Peggle

I didn’t WANT to do it. In fact, I swore that I’d limit my Peggle time to quick bursts of the iPod version when on the train, lest I become addicted. Every time the Xbox Live Arcade edition was mentioned, I’d cover my ears and pretend that I was in my happy place. Then, Josie from Level256.co.uk told me that everything would be alright, and that I could see it through.

So, I paid my money and I took my chance. That was at about 7pm. An hour and a half later, I’d completed the Adventure mode with a woeful overall score that was some five million points short of achievement territory. By midnight, I had played through a good chunk of the Challenge mode. Then, I put the controller down, only to repeat the same story on the following three or four nights. Put succinctly, I’ve had a hell of a lot more entertainment from playing Peggle, than I have from playing the majority of full-priced titles this year.

If you aren’t familiar with the game, I’ll fill you in. A board is filled with orange and blue pegs and bricks, and you’re tasked with firing a ball-bearing from the top of the screen, with the general goal being to eliminate the orange ones. A hopper moves across the bottom of the screen, and if your ball eventually lands in it, you get a free ball. One peg is randomly turned purple before each turn, and hitting this will multiply your score for the round, whilst two green pegs are also added at the start of the game, with these giving you access to your chosen power-up. When the final orange peg has been hit, the bottom of the board splits into five holes which award different amounts of points depending on which one your ball lands in.

It sounds simple, and it is. But, the simplicity is where the beauty of the game lies. As with the majority of PopCap’s titles, you can see that the game mechanic has been polished to the point that you could see your face in it. Everything is bright and colourful on the graphics front, and there are several modes to play through – including the delightfully named online “Peg Party” mode, which is executed stylishly – and completing all of them will take you DAYS. Early levels task you with clearing the orange pegs as normal – which is tough in itself on some levels – but later ones ask you to score a certain number of points as well. If you’ve never sworn at a videogame before, prepare for the air to turn blue as your ball hits the edge of the 100,000 point target when you need 40,000 to beat the level, only to ricochet off and land in the 10,000 point slot.

The power-ups on offer are selected before play commences, and generally have a real effect on the outcome of the game. One character provides you with multiball abilities, whilst another adds Pinball-style flippers to the side of the screen for a couple of turns. Several others are available, but the clever “Zen Shot” – which recalculates and then adjusts your shot by a few degrees to give you the most “Zen” (points) – is probably the one you’ll use most often, especially in points battles online.

There are two things that set really good puzzle and skill games aside from the mediocre attempts. The first is anxiety – that minute of panic as Tetris blocks start to overwhelm you or that feeling you get when you’ve only got a sliver of time left in Zuma. The second is the way that the game is balanced. A game that gives you absolutely no chance at all will cause you to put it down and never play it again, whilst a game that is too easy is just as easily dismissed. Peggle brings the anxiety in spades, such as when you’ve got one ball left to hit two pegs, or are just 40,000 points short of your target with two attempts to go. Also, the game is so beautifully balanced that it’s highly unlikely that anybody will give up after a few rounds of play. This has been PopCap’s hallmark for a good few years now, and the popularity of their games just goes to show how important it is. If you feel like you could have beaten that level had you just concentrated a little bit more, you’ll play again – and thus addiction is born. That isn’t to say that more seasoned gamers will be put off, since the score challenges alone will keep them playing and honing their skills as they attempt to nab one of the many bonus points awards for things such as bouncing the ball off the hopper and still managing to collect it, or pulling off a screen-wide “Super Long Shot” for an extra 50,000 points.

Online, players are tasked with taking their shots at the same time (on separate boards) with each shot being scored and compared to everyone else’s. A shot clock is in play to keep things moving swiftly and at a button press, you can see a live representation of your opponent’s board. As with everything else here, it all works so well that you’ll be able to clearly see the gulf in quality between this and say – ooh – 90% of the titles available on Xbox Live Arcade right now.

And that really sums it up. Xbox Live Arcade is a wonderful resource for cheap and cheerful titles, but every now and again, one comes along that really stands out as being an absolute bargain. Peggle is one of those bargains, as I would quite happily have paid £40 for this without grumbling. Peggle is – quite simply – the balls.