Grapple Dog Review: Advanced Hooks
Joseph Gribben delivered a faithful homage to the glory days of the Game Boy Advanced. It's as if Sonic pumped the brakes, snagged a grappling hook, and paired with writers akin to a Nick Jr. television show. That's not to say the difficulty was lost in such a transition. Grapple Dog is tough as nails, but puts deliberate work into its progression and accessibility to dampen the burden. Save for a weak display of any narrative through-line, as well as a few too many technical hiccups, Grapple Dog is a triumphant homage to the past and a quality product in today's ecosystem.
Grapple, Grapple Island
Grapple Dog is a 2D pixel platformer filled with child-like charm and subtle sci-fi ripped straight from the GBA; or at least how I remember it looking. That paired with the six unique worlds consistently delivering a fresh take compared to the last and a soundtrack that stops you in your tracks to simply bask in provides an overall experience that comes off as a passion project made by those who love the games that came before. The pixel art may be simple, but it shines throughout.
Upon dropping into Grapple Dog, you are met with an introduction in the form of a storybook. It's told that hundreds of years ago, the people of Partash lived in hunger and hard times until someone known as the Great Inventor appeared. He utilized his high intellect to invent and build gadgets to better everyday life. Then a great evil emerged and grew jealous of The Inventor. In a last-ditch effort to thwart this evil, The Inventor scattered four items known as the Cosmic Gadgets across Partash so no one could possibly grasp all four. While the Great Inventor disappeared forever, treasure hunters scoured the world looking for them.
The game follows Pablo, a driven and uplifting dog adventurer who stumbles into saving the world along with his tinkering friend and love interest, Toni, as well as the brains of the operation only referred to as The Professor. All three share some moments, each expressing their versions of charm as characters. As you begin playing, a mysterious figure smashes the floor beneath you, sending you falling below and meeting a levitating head by the name of Nul. It's immediately apparent that Nul shouldn't be sketchy, but Pablo persists.
Once met with Grapple Dog’s storybook background quickly yet effectively, nearly none of this is mentioned again or generally carries any sense of logic or weight. For instance, if Partash is discussed again, I didn't notice. It is said that the people suffered from hunger-related issues, yet the gadgets are items that would never help with that, let alone, are never explained in any detail. It is mentioned that they are being studied, but nothing else. Additionally, these treasure hunters mentioned in the text are never seen a single time. NPC-like characters are present, but they always appear to be locals of the islands or stages you visit.
You may be thinking, "why are you playing a retro-inspired platformer expecting a story?" It's a fair critique, but I didn't. Here is where my gripe lies; it's clear that the story simply wasn't a priority. The stage was set for a wonderful narrative at the forefront, but it didn't receive the love and care it deserves. Grapple Dog is a sound experience in every other aspect, so it’s a shame the narrative seemingly wasn’t given the attention that gameplay, art, and progression received. The foundation for a serviceable through-line was present, but never acted on in any meaningful way.
Hook, Line, and Sinker
Pablo, the titular Grapple Dog, has the ability to sprint, jump, smash, grapple, swing, swim, and collect. Initially, the sprinting mechanic seemed novel. In order to sprint, running for a small period of time triggers the sprint with momentum. After hours of playing time, I wish it was just a button prompt - mostly due to my brain always assuming that was the case. I've been conditioned, it seems.
In terms of grappling - the ‘leading hook’ of the game, if you will - blue platforms are present throughout which can be hooked and swung on. Aside from utilizing the hook to attack enemies above, the primary use is to swing from one blue platform to another or any block of safety. Occasionally, swings can prove difficult to land. Luckily, the controls for grappling and movement are deliberately a bit floaty. The floatiness assisted grappling and in-air momentum, but it made traveling on foot never feel quite as responsive as I'd hoped. The game provides all the tools, though. Any troubles with grappling I encountered was purely user error.
An element to the swimming mechanic allows Pablo to rocket out of water like a double jump, but it felt like a bit of a waste overall. At first, the water levels seemed like a nice change of pace. But following its introduction, it was never utilized again in a tangible way. Floating orbs of water scattered throughout stages, but very few larger bodies of water appear in the game following the mechanic’s introduction. It simply left me wanting more of this mechanic.
