Videogames at their core are fun ways manipulate images on a screen. Arcade style games are the clearest example of this notion and Peggle is a prime example of what it takes to make a great videogame. The concept is incredibly simple; as the player all you have to do is aim a ball into a series of pegs to score points. Its a little reminiscent of Plinko from the Price is Right or the really old pinball machines before they had flippers. How PopCap manages to flesh out that core design into such a lovely game is pretty amazing. Lets take a look at all the pieces that came together to make Peggle the charming classic it is today.
Playing through the story mode your goal in each level is to clear all the orange pegs. You only have ten balls to begin with but by achieving a set number of points in a shot or landing in the moving bucket in the bottom you can gain some of your balls back. Each new shot there will be a purple peg that grants extra points making it easier to reach to get extra balls or set high-scores. Also at the beginning of every level two green pegs are placed random on the stage that grant abilities specific to the character you're playing as. Once you clear the stage you're rewarded with the "Ode to Joy", a celebratory song that fits the cheerful game perfectly.
The different characters really bring a lot of strategy and variety to Peggle. Bjorn, the games mascot, is a rocking unicorn with the ability to dramatically extend the shot guide making it a lot easier to aim. Playing on the pinball theme you have a skateboarding gopher that activates multi-ball and a lobster that gives you flippers. In total there are ten characters and each character comes with five levels themed to them. The beautiful painted backgrounds fit in with the characters identity while the levels themselves generally play quite well with the characters special ability. As you replay the levels for high-scores you may however find different character mash up quite well.
In addition to the story mode there is a challenge mode along with multiplayer. The challenge mode will have you attempting stages with less balls, force you to clear more orange pegs, or require you to reach certain high-scores. Some of the challenges let you pick a stage while others have you play through a series of stages without failing. The multiplayer is available for local and online play. The local multiplayer is played in a shared stage with players alternating shots and each turn the player must hit an orange peg or lose points. It can be fun but its inferior to the online play because it is not very balanced. Online you can have up to four players playing the same level and it can be quite fun to watch what kind of shots the other players will make.
Ever since I first played Peggle it has been in my top ten games of all time. Its such a vibrant colorful game with wonderful sound effects that suck you right into the experience. The gameplay is simple enough for anyone to learn yet is surprising deep once you spend a lot of time with it. There is always the opportunity to go back to levels to set a higher score or try and to attempt to clear all the pegs on each stage. It probably took me near a hundred hours to 100% clear each stage but it was one of the most rewarding accomplishments in my gaming career. Even if you aren't that devoted I have confidence you'll have buckets loads of fun playing Peggle. So if you haven't play it yet now is as good as a time as any to download a copy of this modern classic.