Peggle Review

Its been said by many game designers the first 15 minutes of a game is the most important in order to win over the player. We couldn't agree more -- especially with "casual" game players as time isn't always on their side -- but there are always exceptions to the rule.

Case in point: PopCap's Peggle, easily the finest casual game of the year thus far, may not grab you by the lapels the first few minutes you spend with it.

But give it time, baby, give it time, because it'll grow on you like crazy.

The idea behind Peggle is a simple one: fire a silver ball at the top of the screen in a given direction and watch as it falls down towards the bottom. With only a predetermined number of balls per level, you must hit all the orange pegs spread out among the mainly blue ones, laid out in a specific pattern. The ball bounces from one peg to another, like a pinball hitting a bumper. Catch the ball in a moving bucket that glides back and forth horizontally at the bottom of the screen and you'll be awarded with a free ball. The goal is to clear all the orange pegs before you run out of balls before advancing to the next level.

The strategy lies in where you shoot the ball, so that it hits the desired pegs and bounces in the desired direction to hit other orange pegs -- or blue pegs you need to clear to make way for more orange ones. Pegs are laid out in specific shapes, such as an animated car, a person's face, riverbank or aquarium. The pegs are often animated, such as rotating wheels on a bicycle in front of hand-painted 2-D backdrop.

The "wow" factor kicks in just as you finish the level. As the silver ball moves towards the final peg, the camera zooms in for a slow-motion close up and a drum roll climaxes into Beethoven's Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony! Then, the silver ball falls into one of five bonus prize values, ranging from 10,000 points to 100,000 points, followed by fireworks and a rainbow. Now this is how to reward a gamer for a job well done. Click the Instant Replay button to capture a slick move, which you can share with a friend at a later time.

Levels are segregated into specific themes -- such as space, Halloween or nature - featuring a unique character at the top of the screen, and with a unique power-up that is activated when a green peg is hit. For example, in the underwater level, hitting a green peg causes pinball flippers to appear (in the shape of lobster claws) on each side of the screen to help keep the ball afloat. In the scary Halloween level, the spooky ball, which glows green, flies around the board twice, giving you extra points and hopefully taking out more orange pegs for you.

Along with the main Adventure mode and its 55 increasingly challenging levels, the game also offers a Quick Play mode (play any previously completed level, but using any power-up you like); a Duel mode for two players to compete in head-to-head Peggle matches (against a friend on the same PC or against the computer A.I.); and the Challenge mode with 75 additional puzzles to tackle.

Honestly, there is very little to find wrong with Peggle. It's one of those rare games that gets everything right, from ridiculously addictive game-play and multiple game modes to beautiful graphics and enjoyable audio to welcome extras such as funny characters, an instant replay option and the climactic end to each level. Do yourself a favor and give Peggle a chance - it may might not impress at first -- but be sure to stick with it as you won't be sorry. Your family, on the other hand, might not be as pleased with your newfound PC companion.

Sitting and waiting has never been so much fun!

This game is AWESOME. The review is correct, the more you play the more you will be sucked in. Download the trial and then buy the full version - I did.

*****

Hey what about Book Worm? What about Lex? Come on that game did rather rule.

Very fun game. It's so simple, yet addictive. And the celebration when you finish the level is so stunning :D

The game is very polished, but I prefer Bookworm Adventures with it's strange charme because of the better gameplay. Peggle is a bit like sitting in front of a beautiful slot machine.

I found the graphics stunning, but the gameplay monotonous. *yawns*

My question is would this game get 5 stars if it didn't come from Popcap? Yes the production is amazing. But is this game going to be a true blockbuster? I don't think so. Great game but I think somebody like kissing popcaps A@#

Come on - Bookworm Adventures got 5 stars too. Just because the game is not of your liking doesn't mean it doesn't deserve 5 stars.

this game has no skill really involved it would be better if we had more control over what we have to do.

Sandra:

When did you last come across a slot machine over which you had any control beyond the betting configuration?

When I first started playing Peggle, I had thoughts similar to some of those posted above. "Will this game still be interesting 10 or 100 hours from now? How much of this is luck and how much is skill?"

I'd say that for the first 10 or 20 levels, it was 50% luck and 50% skill. Having played all the way through the Adventure and Challenge modes (about 130 levels/decks), I'd say it's now 75% skill and 25% luck, and I think I can push that to 85% skill over time. As with most things, the more that skill becomes a factor (or even is perceived to be a factor), the more invested one becomes and the more satisfaction one gleans from "winning." (Likewise, it can be more frustrating to lose once you feel that skill has become more of a factor, but not proportionally so, at least in my experience with Peggle.)

