Support Higher Plain Games on Patreon

Grapple Dog – Review

2D platformers release daily and its quite difficult to know if a game is targeting youngsters, retro gamers, cutting corners or providing a real top tier gaming experience. Grapple Dog put simply, is one of the best 2D platform adventure games I’ve played in the last few years. It is so rare to have a game that is so well thought out and that plays beautifully too – my message is clear. Do not sleep on this game.

Swing on the blue blocks but don’t expect them to sit still for too long. Enemies are defeated with a bounce to the head.

Grapple Dog’s name is Pablo and he is an unwilling hero as he accidently sets loose a mechanical evil hellbent on destroying the world. Across 6 worlds and 33 base levels, you’ll be running, jumping, wall jumping, swimming, dashing, bouncing and most importantly swinging your way to glory. Pablo has two run speeds but his jump isn’t hugely powerful although it allows you to hug and cling to walls and climb up vines or just slowly slide down walls if need be. You’ll also find cannons are everywhere to either land into or swing from too. All of these skills are introduced quite early on in the game but what Grapple Dog does is constantly change up how you use the skills – building up combos as difficulty curves over time.

You’ll start off jumping and catching blue grapple blocks to swing between platformers. The swinging has weight and speed factored in so if you swing fast and let go at the right angle you’ll fly far. You’ll then be introduced to using rope length to swing up and over blocks or into tighter gaps – adding in wall jumping. Then platformers start to move, or hazards requiring timing to pass. Grapple blocks end up becoming conveyor belts or grapple nodes are spaced with bounce pads between them. What Grapple Dog does so well is get you into a flow state of rhythmic gymnastics and making you feel like you are getting better and better at the game with a perfectly tuned difficulty curve. All of this would be for nothing if Pablo didn’t handle so well but even his swimming skills feel tight enough to make it through spikey mazes without causing problems.

Every 2nd level, you are introduced to something new that changes how you use your skills. It keeps the game very fresh.

Each level has 5 gems to collect and they always slightly off the beaten path. You’ll see them and the challenge is to either get to them via a little platforming combo or to work out how to get to the gem. In addition, gems are given for how much fruit you collect too with each level having 250 to collect. Bonus levels are unlocked by collecting B tokens and they are either races against a time limit or collecting crystals within a time limit. Again, these bring more gems as you pass them and world bosses are unlocked when you pass a certain threshold. In theory, you can skip levels entirely if you have enough gems but I didn’t want to. I loved playing this game.

Bosses are often some of the easier parts of Grapple Dog although they have a particular 90’s boss pattern charm to them. You’ll be using all the things you’ve learnt before but they never feel unfair. Checkpoints are liberally placed and if you lose your 5HP, you simply restart back at the last one again. Grapple Dog is quite forgiving in that regard but you can take the hardcore route with the time trial modes. Once a level is complete, you can take on the online leaderboards for speed running. Some people are mighty! I’m far slower but I enjoy the extra connected challenges and gems they bring. There’s even an endless 80’s styled shooting game on Pablo’s ship where his two friends hang out and you sail to each level from.

Bosses are fun events where you use all the skills you’ve learnt. Don’t expect crazy hard levels though – you’ve put in the work already!

The attention to detail, the fantastic way Pablo moves, the cute graphics and the way levels are designed to flow and make you feel good all come together to make Grapple Dog a stunning experience. You can even pet him after each level. If I were being a tiny bit critical, the soundtrack is a cheesy retro hip-hop jam but I’d have liked a few more tracks or some slightly longer loops of what’s here (which is still great).

I love Grapple Dog and would recommend this to any gamer out there that just wants good old fashioned platforming done perfectly right. Buy it. Now. Please.

Grapple Dog
Final Thoughts
Positives
Levels are beautifully designed to flow and make you feel like you are getting better at the game.
Bright, colourful graphics and sound.
Grappling controls work like a dream.
Tons of replayability and things to discover.
New mechanics every other level keeps things fresh and new.
You can pet the dog.
Negatives
Some hardcore platformers might find it a bit too forgiving (although I think that misses the point).
9.5
Buy Store Credit

Higher Plain Games is part of the Higher Plain Network. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me via Patreon for as little as $1/£1 a month. There are additional perks for supporting me, such as behind-the-scenes content and downloads. You can also share the website or use the affiliate buy now links on reviews. Buying credit from CD Keys using my affiliate link means I get a couple of pence per sale. All your support will enable me to produce better content, more often. Thank you.

%d