The Design
If you've seen The Price Is Right and the little game known as "plinko" (or Pachinko) you'll be a bit familiar with how Peggle works. Peggle is like Plinko on crack, mixed with some inverse BreakOut. The game is not a clone of either game but takes influences from both.
You start as a character known as Bjorn, a unicorn with special powers. The characters in this game are simply avatars that represent you in the game and give you a special powers to help you advance through the puzzles more efficiently.
The objective is to win 55 stages of puzzles by removing the orange pegs with a limited number of balls (like the Plinko chip). Mixed with the orange pegs, you'll find one purple peg, two green pegs and an abundance of blue pegs.
A level is completed when there are zero orange pegs left in the stage. Firing your ball towards a set of pegs starts a shot and you watch the ball drop down to the bottom of the stage. At the bottom you'll find a basket that quickly moves left to right and back again as the shots play out. If you manage to drop your ball into the basket you'll get it back as a "free ball."
The difficulty ramps up gradually and allows you to get used to the game design without instant frustration. Before long you'll come to realize you're not just dropping the ball in the pegs hoping to tap it off a few oranges. You'll be timing your drops, angling the shots "just right" to get a perfect bounce all while attempting to hit that moving basket at the bottom.
A stage is a series of shots, each shot ends when the ball leaves the bottom of the stage, either in the basket or off the board entirely. You will have one shot per ball so the more free balls you receive, the more shots you'll have to hit all those little orange pegs.
The Pegs and The Points
You're limited on the total number of balls you have to clear a given stage. To gain extra shots you must drop your ball in the basket to gain the "Free ball" (and some great points) or build up a large score for the given ball.Each peg you hit will give you a certain number of points. Blue pegs, the most prominent, will give you the least amount of points. As you bounce off the pegs you're point score will tally. Hit enough pegs and you'll gain a free ball, hit even more and you may get another additional ball. The more points you score on a single drop the better the chances of getting that free ball and more pegs will be cleared from the stage.
Orange Pegs are all that matter; if you clear all orange pegs you've defeated the stage. However, other peg colors do effect how quickly and successfully you'll become. A great Peggle master will realize the importance of the purple peg! There will always be one purple peg at the start of each shot (randomly placed) and this peg will boost your score for that shot, making it infinitely easier to achieve that free ball!
Green pegs will induce your avatars special abilities - another key ingredient to the win. Bjorn the unicorn, for instance, will show the trajectory of your next balls bounce allowing you to predict, with some measure, the effectiveness of the shot. The second avatar you'll unlock, Jimmy Lightning, will drop a second ball into the shuffle when a green peg is hit which assists you in clearing the level, gaining an extra ball and catching one of the two in the basket.
The Challenge
The first few stages are limited to a plinko style game board which changes a bit as you advance and encounter the bricks. You'll be battling pegs and bricks together which quickly alters your strategy. Bricks can be challenging because your ball doesn't bounce as it does on a peg, as you can imagine, hitting a brick is similar to tossing a tennis ball at a wall - pick a direction and watch it go!
With 55 stages you'll encounter all types of designs, patterns and animation. Yes, some stages have moving pegs, spinning wheels of bricks (some red bricks mixed in) and other designs.
Mix this up with 10 unique avatars, each with their own abilities, and you'll find yourself maximizing the lifetime of each ball and utilizing special abilities to clear a stage when desperation hits. Losing is not an option! Although, you can always restart a level if you lose. You do, however, gain bonus points for clearing a stage on the first and second attempt but points are secondary to progression through all 55 stages.
Once you find yourself the master of Peggle, you'll unlock another set of challenges. These levels, known as "Challenge Mode," will test your skill as a peggle mastermind. You'll have to complete some of your previous stages with an additional set of orange pegs, others you must win by exceeding a large point value in a single stage and yet others will require you to defeat ten random stages in a row.
We thought the game ended after the standard adventure mode was completed but unlocking the additional challenges adds another dimension (some of frustration) to the game. Everyone wants to be the Grand Peggle Master but that title only goes to those that can defeat the additional mode of play - hard!
Duel Mode
There is a two player mode (on the same PC) in the game. Each person plays a ball and attempts to accrue as many points as possible in their shot. The winner is decided at the completion of a stage. If you find yourself without friends there are many levels of AI difficulty available to you.Graphics & Sound
This is a casual game by PopCap, not Gears of War. If you understand that you'll appreciate the level of graphics and color. The game offers a clear crisp set of graphics, similar to other PopCap games but has a great soundtrack that mixes well into the game. If your PC speakers are turned up, everyone in the house will rejoyce when you beat a stage, the music is that potent. You're not presented with "You Win" text and a "tada" - you get a full on orchestra of victory. This adds a bit of humour and satisfaction when defeating a tough stage.Replay Value
Replay is important for casual gamers because your game library is usually small and your time is usually limited. Replay value defines a great casual game because puzzle games, like Peggle, are simple in nature but caffeine addictive.
When you "beat" the game you're typically not finished - you want more. The additional unlockable Challenge Mode keeps you playing hardcore casual.
Each of the 55 stages are unique and well thought out designs. Some will be easier than others but each one poses their own challenge. After playing all 55 stages we went back to stage 1 and didn't even recognize it because there are just so many variations of stage design.
The sheer number of stages allows you to easily play through the entire game again and make it feel fresh. Be warned, you'll always encounter "that level," the one that you hate, despise and never want to see again. Think of it as a challenge to your mental well being - you must win and get revenge.
In addition to 55 levels you'll find each level is a unique replay experience because the placement of the orange pegs is different. You cannot master every level perfectly because its an ever changing experience. The pegs may all be statically placed but the ones you must hit are always mixed up. You must master the art of ball shooting - not memorize the stage.
Overall
It is easy for us to suggest a game with so much play value for the price of US $19.95. Frankly, the screen shots we're including in this review just don't do the game justice, making it look like a breakout clone more than a plinko style game. Without animation you've got to read a bit about the game or try it to truly understand the design.As a test, we had a few 2old2play gamers download and play the demo. It seemed like hours before they returned our Instant Messages. Thinking we were ignored, it turned out they were just hooked. "I had to stop playing and get work done" is exactly the response we had ourselves.
If you're looking for a casual game to pass some time at lunch or before your favorite TV show with your laptop on the couch this may be a title to look into. Unfortunately, it is only available on Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista (no Macintosh or Xbox 360 XBLA).
Two great wish list features would make this game even better: online leaderboard with friends and networked multiplayer.
If there was one complaint we'd have, it would be to make this game available on Microsoft Xbox Live Arcade. This would make a perfect addition to the growing collection of casual games and would convince many wifes to allow their husbands to get a 360.
To get the trial for free, hit up PopCap.com.
