[Review] Peggle

If you haven't heard of Peggle by now... Well, frankly? Don't feel that bad, since I only first learned of each existence about a year ago. Or maybe we should both feel bad. I don't know.

At any rate, for those of you still unfamiliar with Peggle (yes, both of you), it is a simple puzzle game that will remind you old farts out there of Arcanoid and Puzzle Bobble. You are given a certain amount of balls which you then fire at blocks called “pegs”. The two variations of pegs (orange and blue) are destroyed on impact, and in order to clear the stage, you need to clear all of the orange pegs.

Perhaps the best way to describe it would be “This decade’s Tetris” -in the sense that it is simple enough for anyone, no matter what their relationship with videogames is, to finish at least one stage. At the same time, it’s deep enough to ensure you’ll want to keep playing and getting better at it.

The result is a very addictive puzzle game, arguably the most addictive since, well, Tetris. And as anyone who lived through the "Tetris Fever" epidemic of the late 80’s/early 90’s will tell you, it’s not something you’ll want to repeat[*]. Although, once you start playing, you no longer have the option of stopping.

You now have the Tetris music playing in your head

After debuting on the PC and later ported into anything Apple-related, Peggle was recently ported on the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade platform (with an added 4-player mode), with a PS3 version to follow later this year, giving console gamers a chance to experience the madness for themselves.

To put all the above into a more quantifiable way:

Things Peggle does right:

- Simple. Fun. Simply fun. People are calling it “virtual bubblewrap” for a reason. Even if you are horrible in this game, you can have a good time just by destroying random pegs since it oddly feels very satisfying to do so. And, as with real bubblewrap, you can go on for hours.

- Visually, Peggle is a very appealing game. True to its gameplay, its looks are very simple yet also very beautiful. Vibrant colors, cute characters, pretty special effects won’t appeal to the hardcore Gears of War/Killzone crowd, but they will appeal to everyone else, including the girlfriends/parents/younger siblings of the previous group. Same goes for the audio of this game, with the use of classic music making the completition of a level feel positively epic.

Trust me, it does

- Peggle's gameplay has the perfect balance between skill and luck. The physics of this game are lenient enough for even less-than-stellar players to make big shots and complete the latter levels, but at the same time provide enough depth for you competitive types out there to flaunt your peg-smashing skills to newcomers, and with luck, make them cry.

Added bonus if it's a Ken player

- The 4-player Party mode that was added for the Xbox 360 release is incredibly fun, and makes that 1 million[*2] shot feel that much sweeter.

Things about Peggle that aren’t that hot:

- It’s just a puzzle game. This goes two ways: you either get it, or you don’t. If you fall on the second category, you will never like it, even if you try.

- The sequel, Peggle Nights, was not included in the 360 version. It makes sense from a business point of view, since it will be released eventually and people will buy it anyway. Not to mention that the price would have to be higher than the very attractive $10 Peggle 360 was released for.

- The other multiplayer version, Duel mode feels rather limited, especially when compared to Party mode, as it often comes down to who gets to hit the last orange peg.

Peggle is an honest game. All it offers to the player is pretty colors, catchy sounds and simple gameplay. At the same time, however, this is also what makes it so damn fun. Therefore, it earns the title of:

The Genuine Article

TL;DR version:

“And when the power goes off for good then I
Will play it in my head until I die”

(Neil Gaiman, Virus)[*3]

If you’re still unconvinced, there’s an extensive demo you can try at the official Peggle site, and the Xbox 360 Live Marketplace. Just make sure you don’t have any further obligations later that day.

* I’m thinking that perhaps this is the reason behind the failure of all those MMORPG’s that tried to attract the disgruntled World of Warcraft players. I mean, who would want to go through all of that again?

*2 Not that I would know how that feels, but whatever.

*3 A story that always made me think of Tetris.