Rating
Grapple Dog
Grapple Dog is an exhilarating 2D pixel-art platformer. Use your awesome grappling hook to clear tricky challenges as Pablo, the Grapple Dog! Sail across 6 colourful worlds with a crew of fearless adventurers to stop the robotic overlord Nul from destroying the world!
Details
- Released
- February 9, 2022
- Developer
- Medallion Games
- Publisher
- Super Rare Originals
- Platforms
- PC · Switch · Xbox Series X|S
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Grapple Dog Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
In a world full of 2D platformers it's hard to stand out these days. Grapple Dog is a new arcade/adventure that is as challenging as it is adorable. The main ch
Grapple Dog is a lot of fun, and for platform fans new or old it should provide plenty of entertainment. But the concept doesn’t push the ingenuity slider high enough, and many of its other tricks have been used aplenty elsewhere.
I loves me some 2D action platforming and now that I played Grapple Dog, I'm one happy bear so let's see what this indie is all about.
Grapple Dog is a charming and inventive 2D platformer with a solid foundation that’s not afraid to ramp up the challenge when needed. It still needs some work in the performance and accessibility departments, but fans of the genre should still check it out.
Grapple Dog has some neat ideas, and it keeps them coming throughout the campaign so it continues to mix things up along the way, but it doesn’t really stand out in a major way. It’s an enjoyable game, but it doesn’t do any one thing exceptionally well. If you’re a platformer freak like I am it’s definitely worth a look, but there’s not much here to put it above some of the great examples of the genre on Switch.
Grapple Dog is a light, breezy mascot platformer that hooks you with precise, simple controls.
A fun platformer that offers quite the challenge, Grapple Dog scratches that nostalgia itch but is still pretty ruff around the edges.
At it’s best (which is when you first hit a new level) Grapple Dog is an absolute joy. Pablo is an adorable protagonist and it’s one of the most appealing platformers I’ve had my hands on this side of Sonic 3. If you’ve watched Into the Spider-Verse and remember the “thwip and release” scene, you’ll understand just how satisfying it is to nail traversing Grapple Dog’s more challenging obstacles.
It is a shame that parts of Grapple Dog get in its own way so much because I do really like this game. In fact, I would recommend most people play it. I haven’t mentioned the wonderful art design that could have been plucked from cult-classic Hal Laboratory game. Nor have I talked about the zany music which feels like it was ripped from a Sega CD title thanks to its short loops and crunchy low bitrate yelps from someone going “WOO!” or “I WANNA GET INTO IT”.
I’m not the world’s biggest fan of platformers, but I very much warmed to Grapple Dog. The thought and passion that went into every element of the experience is explicit, and it’s hard not to fall for its wiles and charms. I do think the developers lost sight a little of how they wanted people to play this game, as the speedrunning quality of the movement system does feel at odds with the way the game also asks you to carefully explore levels, but that’s really splitting hairs here. Grapple Dog is a bold, confident, and often inspired take on a genre that is as oversaturated as they co…