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If you are looking for some old-school challenge and happen to have downtime, give Rescue: The Beagles a shot. Initially released in 2008 by Whining Girl and Croatian freelancer Nenad Jalšovec, the developers re-released this 8-bit action game in 2024. It is a short and sweet platformer filled with adorable beagle pups and unique parallax gameplay, and like most retro titles, the main goal is to beat your own high score.
Rescue: The Beagles can be played on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Steam.
Cruel and unusual
Rescue: The Beagles does not outright explain its lore when you hit play, so players will need to click the “story” option in the main menu to get the context.
A cargo airplane carrying a shipment of beagles crashes into the Amita mountain range Originally intended to be shipped off to CutLab animal testing facility, two animal rights activists named Nicole and Edwin set off to rescue the poor puppies. However, upset by the situation, CutLab deploys their biohazard division to “reclaim their property,” and in particular, salvage the healthy pups and exterminate the sick and injured.
The story is curt, and nothing further is added to it. Apparently, according to Nenad Jalšovec, the plot is loosely based on true events that happened near Zagreb, but it is definitely overexaggerated.
Game-wise, I do wonder . . . how did these activists know about the crash if CutLab was operating in secret? Why are they testing lip balm on beagles? Why is the biohazard division so vicious? Are the dogs now radioactive from that goopy, toxic balm?
Aim too high or falling short
What makes this title stand out is its parallax gameplay: within each level, there are 3-4 layered platforms players can walk on. You reach each layer by either climbing or falling down. Acquiring ropes will allow players to climb up greater heights quickly and safely, while parachutes will let players fall down further distances without dying. You do not want to fall too aggressively . . . and it is easy to do so. Players begin with 3 lives – and you can obtain more by leveling up – but most deaths will be due to fall damage in my experience.
The ultimate goal of the game is to gather all the beagles within a run. At the beginning, you will need to rescue 8 or 11 puppies, and as levels progress the rescue requirement will increase. Players will also lose a life if they fail to rescue a dog. As challenging as this game might be, you cannot sacrifice a single pup. Get all of them quickly!
Rescue: The Beagles is a side-scrolling platformer, so each level will automatically scroll and move the player forward. This mechanic makes it much easier to accidentally miss a beagle walking by. If the beagle moves off-screen, you are closer to a game over. The CutLab team are considered “enemies” and are there to thwart you. They might grab healthy pups and run away, follow you too closely, or block you from grabbing the sick and healthy.
Dogs before doods
Another item players can obtain are . . . owls? You accumulate these owls and launch them at CutLab vivisectors and to kill them, rescuing the beagles they tried to make off with. You can also use the owls, or their waste, to kill other enemies like the “doods” and lab executives, which they all have varying hit points. Honestly, for the first 15 minutes of my playthrough, I totally forgot the owls could be used for anything. I just hoarded them until my finger slipped on the analog trigger, viciously launching my owls forward.
To rescue the injured, players must acquire med kits, and they are available aplenty (at least initially). Most items are readily available at the beginning but slowly lessen in frequency the further you progress, so use your parachutes and med kits wisely.
Each level will begin to feature other types of hazards. For instance, some parts of the ground might be coated in this toxic cherry-flavored lip balm, which will instantly kill you (unless you upgrade your immunity). Other obstacles, like water, will slow you down unless you build up your character’s ability to swim. On the plus side, players might also run into goji berries. These grant the players temporary invincibility and instakill power, but they are a rare find.
Gotta go fast
With the increasing speed, rescue quota, obstacles and enemies, and having to platform across multiple layers, Rescue: The Beagles is definitely a brutal challenge. I am unsure of how many levels there actually are, or perhaps it is endless. I only made it to level 10 because I am atrociously horrible at the game. Complete user error on my part! Ultimately, this platformer will use 3-4 hours of your time, before either boredom or frustration fully sets in.
At the end of each level, players can choose an ability to upgrade: aerobics, owl recruiting, goji digestion, swimming, beagle magnetism, toxin resistance, and regeneration. I recommend choosing your own biggest weakness. Do you die a lot? Regenerate with more lives. Do you keep missing beagles? Upgrade your beagle magnetism. Do you have a problem with running into goop? Build up toxin resistance.
It takes two
Ultimately, the goal is to beat your own or another person’s high score. The game has a classic “high score” board available to see, and in order to rack up points, players must complete levels and perform certain skills. I am not quite sure how to do this or what they mean, but things like “placid flow,” “skyline flow” or “hoot flow” will grant extra points. I am assuming the first two regard how long players survive running straight a certain layer.
You do not have to play just solo. There is a couch co-op and versus mode, so find some friends or competitors and see how far you go. Each player has their own separate stock of lives, and playing with buddies is always more fun (or maybe not). These modes operate smoothly without bugs.
Green, green, and more green
Rescue: The Beagles features a blocky, 8-bit art style. Some people may adore this retro callback, but I am rather bored of it. Despite its charming color scheme, this game kind of looks like a two-dimensional Crossy Road.
Even though I enjoy the vivid blues and pinks and greens, there comes to be a struggle when each level only focuses on one color. For example, the “Rose Badlands” is fully pink, meaning each layer is a different tone or shade of this color. This makes it difficult to distinguish between layers, especially if you are someone with poor eyesight or colorblindness. There is a struggle with depth perception, in a 2D sense. It was hard to judge how violent my character’s falls would be especially if the middle layer is a forest green, and the bottom layer is, well, a more shaded forest green.
Players can toggle between two music styles: AESQE or DISASTERPEACE. The former sounds a bit more ominous, but both tracks are somewhat upbeat, retro-sounding; reminiscent of an arcade machine.
Final thoughts
Rescue: The Beagles is . . . fine. It is a slightly addictive platformer with a “twist,” which is fun for maybe an hour. There is not much else to the game beyond this point; the mechanics and visuals are rather dull.
Despite its influence from true events, it would have bene nice if there was a variety of dog breeds with different behaviors or something. Why just beagles? The game’s lore is okay, but I am filled with unanswered questions. To a certain degree, Rescue: The Beagles feels like a PETA-sponsored game on Bored.com.
I would not quite recommend this title, but it could be decent in short bursts, or if you are simply looking for an opportunity to drive yourself insane.
