Peggle Review

Peggle is the best selling gem from masters of casual gaming POPCAP. It can be best described as a combination of Pachinko and Pinball and like those two games most of the entertainment comes from the nail biting frantic randomness that determines much of the gameplay.


In the primary game mode, Adventure, each stage gives you 10 balls and requires you to knock out all of the orange pegs before you run out of balls. Making things more difficult are various obstacles ranging from black holes to timed platforms. However help is on hand, from the Peggle masters you study under at the Peggle Institute, whose powers range from the helpful paddle extension to the quite frankly useless, after the first two shots, space blast.


When the final orange peg is struck in a level the game enters Extreme Fever mode, this is the defining moment of Peggle's allure. The perfect combination of visual style and the Ode to Joy music create a memory that sticks with you for days afterwards.


Once you manage to complete all the stages, you can then either take on various challenges which require you to fulfil certain objectives, varying from clearing all the pegs in a level to amassing a certain amount of points. Or you can play a Duel against the computer or a friend. Although Peggle is a strictly casual title, that doesn't mean that it's best enjoyed in small bursts. The first time I picked it up I played through the whole of adventure mode without a break.


It's worth pointing out that if you do get the Iphone version that the graphics are a little worse which is disappointing given the potential of the Iphone as a platform. Peggle plays a lot better with a mouse, still it's one of the better options in the Iphone store and it offers as much playtime and fun as many games with bigger production values. A recently announced Xbox 360 port should also ensure that there's always someone to play a Duel against too.