I work a lot now, so I am adjusting to the free time that I have. I think I may have it down, but for now, I will be playing games that have a shorter length because I really like to finish games before talking about them. Grapple Dog isn’t one of them; I haven’t finished it yet, but I feel confident enough to have words dribble out onto this WordPress page.

Anyway, Grapple Dog is this week.

Grapple Dog is a 2D platformer from Medallion Games and Super Rare Originals. It was released in February of this year for PC and Switch and retails for $15.

You take the role of a cute little dog named Pablo, who, with his friends is traveling in search of artifacts that belonged to an ancient being. Upon locating one of these artifacts, Pablo resurrects a robot that is hell-bent on destroying the world so that he and his robot buddies can return to their won world. It is up to Pablo and his friends to find the artifacts before the baddies do and save the world.

The initial interactions between friends and foes are often laden with memes and quirky little jokes which are usually well-received (because I am a child). I especially like that I get to pet the dog at the end of the level.

Getting down to the nitty-gritty, Grapple dog is deceptively simple. You have a jump, a ground-pound of sorts, and the ability to grapple. Though there are only a few mechanics, Grapple Dog iterates on those simple mechanics throughout the entirety of the game. So far, the game has not yet increased the difficulty to the point that puts it in the realm of Super Meat Boy or Celeste but it does get challenging at times.

From recent memory, the game starts out with bare-bones grappling instances with areas that make you learn the ropes, and in no time you are shooting yourself out of fucking cannons the grappling onto some ceilings and using that momentum to shoot yourself across the level. It is all very exciting.

While you are just formula one racing through levels, make sure to grab those big purple gems and little fruits for at least the gems are, the currency to access the big baddie levels. IT does get irritating at points because some gems are hidden so well, but overall gem collecting feels like something that just happens and I don’t think I ever felt like I was being gate-kept by said gems.

Grapple Dog looks good. I like how it reminds me of earlier games dating back to the Gameboy Advanced. Every section looks crisp and clean, especially on the Switch, and every area is vastly different from the other. I personally really like the second area as it is a beach and I enjoy the beach.

The soundtrack is absolute fire. I love the stage song so much. It really reminds me of Jet Set Radio and I absolutely love it every time it comes on.

Grapple Dog is the perfect Switch game. It isn’t doing anything revolutionary but it is still very fun. The onboarding is good and it provides a decent challenge throughout the game, especially with the boss levels. I like Grapple Dog, I think it is a very fun game for literally all ages.