Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines Review

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is the follow-up to Grapple Dog, a platformer game released in 2022. In that title, you play as Pablo, a dog who uses his grappling hook to navigate 2D levels and take down NUL, the evil robot. Pablo is back in this new title, but there is a new character added to the mix named Luna. At the end of the previous title, a portal between dimensions was opened and a mysterious figure warned our hero that grave danger was coming. “He has awoken. What has been set in motion cannot be undone.” This force, named Vyr, is the master foe that our pups need to fight against in Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines.

Master Urson, a large bear who is the leader of the Beyonders, has summoned Pablo to come to the mysterious island where the Cosmic Gateway is located. Pablo has set sail with the Professor, and NUL (the once-evil robot) who has changed his ways. The Professor tells you that this island has been abandoned for many years, and the place itself is thousands of years old. Once you arrive at the island, there is a portal that doesn’t seem to be working. That is until you find a carving in the wall that is shaped just like your grapple hook, Pablo places it inside, activating the portal. The ship, along with all the passengers is sucked into Cosmic Gateway where you will start your journey.

The first stage teaches you how to control Pablo and use his various attacks. To defeat enemies, Pablo will channel his inner Mario, and jump on their head which is performed with the bottom face button (B on the Switch). A slam jump can be used to get a height boost by jumping into the air and smashing into the ground below by using the right face button (A on Switch). This move is also good to use against foes you have encountered or to break blocks below you. This same button is used for Pablo’s punch that can destroy blocks and attack enemies. Grapple Dogs makes it very easy to use the grappling hook; all you need to do is hit the top face button (X) and it will attach to the blocks labelled with the grapple symbol, or to the floating shapes above you.

The one thing I really appreciated is that when the hook grabs the block, you can let go of the button, you are not required to hold it all the time. It also enables you to crawl up and down the attached rope and swing left and right to make big jumps and collect items.
Controlling Luna isn’t exactly the same as Pablo as she is equipped with a gun that she will use to defeat foes and target boxes that are in the way. The right thumbstick is used to aim your weapon, and the right trigger is used to fire it. You can shoot a single shot or a barrage of bullets without worry as you won’t run out of ammo. She has a grappling hook like Pablo does, and you can fire your gun without falling off the rope which works great for hitting enemies that are further away. However, I do find controlling Luna difficult and trying to use her weapon doesn’t feel as fluid as playing with Pablo. It’s especially annoying when you play a stage with Pablo and then switch to one where you are playing with her. If you make the mistake of jumping on an enemy like he does, you will get hurt as Luna can only hurt enemies by shooting them. I found it tricky to keep this in mind when you have to swap between the two characters, especially when you aren’t able to select who you want to play for each stage.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines has a great cartoon-like look and sound to it. The characters are vibrant, very expressive, and remind me of characters from the Dog Man series of books that my children read. Along with this is a fun soundtrack with a variety of songs, which is a welcome change from the first game in the series which was lacking in different tracks. However, don’t let the cute appearance make you think this is a simplistic game just for kids. The platforming action here can get pretty intense at times and will take a few attempts to get through. Especially if you are trying to collect all the secret items in the level and get all additional stages unlocked! It’s always fun when games switch it up and are totally different from what you are expecting!

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is a great platforming game with tonnes of levels and a lot of unlockables to find. It’s challenging, and if you ever find it too hard, there are accessibility options that you can turn on to make it easier like no damage or infinite jumps. This is handy for when you are really stuck because you can turn it on to get through that part, then turn it off to get back to normal difficulty if you wish.

Will you successfully retrieve the Allkrystal fragments created when Vyr invaded, so that Master Urson can restore the crystal and bring balance back to The Beyond? Or will he successfully take over the universe and reshape it into his own twisted vision?