Peggle Deluxe makes time fly (Peggle Deluxe (PC))

Member Name: shibainudogpersn

Product:	Peggle Deluxe (PC)
Date:	17/06/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quite absorbing, good for eye/hand coordination

Disadvantages: Can be frustrating if ball doesn't do what you expect

Having had to stop working full-time due to parkinson's I occasionally find that I really am not interested in doing much of anything productive (I get very tired) and because I am keen to keep my mind and fingers nimble I have acquired/downloaded a few games for the PC which I have played from time to time.

Peggle Deluxe is one of these games... the basic idea is to fire balls out of a moveable cannon and have them ricochet through patterns of different coloured blocks and "bubbles", clearing them out of the way and scoring points for doing so.

HOW TO PLAY

The game is played very simply by using the mouse to move the ball-aimer/"cannon" and launching the ball at the pattern on screen. Orange coloured "peggles" are worth 10x more points (and in some games just need to be cleared to complete the level), green peggles give you magical powers (there are two on each level) and purple ones give you a power up to increase your score 50x - the location of the purple peggle changes each time you play the level. You can get a free ball in several ways while playing a level but I never count on these! If you make a long shot or a shot the game thinks is particularly good you will score style points and at the end of each level you will get bonus points from bonus buckets positioned at the bottom of the screen. You can earn 10,000 points from each ball left over at completion of the level. There are very clear instructions on what to do at each stage.

GAME MODES

There are four game modes, Adventure, Challenge, Duel and Quickplay.
Adventure offers 55 levels which you can work through with a Peggle Master (you can choose from one ten Peggle Master, listed below) which give you different plays once you hit a magic green peggle.

Challenge - presents extra difficult challenge levels to work through - again you can choose which Peggle Master to work with. There are a total of 75 levels and legend says there is a magical level that is released once all these levels are completed!!

Dual - I haven't done this yet, but this offers a two-player version or you vs the pc (which sounds fun but I am not very good at playing solo yet!) but the instructions on how to play are very evident within the game.

Quickplay - if you don't want to open a full Adventure game you can just pick one level to play, but you have to have already completed it.

PEGGLE MASTERS

Lord Cinderbottom - a dragon whose fireballs shoot a path right through the peggles.

Bjorn - the unicorn guide to the game who will show you where your ball will first ricochet

Jimmy Lightning - throws a second ball into play

Kat Tut - extends the ball bucket with a pyramid platform to make it easier to get the ball into the bucket

Splork - a space alien whose power lights up all adjacent balls to where your ball first touches the pattern

Claude - a lobster whose flippers extend out of the side of the screen to work like a pinball machine (I can't get them to work properly though, I am too slow!)

Renfield - a pumpkin whose power brings the ball back to the top of the screen after it has fallen out of the bottom at end of play

Tula - her flower power lights up 20% of the remaining orange peggles

Warren - a lucky wabbit in a top hat whose magical spin gets you extra points

Master Hu - a magical zen bird whose power chooses the best path for your ball to cut through the pattern and get the greatest score

GRAPHICS

I am not expert in analysing games, but to me the graphics seem adequate. There is nothing particularly special, what you see is what you get, but it is all designed very charmingly in the style of a gentle kids cartoon. Suits me just fine!

CONCLUSION

The range of options available means that this game will, if you enjoy this sort of thing, give you hours upon hours of entertainment and occasional frustration - sometimes the sensitivity of the "aimer" isn't as good as you think it should be.

Hope this helps!! 

shibainudogpersn © 2008 (Ciao.com)

Summary: An absorbing, time-consuming game - sufficiently varied not to feel overly repetitive