This game takes longer to 'grow on you' than BWA, or most other casual games for that matter. But once it sinks its roots into your brain, it's not only very addictive, it's tremendously satisfying in ways that most other games are not. I think it's this "sliding scale" of luck vs. skill that makes it work on that long-term level (for some; admittedly not everyone), and at the same time, the sliding luck vs. skill scale makes it a slightly tougher game to really get into. Instead of taking 1 or 2 hours to hook you, Peggle may take 5 or 10. This is somewhat unfortunate given that the trial is only 1 hour.

Is this a remake of the 1991 arcade game called "Peggle?" No mention of that anywhere.

This is my favorite casual game of the last couple years! I can't put my finger on why- but I constantly have the urge to play it.

It's not a remake, just a coincidence. We had to rename the game just before release due to a trademark problem with our original name. We learned about the 1991 arcade game after that, but the name Peggle was available to trademark and fit our game perfectly. I attribute the similarities to both games being inspired by Japanese pachinko/pachislo pegboard games, and both trying to inject some element of skill to the purely luck-based pachinko gameplay.

Sukhbir Sidhu
Senior Director & Head of Production for PC Games
PopCap Games

I tried this game. Popcap has a great record for blazing new trails. This was a good attempt but I find the game to be somewhat boring because it relies on luck too much.

At Last! Pachinko for the West. Long have I waited and now the reward of the patient. O mi God! Fabulous. Simply fabulous. I could play this all day. I love bit when you head for the last peg!

well at least Popcap went direct for their rip-off here rather than when they made Zuma without even mentioning PuzzLoop . WHOOPSIE DOOPSIE !

i'm saving my money for 'Hammer Heads 2' - now that's where the gold is !

My Franklin pocket translator is still choking on your well-formed comments, James, but I think I know what you're saying. When the Pachinko parlor owners of the world see Peggle, they're gonna be hot. The nerve of some people using pegs and balls in their games. I know I start to get a little tweaky every time there's a break in the barrage of "finding hidden jewel pictures in the background of a scene where you're serving breakfast to blue, red and yellow service industry folks standing on a slow-moving assembly line" games (extra points for inserting an Incan, Mayan or Egyptian theme). It's just so painful to give someone credit for something that's well-crafted and original, isn't it? Good job, PopCap. My 7-year-old daughter and I think Peggle is terrific!

This game is polished, and will make its money, but is it 'fun'? If you like pinball or pachinko, you will like this game. If you don't, then you'll sit there and wish for the interactivity that is severely lacking in this game. And where does the skill factor come in? It doesn't. There is no real skill involved, and don't confuse 'aiming' with 'skill'. You aim the ball, pull the trigger and watch. And, wow, is it ever fun to watch the ball hit the side of the screen and drop straight down into oblivian.

The reviewer's above talk about the 'Fever' rewards at the end of the game, and they say 'this is how to to reward a gamer', and that's true... if I was 5 years old. I want to earn rewards, and I feel cheated that my reward is random. I have no influence over which slot the ball bounces into, and that is frustrating, and no amount of sparkle will change that.

Sorry, but I will pass on this one, and spend my money on something I can actually PLAY.

I look forward to playing this game on my Mac someday >>>>sigh

I have bought a couple of games from popcap. They are good games but I will never buy a game from them again. They have no phone support. When you email them they do not answer. Word of advice, I paid by paypal and did an echeck, it has been a week and still have no code to unlock the game. I have emailed them 5 times and even have a dispute with paypal with them and they still insist on not
giving me the unlock code. They feel they don't
have to answer their emails. When you have a problem don't expect them to answer,even after you pay for their games. I think they are making enough money to put a phone number down for support and billing issues. What are they scared of?

GREAT casual game! I agree that the luck versus skill issue changes as you play, you gradually see tricks to exploit.
The attention to detail is really fantastic.

Oh, and yes, they should release a Mac version at the same time, don't treat us like 2nd class citizens!

Karen,

Phone number for Popcap is (206) 256-4200.

Peggle is amazing, simple hehehe,

I totally cant stop playing it, and for those who say it requires no skill, i cant understand that at all. You gotta be really good to get through some of the tougher levels, and the bonus at the end is awesome, like when it skiffs off the inside of the 100k cup and then infuriatingly flies over into the 10k one... suspense!!!

But yeah id reccomend this game to everybody, youngsters will get enjoyment from just playin it, and for the older folks, well, it makes a welcome change from games about guns/stats/cars and all the other usual stuff.

Unique and Highly Addictive what more do you need??

I would argue that the "luck" factor isn't nearly as high as you think. The game uses pretty exact physics to determine where a ball goes. Of course we all can't do a large-system free-body diagram in our heads, so it "appears" mostly like "luck" and when you take random pot shots, it does.

