Game Review: Peggle (PSN)

Peggle
Platform: PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network) Reviewed. Also on:Windows, Mac OS X, iPod, Windows Mobile, Java ME, BREW, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360 (XBLA), iPhone OS, Zeebo
Developer: Popcap Games
Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment

I wasn’t expecting much when the title screen of Peggle came on with it’s childlike bright colours and picture of a uniform, but I’m glad I stuck with it because it’s one hell of an addictive game. A cross between Puzzle Bobble and Pinball the game has a very easy learning curve which helps you get suckered into the game and soon you’re replacing random shots with precision angles for maximum effect(I still haven’t perfected it).

The ain of game is to remove all the orange coloured balls or blocks(from here on in I’ll just refer to both as balls) on the screen these are littered amongst blue coloured balls, which just give you points, a purple coloured ball which gives you a points bonus and two green balls which are like your special weapon(I’ll get on to those in a bit). You have 8 pinballs that you shoot from the top of the screen, and much like in Puzzle Bobble, you can aim it any direction in that 180 degrees. Fire the ball and watch it bounce around the screen taking out the other balls as it inevitably heads towards the bottom. Now at the bottom of the screen there is a pot, if the ball goes into the pot you get a free ball, if not you don’t, simple as that. When you hit the last orange ball the camera zooms in slow motion style as the music changes to ‘Ode to Joy’ and there are five holes the ball can fall into at the bottom of the screen - two 10,000 point holes, two 25,000 and one 100,000 in the middle. I never got tired of this moment it was so much fun watching the ball drop.


There are for different types of game - adventure, quick play, master duel and challenge. Adventure basically gets you into the game, you play through all the different characters, learning their special weapon. There are ten characters, unicorn, flower, frog, alien, rabbit, dragon, lobster, beaver, pumpkin and an owl. There is absolutely nothing unique about their game play apart from their special power, but as you’ll find when playing the challenge levels, choosing which character/special power can be very important. Special powers include seeing where your ball will bounce, lobster flippers at the bottom of the screen(much like you would get in pinball) a space blast which will clear some of the balls, a ghost ball which appears when your ball falls off the screen, and my personal favourite - the Zen shot, choose your shot and the computer will select a better shot for you close by, it’s definitely the power I choose the most.


At first I didn’t think this game was that up to much it just seemed to be a luck whether or not you took out a lot of balls or just one or two, but as you just into it you look at the screen and plan out how your going to attack the level, hoping that it all goes to plan. Adventure mode only takes a few hours, but it’s the challenge mode that will really consume most of your time, there are something like 55 levels and it gets very challenging after the first six levels so there’s plenty to keep you going.


The only issue I have is that the duel mode just doesn’t seem to work for me. You take turns until the orange balls have cleared and whoever has the most points at the end wins. I only played this a few times and it just didn’t seem to click, the games weren’t close and there was no excitement in this game mode.

I don’t usually play online PSN games but I find myself choosing this game over anything in my collection, it’s definitely a must for old school puzzle fans.