Editor's Say - "Good" "Just plain fun!" Find out what i thought...
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*****READERS NOTE*****
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My reviews are purely my own thoughts. I respect everyone having his or her own opinions, so please respect mine. If you come across any mishaps in this review, please feel free to message me. Thanks.
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*****INFO*****
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Genre(s): Arcade - Puzzle
Age Rating: 3 +
Contents: None
Difficulty: Challenging
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*****INTRODUCTION*****
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THE POSITIVES
Fun gameplay – Charming visuals – Wining a level – Playing your own music stored on the PS3 hard drive in gameplay
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THE NEGATIVES
Gameplay can get tiresome after a while
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"Yes, it's fun!"
~Editor
Peggle is a puzzle game developed by Sukhbir Sidhu and Brian Rothstein of PopCap Games. Originally released for Microsoft Windows back in 2007, it was released for the Xbox 360 in March 2009 before making it's way to the PS3 in November 2009, as well as on the Nintendo DS, iPod, and iPhone.
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*****REVIEW*****
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Peggle is a simplistic arcade puzzle game that consists of you going through 55 levels (not including the downloadable content levels), each featuring 100 objects know as "pegs", which are positioned differently to fit each levels background image. Each level is constructed inside of three walls (top and sides) leaving the bottom open. At the top of the screen is your starting position, a cannon that fires out metallic balls. At the bottom is a moving platform the move back and forth (from left to right) throughout each level. The goal of the game is to effectively hit all 25 orange pegs, which are randomly placed at the start of the game in amongst 72 blue pegs, 1 purple pegs that grants you a lot of points when hit, and 2 green pegs that act as power ups. Hitting out all 25 orange pegs will effectively win the level, which will be announced by the song "Ode To Joy" and the message "Extreme Fever". Clearing each stage (level) will also replace the empty bottom screen with bonus bins, each with a different value of points that the ball will fall into, which will be added to your final score. If all the pegs are cleared in any set level, the message "Ultra Extreme Fever" will be displayed, and the bonus bins at the bottom of the screen will all turn to there maximum value.
Pegs light up when they are hit, and will stay lit until either the ball falls through the bottom of the screen and out of play, gets caught by the ball catcher at the bottom of the screen that moves left and right, or if the ball get caught (somehow) between pegs, after which the pegs will disappear. At the start of each level, you are giving 10 metallic balls to clear the stage. You can earn more balls by ranking up points in a single shot, or award yourself a free shot if the ball is caught in the ball catcher at the bottom of the screen. Playing through the Adventure mode in Single Player, you will play as 10 different characters in order. Each character has their own level theme, 5 different level designs, which get more and more challenging as you get further into the game, and power ups. Power ups are great and sometimes essential to winning a level. The characters and power ups are as follows; a unicorn that shows which way your ball will bounce, a beaver that throws another ball into play, an Egyptian cat that attaches a pyramid to the sides of the ball catcher, a space alien that lights up the nearest pegs, a crab that sets up flippers at either side of the screen, a pumpkin that causes the ball to reappear at the top of the screen after falling out at the bottom, a sunflower that lights up 20% remaining orange pegs, a rabbit that spin a wheel that determines what power up you get, a dragon that shoots out big balls of fire that go through all pegs, and an awl that improves your shot through the power of mindfulness. Once you get through each of all 10 characters, you'll reach the final 5 levels of the single player mode, in which you can pick any character your most comfortable playing with.
In addition to the Adventure mode, Peggle also features several game modes. Quick Game; where you can play any of your favourite levels you've unlocked from Adventure mode. Master Duel; which puts you up against another person or the computer AI that consists of either side fighting each other at taking turns at ranking up the most points, and Challenge Mode; that features a series of challenges that requires you to complete boards under stricter requirements.
Peggle also comes with an online multiplayer feature where you can play an online peg party of up to 4 players, which consists of 4 players fighting each other using a limited number of balls at attempting to get the highest score. You can also play a local or a remote 2 player duel online.
Overall Peggle is a very fun, and very amusing game, but it does get a bit tiring after a while. Sure the game can be quite addictive, but I find it rather tiring after an hour or so. As fun as Peggle may be, it can also be somewhat frustrating at times because the game basically falls under one aspect… luck. Peggle is all about luck, you fire a shot and watch as your ball bounces all over the place whilst you sit and pray your ball gets caught in the ball catcher below, or that the ball somehow hits all 25 orange pegs in one shot (which is near impossible). Whilst the online multiplayer is pretty thin if you don't know or don't have friends to play with, for what it is Peggle is a good little arcade game that yes; I would say is worth the purchase.
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*****TECHNICAL PROBLEMS DURING THE COURSE OF PLAYING*****
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None.
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*****FINAL OVERALL SCORE*****
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Story – N/A
Online Multiplayer – 5/10
Very fun with friends, but extremely shallow without.
Life Value – 6/10
55 levels to play through, 4 game modes… not bad.
My Thought Score – 7.5
Peggle is… a good, fun little arcade game that I would say is worth the purchase.
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Presentation – 7.5/10
Consistent level design and a mix of good challenging aspects.
Graphics – 7.5/10
Nice digital backgrounds and amusing special effects and design.
Game-Play – 8/10
Simplistic and fun.
Sound Effects – 7/10
Whilst the gameplay music isn't anything captivating (except for the "Ode To Joy" song played at the end of winning a level), and the constant sound of the ball bouncing about the level can be a bit tiring after a while, it's pretty decent to say the least.
Concept – 6/10
Simple concept that does work well
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*****EDITOR'S OVERALL THOUGHT SCORE – 7.5/10*****
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Peggle Review by Simon a.k.a. [TheDevilDweller]