Papa Pear Saga Review

You should not throw food. However, food is allowed to throw itself, should the need arise. In Papa Pear Saga for Facebook, an anthromorphic pear wearing a crash helmet and goggles flings himself around a Peggleinspired game board in the nameof fun. “Fun” is as good a reason as any for a piece of fruit to whip itself through minefields of pegs and power-ups.

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Papa Pear isn’t nearly as cute as Bjorn the Unicorn, but Papa Pear Saga is still a very decent take on Peggle.

You should not throw food. However, food is allowed to throw itself, should the need arise. In Papa Pear Saga for Facebook, an anthromorphic pear wearing a crash helmet and goggles flings himself around a Peggleinspired game board in the nameof fun. “Fun” is as good a reason as any for a piece of fruit to whip itself through minefields of pegs and power-ups.

Papa Pear Saga comes courtesy of King, the designers of the enormously popular Candy Crush Saga, and the current kings (heh heh) of Facebook gaming. Like Candy Crush Saga, Papa Pear Saga’s concept skirts closely—too closely, some might argue—to a hit game idea that’s already been done. Whereas Candy Crush Saga is a take on PopCap’s Bejeweled, Papa Pear Saga adapts Peggle, another casual classic by PopCap. However, Papa Pear Saga makes a few key adjustments to the formula, and it’s these adjustments that save the title from being damned as a mere imitator.

Papa Pear Saga

Like Peggle before it, Papa Pear Saga  is heavily inspired by Pachinko. Papa Pear acts as the game’s ball. You adjust your shot with the game’s mouse, and click to let fly. Papa bounces from peg to peg, all of which are designed to look like different kinds of fruits and nuts. But whereas you’re instructed to clear a certain number of orange pegs in Peggle, Papa Pear Saga has numerous objectives.

Most of the time, you’re asked to land at least one Papa Pear in each of the five pots lining the bottom of the game board. But there are also instances wherein you’re instructed to knock giant pieces of fruit down into any of the pots. You may also be asked to clear away a certain kind of peg, not unlike traditional Peggle.

These seemingly basic goals get more complicated as the game goes on, too. In later levels, open pots are blocked off by destructible barriers, and/or lids that must be blasted away before Papa can land in one. It doesn’t take long for you to start worrying about your ball count.

Papa Pear Saga

As is the case in Candy Crush Saga, failure to meet your level goals means the loss of a life. Lives recharge over time. It’s not a bad system; if you’re good (or just lucky), you can play Papa Pear Saga for a long time before you lose even one life. This is preferable to taking away “Energy” with each action, a system that most social/Facebook games are infamous for.

There’s a trade-off, of course. Boosts and power-ups in Papa Pear Saga can only be bought with hard currency. There’s no in-game currency that you can accumulate for point multipliers, extra balls, or other delights that can boost your score or save your pear-shaped butt when things are going badly.

Otherwise, if you’re a fan of Peggle, you should be able to sink right into Papa Pear Saga. It’s slower-paced than Candy Crush Saga, which makes it a touch less addictive—but your employer probably won’t have a problem with that. 

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      80 out of 100
      In the early aughts, Nadia fell into writing with the grace of a brain-dead bison stumbling into a chasm. Over the years, she's written for Nerve, GamePro, 1UP.com, USGamer, Pocket Gamer, Just Labs Magazine, and many other sites and magazines of fine repute. She's currently About.com's Guide to the Nintendo 3DS at ds.about.com.