Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines Review

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines stars Pablo, the returning protagonist of Grapple Dog, as he teams up with mysterious newcomer, anti-hero Luna as they grapple their way through various worlds in order to save the Cosmos.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is a 2D action platformer where both of our heroes will rely on their grapples in order to progress through each level and find secrets scattered through area. The grapple can only be used on specific blue colored walls that look like jell-o and blue floating hooks. Our furry little friends walk up specific walls and wall jump. One of the perks is that Luna can also dash on the ground or mid-air after jumping.

As you progress through each level, both of our heroes will face against. While Pablo can bounce down on enemies’ head or punch them from up close, Luna, on the other hand, has her trusty firearm to take down threats from a distance. This is quite useful for tougher enemies that like to throw things from afar. The overworld navigation is done aboard your trusty boat.

From inside that boat, you can also keep tabs on the number of items unlocked and found, change your character outfit and use a nifty shop that offers items to permanently increase your health (each Pablo and Luna has their own upgrades to buy) or buy cosmetic items. The currency is the fruit you pick up throughout each level. There’s so many everywhere, it’s almost impossible to run. Although, small note, the fruits also act as your lives. Every time you die, you lose a set number of fruits. Run out and it’s game over. Fruits can also be used to unlock bonus stages.

One of the game’s most useful feature is the warps. They are not warps to warp you anywhere you want, but when exploring every nook and cranny of each level, you’ll sometime find yourself going deeper than the path to reach the end of the level or even in the complete opposite direction. Once you’ve found the treasures, there’ll be a warp that will send you back into the right direction allowing you to save yourself from too much backtracking.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is one of the most colorful, visually joyful games I’ve ever played. Each world has its own theme, but even darker themed universe are somehow brighter than they have any right to be. One of the early worlds is rainy, drab, dark-ish theme, yet everything in the foreground makes it bright somehow. The soundtrack is a surprising one. It features a rock inspired score that somehow doesn’t really match the cutesy, colorful style, but yet still applies.

The game does have a few annoying quirks. Luna’s shooting mechanic is done on a twin-stick mechanic, meaning you need to use the right joystick to aim and then right trigger to shoot. It feels a bit counter-intuitive and if you’re not used to it, you’ll often forget about using the right joystick as most 2D games that involves shooting, simply point in the proper direction with the left joystick is enough to shoot. The other addendum is the game forces you to explore at least 90% of each level. Hidden orange diamonds found in levels are required to unlock the paths within a single world; meaning if you went through a level and you didn’t find all of them, chances are you’ll have to go back and looker deeper.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is a great mix of action, platforming and exploration. Each level almost feel like a mini-Metroidvania like game where players are encouraged to explore every inch of every level to find all gems, treasures and collect as many (if not all) fruits. But Luna’s twin-stick shooting mechanic takes a while to get used to in a 2D environments and the “forced” exploration can feel like a chore. However, if you can get past these quirks, you’ll discover an addictive little gem and one of the best games of the last 12 months. Highly recommended.