Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines

Cosmic Canines is in most ways a better game than the first! The music is more varied, there are powerups to give Pablo more variety, and there's another character to play who has their own levels. The new character is fun enough, very different from Pablo. Pablo no longer has the Momentum bar, which I think is overall a good change. Pablo however is also less affected by momentum and it feels like there is a cap on how fast he can be. The grappling hooks and the speed they give you can't be exploited for super high speed/jumps like you could in the first game, which is sad because those were fun to do and I miss them. The powerups are fine and give some appreciated novelty to levels. Still feels good, it's fun to do stuff, and the level design is more varied so the game feels more fresh than the first and doesn't become tedious.

With tightened and expanded-upon controls, alongside an expansion of the world and all its charm, this sequel more than lives up to its heavy foreshadowing.

I love every inch of this game. From the swift gameplay down to the catchy soundtrack (help me I cannot stop listening to it) I am HOOKED from the moment I click play. The grapple feels incredibly good to use, and compared to the first game some level layouts reward you for abusing every weird physics that might come tagged along it. In the same aspect, Luna’s levels reward dexterity and hard to pull off tricks by hiding a couple collectibles here and there that seem just out of reach. It feels genuinely incredible to master the two grapple dogs. That said, though keyboard controls are alright for Pablo, they are “usable” for Luna. The game is much more streamlined using keyboard and mouse. That is a downside for some, for me it just amplified how nice it feels to master Luna’s mechanics. Either way, this game is a blast, every last bit of dialogue made me laugh, and now I’m here for whatever Medallion Games is cooking up!!