Review: Peggle is a must have! There are few things in video games, or in life for that matter, that are sure things or at least close to being one. Peggle for the iPhone/iPod Touch comes as close as you can get and anyone looking for an addictive game can do no better than this. With few exceptions, the devs have managed to bring that experience in the palm of your hands. I’ll be the first to admit that back in my day, I was never really interested in Peggle for whatever reason so this review is coming more from a Peggle outsider. Peggle has more 55 levels and four modes of play: Adventure (campaign), Quick Play (arcade), Duel (hotseat two-player) and Challenge (40 additional levels that are unlocked once Adventure mode is completed). Note that in Quick Play, you can only play boards that you’ve completed in Adventure mode. The goal of Peggle of simple: clear the screen of the orange pegs with 10 balls. In practice, accomplishing that can be quite the challenge. Peggle is all about skill in ricochets and angles because this is one game where the bounce of the ball matters. You only need to know two things about the controls: the launcher at the top of screen can be moved and angled based on touch, and the Fire button is self explanatory. You can also zoom in/out by tapping the screen. Of course, there are other things that you’ll want to know (and which I’m obliged to tell you the few who haven’t yet tried Peggle). Pegs come in four colors: Blue, Purple, Green, and Orange. Blue is the common the peg, outnumbering the other pegs. Purple is the high score peg that will help you rack up some big points. Green (like M&Ms) is your magic power peg, and can conjure up multiple balls, providing trajectory tools to help with aim, etc. And finally, Orange is the treasured peg that you need to hit. One of the things that differentiate Peggle from other similar games is the fun and lighthearted look and vibe. The game feels like a big cartoon production especially with the Masters of each Peggle world. Bjorn Unicorn, Jimmy Lightening, Kat Tut, Splork, Claude Lobster, Renfield Pumpkin, Tula Sunflower, Warren Rabbit, Lord Cinderbottom and Master Hu are to Peggle what Superman was to the Superfriends and the Hall of Justice. For example, Bjorn Unicorn is your Super Guide, who shows you how to angle shots, while Jimmy Lightening teaches you the power of multiball. Each has a unique power that you can utilize as you move through the levels. The scoring systems are just as elaborate with proclamations such as Extreme Fever. A free ball bucket is constantly moving back and forth at the bottom of the screen, and if a ball happens to land in there, you get the ball back for an extra shot. And, if you whiff, hitting nothing but air on a shot, there’s a coin flip to determine if you should get an other shot. And, I can’t forget the Fevermeter that gradually lights up as you knock off orange pegs, awarding score multipliers. In addition, you also receive style points for creative shots and long shots that travel a distance across the board. I can go on and on about the scoring, but I think you should discover more of that on your own. Accompanied by beautiful background designs along with colorful pegs and blocks, you’ll find each level exudes a unique personality. As I mentioned the gameplay is rather simple combining both luck and skill, and comes down to how the ball bounces. And throughout the game, you’ll receive reminders of how many balls are left as well as highlighted orange pegs so you know where they’re located. On the very last orange peg you hit, the game goes into slow-mo accompanied by some operatic music to celebrate your impending victory. Peggle also offers a replay option of your last victorious board clearing hit which can also be saved in case you want to gloat. Upon completing or failing a level which you will undoubtedly do, a stats page appears showing everything from total score and level score to style points and fever score. You even receive points based on the number of tries it took to complete the level. One minor issue is the lack of background music that is found in the original game. Hopefully the music bug is fixed in a future update soon because it does take away from the overall feel of the game. Peggle is one of those games that will grow on you if not quickly, then soon. And, now I know why people are addicted to it. Albie Meter: 5 Stars (Outstanding)
concise and informative as ever albie ! (although i am already playing it so not to me ) ps there is another small bug - when entering your name at the beginning if you make a mistake typing you cannot delete the previous letter !
I was about to write where in the TA is BigA without the review, must it be the game too engaging to stop? Oh well, at last, here we go... I don't think the review changes much the fact that I am pretty much sold. I don't need a review right now, I need a WiFi connection to get it on my iPhone.
Just read the review over at iLounge. Seems PopCap nerfed the game for iDevices. No music during gameplay... frame rate glitches... Removal of challenge levels... no new content... I'll stick with my Click Wheel version. But have fun...
- There is sound, even music in the menu, just none in the levels (I'm not bothered tbh, used to turn it off on the PC version - No framerate glitches here, smooth as butter. - There are 40 challenges - New content. Well, I'm sure that can be added after 3.0. This is easily worth 10 dollars (price of the PC version) due to the mobility factor. The graphics are great, like I said really smooth, and the controls are well done for the iPhone/Touch imo. Happy as Larry here.
Good to hear you're happy with it... I'm not quite sure. Already own it on Click Wheel. Bought it for the same price with more content. Curious they didn't port it over just a bit better. Shouldn't have to wait for an update.
That's what I was afraid of. Bookworm suffers big time from lag when it gets busy in timed mode, which renders it pretty much unplayable (The shake to shuffle feature isn't very responsive either). Normally, this wouldn't dictate to me whether I buy or not as devs tend to solve these things pretty quick on the whole, but Popcap haven't shown any real sign that they will sort out those issues, and until then Peggle is on the back burner for me.
if you like peggle you will like this version ! the glitches if you want to call them that are minimal especially compared to some other games first releases. the price is reasonable for the ammount of content - even if there could be more (but then still some people would moan) if you dont want to buy it then dont but i cannot understand the point of posting that here - we dont care. there is some basketball game out at the moment - i dont like basketball but i dont go to the thread and post oh its too expensive, its about basketball and therefore its rubbish ! read peoples opinions about the game - try the various free versions, look at you bank account and then decide YOURSELF buy it, dont buy it
Thanks 3uphonius. That's good news I'm hovering again... And Soup, where did that come from? Was that rant directed at me?
naaa noone specifically - just get generally bored of wading through pages with people going.... oh no too expensive, too short, i dont like it, i'm not going to buy it .....who gives a f***
phew! I guess I'm just still sore that I was disappointed with Bookworm and that we're still on version 1.0......
Beyond any shadow of a doubt the best game I've bought for my iPhone. Runs smooth as silk, is SO polished and it's just FUN. Absolutely LOVE it. In-game music the only missing thing - but as someone else pointed out, that's often one of the things you turn off anyway... unless it's absolutely outstanding (like in the old Bitmap Brothers 'Magic Pockets'. Hey wouldn't ports of the old BMBros games to the iPhone be awesome... Gods, Speedball, Magic Pockets... was Xenon one of their too? Jamie.
Is everyone that is raving about this game a previous Peggle player/fan? I've never played it before, and while the screenshots look decent, based on the video, I'm not so sure I'll like the gameplay.