In a game titled Grapple Dog, naturally, grappling is king. But a close second has to be the game's sense of collecting. Stages contain over two hundred fruits to collect. Collecting enough fruit grants two bonus gems. Additionally, each stage has five hidden gems required to unlock the boss stages. Adding to the sea of treasure, on top of the fruits and gems are B gems. Each stage has one hidden B gem. These unlock the bonus level for each stage and opens up the ability to obtain three more gems upon completion.
The game contains a total of 300 gems, but to reach the main game's final boss, you only need 170; an intelligent, deliberate choice. The post-game titled Trials of Valor is unlocked by going back and collecting more gems from previous levels to take part in. To complete fully, you can only miss a total of 7 gems out of 300. If it wasn’t apparent in the gem and fruit breakdown, Grapple Dog is a collectathon lover’s dream.
Danger is ever present when traversing stages for gems and fruit as Pablo has only five lives at his disposal. Scary, but you can sometimes regain lives or dog treats by defeating enemies via crushing them in ball form or utilizing your grappling hook. Speaking of said enemies, the game throws a lot of different variants at you. There is never a dull moment in terms of enemies in your path. However, defeating enemies doesn't always give you a life, and on top of that, I don't think there is much reason to defeat enemies beyond that. I found myself simply running past the lot of them time after time. Get taken out? Don't worry too much. As long as you don't lose all your lives, the game has a very forgiving checkpoint system orbiting around specific blocks rather than just passing a flag that is also present.
One of my favorite aspects of Grapple Dog has to be the bosses. They are fun and engaging while not overly difficult; at least until the end. Each boss plays a bit differently, but wonderfully serves as a proper climax to test the players mastery of the mechanics learned thus far. One boss will be an ensuing chase, while the other is more combat-focused. Regardless, the bosses feel more like icing on the cake rather than a brutal pillar to achieve without sacrificing the overall difficulty.
Continuing on the game's overall difficulty, time trials are unlocked after completing a stage. Frankly, I am so grateful for that. The way I play video games is catered to my anxious brain. If there was a timer, I don't know how well I would have done. Saving time trials after completion isn't a new idea, but it's another deliberate choice that was made which enhanced my experience with Grapple Dog.
Timed trials aside, the game is challenging as is. Thankfully, the game offers fair adjustments in moments of struggle. In terms of accessibility, ‘no damage’ and ‘infinite jump’ modes can be turned on and adjusted at any time. I eventually turned on ‘no damage’ when I found a particular area rage-inducing, but I never felt the need to utilize the infinite jump mode. Similar to Celeste, another challenging platformer, it was fantastic having these tools at my disposal. I was never anxious about potentially finding myself stuck at any moment.
While the gameplay is engaging and fun throughout, on a technical standpoint, Grapple Dog does garner a few knocks against it. Load times can be a bit much when loading into a stage. The times were never overly terrible, but they did grab my attention from time to time. Arguably the most upsetting knock is the crashes I encountered. Personally, I had four separate crashes; one of which came right at the very end of the game, resulting in the need to complete the final stage twice to see the final cutscene. By launch, this should not be an issue as a pre-launch patch is incoming. But, it is worth noting.
Breakdown
Game: Grapple Dog
Developer: Medallion Games
Availability: Switch, PC
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch OLED
Pros:
+ Successful GBA homage
+ Likable characters
+ Leveled progression with difficulty
+ Accessibility Options
Cons:
- Narrative work
- Few technical crashes and hiccups
Final Thoughts
Grapple Dog is a well-made, fun, and charming collectathon pixel-platformer with a great sense of challenge - but it’s missing a core driving force. Games of this ilk such as the aforementioned Celeste become masterpieces due to its balance in difficulty, progression, and narrative to craft a complete product. Grapple Dog admirably checks two of these boxes, and the third miss makes its presence known. The game's lack of narrative identity paired with a small number of technical hiccups does drag it down just a bit, but that’s not to deter far from the shining element contained within. Grapple Dog’s presentation excels and comes off as a straightforward passion project. It’s fun as it is difficult, but provides the player with every necessary tool to succeed tenfold in terms of accessibility. As a love letter reminiscent of a beloved handheld library, Grapple Dog is worth sinking your hooks into.
Reviewed by Austin Ernst