Grapple Dog review

Man’s best friend uses one of gaming’s best gizmos across 33 stages of increasingly intense platforming action.

Pedro the dog has been a bad boy. Separated from his anthropomorphic colleagues, he’s fallen down a deep shaft. There he meets a small robot named Nul, who suspiciously coaxes him into opening a treasure chest. Inside is the game’s eponymous tool, a grappling hook which permits Pablo to freely swing from blue-colored platforms. But inadvertently, Pablo opened a proverbial Pandora’s Box, allowing Nul to attach himself onto a mecha body, and go on a world-threatening rampage. This is far worse than a chewed-up slipper.

To patch things up, Pablo follows a trek across a chain of six themed worlds. Anyone who has delved into the delights of a platformer from the SNES or Game Boy Advance-eras will know appreciate the game’s structure, where bonus levels emerge on the overworld map and boss battles bookend each milieu. And in keeping with genre convention, you’ll probably revisit levels. Not only does Grapple Dog test your reflexes with a speed run option, but each stage hides five purple gems that are needed to open gates on the overworld map.

Pawsitivity Dexterous

Enjoyably, Pedro’s moveset feels precise and well-heeled. When he continues to move in the same direction, the protagonist’s pace increases from a walk to a nimble run, with the latter helping him clear the game’s ubiquitous gaps and hazards. He can bound like a ninja between adjacent walls, and even cling and climb up foliage-covered vertical walls. Like Donkey Kong, Diddy, and Sonic, Pedro is skilled at being shot through circuits of cannon-like devices, as well. He’s a water dog, no doubt, with aquatic agility that outshines hedgehogs and plumbers.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the grappling hook that’s the most distinguished part of his repertoire. Pedro is limited to shooting it vertically or at upward, diagonal directions. But he often uses it to propel himself upward, catapulting over floating blue objects or even unlucky adversaries. While in the air, you can freely swing back and forth, but the game doesn’t want to spin too freely. You’re limited to your hook aiming in the 9 to 3 o’clock positions, which keeps Pedro from launching himself across stages.

Later Levels Will Leave You Dog-Tired

And if you’re hoping for Bionic Commando-style combos, where you swing over a succession of objects, Grapple Dog delivers. Stages are long but often have sections where you’ll need to focus, or Pedro will lose one of his health points. Adorably, there are represented by four paw pads. Eliminating an enemy can provide a way to replace these, which is really the only reason to show aggression. Ideally, the game would have had a combo system to facilitate scoring runs as well.

And while it’s a mostly enjoyable jaunt, this dog will occasionally misbehave. For some, Grapple Dog’s most disobedient behavior will be the late-game difficulty; the last third of the game seems fated to cause some angry growling. There are accessibility features such as unlimited jumping or damage. When the game’s innocuous-looking environments or battles against defense-reliant bosses shave off some of your death or cause a stage restart, you’ll probably want to use them.

A Howlingly Good Soundtrack 

This dog’s other transgression recalls an old adage: you won’t teach Pedro any new tricks. Unlike many of its peers, there’s no new additions to your ability set. Instead, variation is rooted in new enemies, world themes, and approaches to level design, rather than providing new ways to navigate. To a lesser extent, level design can frustrate. Beyond needing to acquire purple gems, you’re also encouraged to collect carrots hidden around the stages. Occasionally, one-way gating means that there will be a patch of the veggies dangling just out of reach, like a toy that’s stuck underneath the sofa.

But for every blemish, Grapple Dog goes out of his way to be a good boy. Between stages you can visit the team’s base of operations, which offers a bit of optional interaction between the game’s delightful characters. Peer deeper and you’ll find a remarkably enjoyable Game Boy-style mini-game. Then there’s queenjazz’s music track for each stage, which habitually recall the wonderfully maniac compositions of the WarioWare series. Complete with positive sound bites (“C’mon!”, “Get Into it!”), orchestral stabs, funky synth solos, and some searing guitar licks, your ears will likely be yearning for more.

Conclusion

Save for some infuriation across the game’s concluding stages, Grapple Dog offers a lot of enjoyment. Players with a partiality for last millennium’s platformers will undoubtedly enjoy the charm and challenges here, especially on a portable system like the Switch or the Steam Deck. This dog was made to roam.

Grapple Dog was played on Switch
with review code provided by the publisher.