iPhone Games: Peggle Review
The iPhone is perfectly suited for quick gaming while on the go, making puzzle games with short levels and easy play mechanics ideal. Peggle falls seamlessly into this niche, offering iPhone gamers a great diversion while travelling around, be it for short or long stretches.
Like all great puzzlers, the gameplay is deceptively simple, yet deep enough to not completely offend the senses. At the beginning of each level you’ll be presented with a number of different pegs, both orange and blue, arrayed across the level in varying patterns. You’re job is to wipe out the orange pegs, and you have a limited number of balls to do so.
You aim and fire your ball from the top of the screen, from where it will go careening into the various pegs, crashing into and off of them, bouncing off the various ledges along the sides of the screen to shoot back into play, and finally falling to the bottom of the screen to disappear forever. If however, you’re lucky enough to have your ball land in the moving receptacle at the bottom of the screen you’ll get that ball back, effectively giving you a free ball. This addition is somewhat random, as there’s really no way to plan a shot that far ahead to have it land in the receptacle, but it helps add just a little bit more tension as you realize your ball will soon run out of steam and crash to oblivion, unless the bucket saves it.
While initial levels start off easily enough, you’ll soon encounter trickier and more complex layouts as you progress, which require different strategies to take down. The red pegs will often be buried inside a number of blue pegs, and that arrangement may be further blocked by other pegs above it, forcing you to pull off trick shots utilizing the banks along the sides of the screen.
It’s not only imperative to properly aim your first shot, but to try and determine where you’re ball will likely go after that by playing the shot out in your mind before you take it. Clearing a few pegs each ball is often not good enough, meaning you really need to focus on exacting massive peg blasting destruction with each ball.
Peggle is controlled very simply and effectively with the touch screen. You simply line your shot up and hit the fire button when ready to go.
The graphics have made the transition from the PC version of the game perfectly, featuring vibrant colours and some nice effects, especially upon clearing the level, as the game enters a slow-motion mode and ends with a flurry of fireworks and explosions.
The one thing missing from Peggle at present is the music, with only one track currently available from the PC version. You can play your own music while playing the game, but this isn’t a substitute for good original music, which the PC version possessed. The developer has plans to implement all the music tracks from the PC version in a future update though, so stay tuned.
If you’re a fan of casual games or puzzle games, you really can’t go wrong with Peggle. The iPhone version sells for $5, which is slightly high in comparison to some other puzzlers, but it’s cheaper than the PC version, and features plenty of levels and challenges to keep you occupied. Highly recommended.
Pros:
- Bright, vibrant colours
- Simple, addicting puzzle gameplay
- Plenty of levels and challenges
Cons:
- No music at present
Score: 9/10
Price: $4.99