But for skill, after the first many hours of playing, i realized I figured out how to time my shot to get one more peg then slam right in the bucket. I have devised strategies based on "which peg should i hit first and what angle am i wanting?" or "are there enough surrounding pegs to try to clear more blue pegs since my multipier is high and i can get the purple peg?" or "where do i need to make hole first for later access"

my home is full of hardcore strategy players, causal players, arcade players, and sim/rpg players... so far everyone is hooked just because when you think the chips are down on a level... you see an opening, or, perhaps, "dumb luck" saves the day and the reward is given.

the ode to joy level ending is so over the top, i laughed my ass off during the entire ending to the first level the first time i played it.

maybe not for everyone... but i like to call it "happy rainbow pachinko on acid trip game" and i love it.

NOTE: the trial version i got directly from Popcap.com is not time bound, rather it does not allow any player to go past level 4-5, but can be played as often as you want.

Awesome game! Another instant Popcap HIT!

Which level can you get 700,000 points on?

Corri:

I've managed to get 700,000+ on three levels:
- the 'clamshell pearl' level that has three 'arches' of brick-shaped pegs (using the flipper power-up)

- the "bucket" level that has one big 'valley' built of brick-shaped pegs filled with round pegs (using the Spooky Ball power-up)

- the "tree" level with the two bunches of densely-packed pegs located more or less in the upper left and lower right areas of the screen (using the Space Blast power-up).

None of these is easy, that's for sure. In each case, I *still* had to bounce 10-15 single shots directly into the bucket (usually in runs of 5 or 10 in a row, which garners additional bonuses of 25k and 100k respectively).

I would say that the "clamshell/pearl" level using the flippers was the 'easiest' of the three, since I've managed to replicate that success about four times... it requires that your first shot of the game
- hits at least one, and ideally both, of the green pegs
- hits the purple 'score multiplier' peg
- be kept in play long enough to hit all, or almost all, of the brick-shaped pegs that make up the three 'arches'
After that, it's a combination of luck and skill, as usual... you'll again need to bounce about half or more of the remaining pegs directly into the bucket...

Good luck!

I had a slow start with this game ... initially I got the usual kick I get our of Popcap games but this weekend it really got hold of me.

I only have the demo verison, but playing in Duel mode is where the game goes into another level. I've been playing against the computer, but I'm really keen to play with a friend tonight.

I realised that you do indeed have a lot of contol and choice and it's not only lucky, random bouncing.

Also, in the tension and supsense of a head-to-head setting, the finale drum rolls (and accompanying "AWWWWWW" on close misses) are so sweet.

The more I play this game the more I see how much work was put into it. Mad respect Popcap!

Love the game, except for the fact the promised fullscreen mode doesn't seem to work for me for some reason.

this game is ***OUT OF CONTROL***!!!!!
fabulous

Challenge mode

How to score 750000 points. How to score 750k.

It's very hard to do, so we need a little time and a lot of luck:

First we choose map "pearl clam" from Stage five and our bonus helper will be Warren the Rabbit.

With our first shot we must hit a green peg and get the bonus "Flippers" because on this map the ball can't get pass the Flippers and an intact second floor. Now we must try to hit the second green peggle and get "Triple score". From this point try and hit as much pegs as possible. Remember: The ball can'tgo out, but its also hard to hit the pegs above the third floor. It'spossible to score around 300000 points this way with the first ball: 3 times 80k + Flipper Maniac bonus + Orange Attack + perhaps (Super) Long Shot etc.

From there on you have to try to score as much points as possible with your second ball, which still has the "Triple score" bonus and the ball cant go out easily with the first floor intact and your flippers. You should have at least 400000 points after the first two balls.

Now we are aiming to score as much pegs and boni as possible. Hitting the purple pegs with every ball and "(Super) Long Shots" should be scored with every ball.The following boni should be taken into consideration: Freeball Skills Bonus (Bounce ball directly from one (and only one) peg into the Free Ball Bucket.) Lucky Bounce (Bounce the ball off the Free Ball Bucket for a certain amount of
time or 1/4 the height of the screen, then catch the ball in the Free Ball Bucket.) (Crazy) Mad Skillz: Have 5(10) balls in a row fall in the Free Ball Bucket.

Finally we must obviously clear the sheet completly to get the 100k from the holes and don't forget you get 10kbonus for every remaining ball.

Good luck. I got 753000 using this strategy.

I just scored 1,312,000 points on the 750k challenge and the replay didn't show the win. Anyone know why? I'm really not happy.

While this is fun, I much preferred the old original 1991 arcade game version with the rotating pegboard. I was thinking that is what I was getting when I downloaded it... no big deal since I just used the trial version.

This game is really adicting!!!

Even you play the demo, the free version of msn.com or the full complete game.. the needings of get a better score made me a peegleholic.....

damn... only Puzzle Quest and Bookworm Adventure are as good as this game...

fantastic game !!!

maybe the best I played ever (and I played a lot of games)

GameMaster

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