If you’ve got children that have grown out of the Gruffalo but still like to be read a story at night, chances are you know about Dog Man. A series of books from Dav Pilkey, Dog Man is a dog, who’s also a policeman, who takes part in a host of silly adventures in his superhero alter-ego, The Bark Knight.
Dog Man has reached that hallowed ground of popularity and ubiquity that have earned him an upcoming cinematic debut, but Dog Man fans can already join him in Dog Man: Mission Impawsible, a platforming adventure featuring all his friends. It’s an old-school tie-in platformer, and while it’s relatively simple, younger fans will absolutely get a kick out of the artwork and spending time with their favourite characters.
Piggie – a bad guy who happens to be an actual pig – along with his cohorts, Bub and Crunky, are causing bother in the city, and it’s up to Dog Man and his Supa Buddies to save the day. They’re going to do that by jumping across platforms, hopping on bad guys’ heads, and making their way through the occasionally tricky levels from left to right, and while it isn’t Mario, it’s mechanically sound and offers enough variety to keep you entertained through the game’s runtime.
Much of that variety comes from being able to switch between Dog Man and his two companions, 80-HD and Lil’ Petey. Besides being able to jump different distances, or fit through different-sized spaces, they all have special abilities that you’ll need to employ to make it to the end of each level, their talents growing as you progress. It’s easy to grasp, and the younger gamer in our house could easily recognise the various points that needed a specific character to get past.
That said, Dog Man: Impawsible Mission can be tricky for younger fingers and thumbs. My youngest is 8 years old, and while we aimed to take turns doing levels, he often passed the controller back to me mid-stage because it was proving frustrating. That’s in part due to some jumps needing to be much more precise than others, while the characters’ different heights injects a spot of trial and error. We overcame all those mild frustrations together, but if your child isn’t a regular platformer fan, prepare to be their in-house Supa Buddy.
Dog Man: Impawsible Mission definitely looks the part, with bright and vibrant visuals that look as though they’ve been pulled straight from the books. There’s also artwork to unlock that showcases some of the storyboarding from the books, or highlights key moments in the game, but these are made slightly less interesting by the inability to zoom in closer, or to blow them up to full screen.