Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines review

As much as we all love video games, most of us will have times in our life where we just can’t find a game we want to play. Whether this is down to your mood or because you’ve just finished a game so good the idea of starting something new just doesn’t appeal, it’s not a fun spot for a gamer to be in. Well I was recently in this situation thanks to Astro Bot, and it took the magic of Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines to pull me out of my funk.

This sequel continues the story of protagonist Pablo, a happy go lucky pup who has already saved the world once with the power of grappling. This time around there’s a new threat in town, and it’s threatening to wipe out multiple dimensions. Gathering the mysterious gems required to save the day is an even bigger task than before, and Pablo won’t be able to do it alone. Enter Luna, a dog with a whole lot of attitude and a lack of faith in her new partner.

The game opens up with a Pablo stage which is also a tutorial, and it teaches you all about his moveset in case you (like me) missed out on the first game. Pablo can run and jump with the best of them, and even roll to smash boxes in his way or deal with pesky aliens. As you may have also guessed he can also use his trusty grappling hook, which can hook onto any blue platform for ultimate swinging action. Grappling always feels absolutely delightful, and once you get used to swinging across dangerous chasms you’ll never want to stop.

Returning fans will be used to having fun swinging as Pablo, and so are probably more interested in Luna’s entirely different moveset. Luna can still jump and grapple, but instead of rolling into enemies she’s equipped with a gun to shoot them twin stick style. This takes a bit of getting used to (especially when swinging at speed) but before you know it you’ll be blasting with the best of them. Alongside this weapon Luna also has the ability to do a lovely air dash which is exactly as helpful as it sounds, and is hard to live without when you’re playing a Pablo stage.

Throughout the story of Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines you’ll have to switch between the two heroes, so mastering both of them is the key to beating the weird and wonderful stages of the game. From lush forests to monkey-based metropolises, there’s always something new and exciting in each stage you play. Each world features new gear to play around with too, like a power up that allows you to turn into electricity and zoom across solar panels, or the leaf blade that enables you to grapple into walls and make climbable vines grow on them. This variety ensures you’re never bored, and it meant I was always excited to see the next of the game’s four worlds.

Reaching the goals of the stages of Grapple Dogs is all well and good, but if you want to be the best in show then you’ll need to find some collectibles. Each level has three hidden gems to find that help unlock future stages, and a chest hiding a new novelty head for your grappling hook like a burger or a pizza slice. These are hidden absolutely perfectly, requiring a bit of thought and searching to locate but never stumping me completely.

Those who really want to go for one hundred percent completion also have time trials to complete for each stage, with gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded for fast times. There aren’t many games that can get me excited about time trials in previously beaten stages, but thanks to each of them only taking a couple of minutes to rush through and how fun it is to go fast, they’re just delightful.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is a seriously engaging platformer that’s hard to put down, but it does have some minor issues worth mentioning. The twin stick nature of playing as Luna means the controls are a bit fiddly and take some getting used to. Also the collectibles, although fun to find, don’t really reward you with much for finding them, which is a little disappointing.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is a lovely 2D platformer with fantastic movement and a whole lot of charm. Swinging through stages and finding collectibles is a blast, and thanks to the variety of powers and locales I was never bored while doing so. In a year of fantastic platforming options Grapple Dogs still demands to be played, so if you choose to go walkies with Pablo and Luna you won’t regret it.