Grapple Dog Reviews
Grapple Dog is a light, breezy mascot platformer that hooks you with precise, simple controls.
A cute yet frustrating platformer, with a grappling hook that can't quite do the business on levels mired in frustrating repetition.
Ultimately, while I did enjoy my time with Grapple Dog, it doesn't feel like it reached its full potential. There's a lot of room for replayability and improving your skill in traversing the levels, but the game feels quite slow a lot of the time due to long levels and the also long waits that come with trying again. I do think I'll come back to it at some point in short bursts to try to clean up the missing collectables, but it's not something that begs to be finished in any hurry.
Grapple Dog isn't quite perfect. We feel that more could have been done with the grapple itself, as it's a little restrictive in its application. A less friendly, more freeform approach would interfere to an extent with the tight level design, but it would still be cool for speedrunners if the grapple really let them cut loose. That's pretty nitpicky, though, because developer Medallion does precisely what it sets out to do — deliver an unpretentious platformer that's a hell of a lot of fun to play.
Grapple Dog is an excellent proof of concept for a 2D action platformer that requires you to swing through levels and traverse through the air as an adorable pup. While I did enjoy the gameplay despite the quirky movement, I couldn't help but wish there was more, as Medallion Games are onto something fun, charming, groovy, and unique with Pablo. I hope to see this game optimized and updated for the Switch, as the gameplay issues I encountered slightly detracted from this short but sweet indie platforming gem. Need I remind you to pet Pablo every time you complete a level? Please give him all the pets; he deserves it.
Grapple Dog is a fantastic platformer that nails just about everything it tries to do.
A fun platformer that offers quite the challenge, Grapple Dog scratches that nostalgia itch but is still pretty ruff around the edges.
Grapple Dog is an adorable, challenging platformer with a lot of content for the price. It's a great filler if you're waiting on some of the bigger 2022 titles to be released, or if you're wanting a game to play with the kids. I highly recommend checking it out!
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.
To sum it up then, Grapple Dog is a great game, albeit one with more than a few elements which give me a certain amount of pause in recommending it unreservedly. For some, these issues won’t matter at all — in which case I encourage you to pick Grapple Dog up right away. For others, though, you’ll need to weigh up whether the promise of an extremely solidly designed platformer is enough to make up for a few potentially significant annoyances along the way.
The game is clearly a labour of love and it shows, to the point where a sequel seems like a given. And so, if you’re prepared to look past Grapple Dog’s level gatekeeping, you’ll have a blast.
undefined.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.
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 come.
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.
I love Grapple Dog so much that I hope to see Pablo come back for many more swingin' adventures. From its fantastic 2D platforming action to its rewarding collectibles and its adorable world to its quirky cast of characters; this delightful dog has it goin' on.
Grapple Dog is an accessible, fun, and charming collectathon platformer with a great sense of challenge - but it’s missing a core driving force with missteps in narrative. As a love letter reminiscent of the beloved Game Boy Advanced library, Grapple Dog is worth sinking your hooks into.
Grapple Dog combines some fantastic 2D platforming with an awesome grappling hook mechanic that's a cinch to pick up n' play.
From the beautiful visual style and catchy music to the throwback level design and tight mechanics, Grapple Dog is a blast all around. The gameplay is easy enough to pick up but difficult enough to feel rewarding, and the light-heartedly story and adorable characters round out the experience really nicely. Having watched Grapple Dog swing around social media for a long while, it’s incredibly fulfilling for me as a reviewer to finally get my hands on it and enjoy it so much - I can only imagine the sense of achievement that the Medallion Games team are feeling at creating such a wonderful experience.
with a fun mechanic at its core, harking back to the golden age of 2D platformers while giving the model a fresh coat of paint with its stylish pixel art. The music was the first thing I loved about it, but thankfully it’s more than just that: Grapple Dog certainly has style, but it’s got the substance to back it up too.
Grapple Dog's not a perfect platformer by any stretch of the imagination, but the core gameplay concept and visual design still manages to raise huge grins.