Game review: Peggle - iPhone / iPod Touch

If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch and you don’t own Peggle then there is something wrong with you!

Something seriously wrong. I mean, you must be one peg short of a Peggle board not to have grabbed this great game already.

But never fear, redemption is near. Hopefully this review will tempt you to correct your oversight and pick it up straight away.

The first thing Peggle has going for it is it’s from the phenomenal PopCap stable of games, the same people responsible for bringing out the mighty Bejeweled games.

PopCap are the masters of casual gaming and have come up trumps again with the port of Pegggle to Apple’s mobile devices.

No video game is ever going to be perfect – but Peggle now joins Bejewled in being about as clear to gaming perfection as it’s possible to get.

It has simple gameplay which anyone can pick up, but it’s hugely addictive which makes the game nigh on impossible to put down.

Peggle is a game of skill with a little bit of luck thrown in, similar to the old pachinko game but much better.

You are presented with a board containing a mixture of 100 blue and orange pegs and bricks. You are given 10 silver balls which you fire from a cannon at the top of the screen. Though hitting them gives you points, the blue objects are basically hazards. You must somehow navigate around them with each shot to try and clear all the orange objects in order to complete a level.

The skill lies in aiming each shot. You must carefully line up the cannon to try and set up the best chain of ricochets and bounces around the board to try and take out as many pegs and bricks with each shot as you can.

Planning each shot is essential, though sometimes luck takes over as you get a lucky bounce or score a fluky long shot.

Aiming the cannon is done by either moving your finger around on the touch screen or by using a wheel at the side for precise direction. The controls, like everything else in the game, work flawlessly.

There is more strategy in Peggle than just plotting the flight of each shot. First of all, there is a moving bucket at the bottom of the screen and if you can land your ball in it you get a bonus shot. There are also purple pegs which give you extra points and green pegs which activate one of 10 special powers such as having multiple balls on screen or being able to launch a fireball which cuts through swathes of pegs.

Peggle really ramps up the excitement when you get close to completing a stage.

It switches from simply being a game to something much more important as you get down to your last two shots with three pegs still to hit in hard-to-reach places.

Then the tension really mounts as your get down to the last peg and the game switches to slow-motion mode. All you can do is sit and suffer as you watch your final ball getting closer and closer to that target. All it needs to do is touch it for success. Will it make it? Have you got the angle just right? The suspense is almost unbearable. Failure will mean starting the level over while success will unleash a cascade of fireworks across the screen and a blast of Ode To Joy as you bask in the glory of beating the stage.

Never before while playing a game have I leapt from my chair, raised my first in the air and shouted “yes!” – but Peggle somehow made me do it as I finally hit an elusive last peg to complete a level.

No matter how much I play it, Peggle always gives me a genuine feeling of satisfaction every time I finish a stage.

With 55 levels in the main adventure mode, 40 additional challenges, a duel mode to compete against friends or family and a quick play mode where you can jump into any level to beat your previous best score, Peggle offers many hours of enjoyment.

It feels almost criminal that so much fun can be had for such a little price.

As well as the main game, there are numerous other nice little touches which make Peggle the complete package, such as being able to save replays of your best shots and double-tapping to zoom in on specific pegs.

About the only thing I can think of that’s currently missing from Peggle is leaderboards to compare your scores with friends or other people around the world.

Peggle is one of those rare games which justifies the massive hype it has received. I regret not catching the Peggle fever sooner as I could have been playing this game for a lot longer.

Peggle comes mighty close to getting my first ever 10 out of 10 score. It certainly achieves greatness and any game wanting to achieve the elusive top mark from me will have to be better than Peggle, which I don’t see happening any time soon.

Verdict: 9.5 out of 10