be difficult because cats traditionally regard responding to human emergencies as optional. Fortunately, this particular feline discovers a combat mech.

Players alternate between the heavily armed suit and the vulnerable cat itself; the mech handles enemies and serious hazards, while abandoning it allows the tiny protagonist to squeeze through passages the machine cannot reach. Outside the armour, one hit is fatal, so becoming smaller simultaneously makes exploration possible and life considerably more alarming.

The stark black-and-white visual style translates naturally to mobile screens, while the game's relatively focused structure makes it a particularly sensible handheld port. Access requires the appropriate Crunchyroll gaming subscription rather than a separate conventional purchase. The mobile catalogue is increasingly full of large console-style games, but Gato Roboto demonstrates that portability can benefit smaller, tightly designed adventures just as much. Also, there is a cat in a robot suit.

Certain design arguments simply make themselves.