Review : (XBLA) Peggle on Xbox 360

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(XBLA) Peggle

Your verdict [2 votes] : 9.3 Add to my collection Discuss

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(XBLA) Peggle

By Brian Edey (Falelorn)
Posted on March the 16th 2009 at 12:05:00 AM

PopCap makes the most addictive puzzle games and if you played their fantastic Zuma (Created for Xbox Live by Oberon Media) you know how many hours you can sink into a basic and addictive game like Zuma, Bejeweled, Bookworm and now Peggle. If you are a fan of any of the PopCap games this is an instant buy for your Xbox 360 off of the Xbox Live Arcade and if you are not, down load this game now and enjoy it. It is that fun and amazing.

Gameplay

The gameplay is absolutely simple all you need to do is move the shooter and hit the pegs. This sounds very easy, right? Well yes and no since you need to make sure the ball will bounce in the right way and hit the colored pegs all which are worth certain points and do certain things. Green pegs will activate certain abilities which are determined by the character you play such as multi-ball or even a fireball, pink pegs are worth a ton of points and orange pegs are the ones you must clear to beat the level. But there are a ton of blue pegs all around the level which always seem to be in your way so often you must nail them or several of them to hit that elusive orange peg.

Along the bottom of the screen is this bucket which slides back and forth and if you land the ball in it, you earn an extra ball. Extra balls are nice and can be earned by getting a ton of extra points which is helpful when going after that one hard to reach orange peg.

Multiplayer is a mix of competitive and versus modes with up to four players competing on the maps. It is best that each player beat all or most of the game so they will have access to all of the characters during these multiplayer modes because it is unfair for one person to have a Zen shot when stuck with the unicorns rather lame shot which shows the angle of bounce. One great part of multiplayer is the use of the option where you can hit a button and see the other players current level and how their bounce happens and when the game is over Peggle shows the players the best shot. This helps get some very competitive games going when you can see how people do things or land some amazing and lucky bounce shots.

Graphics and Audio

For a puzzle game you cannot expect the best audio and sometimes even graphics just need to be good enough, but I was more than happy with both of the graphics and audio which are bright and colorful. The backgrounds are great and work with the “theme” of the character you are using at the time during the “campaign” and each of the characters, from the Dragon to the Mole is all great with their own unique abilities.

I have nothing negative to say about the graphics or the audio since they both do their job perfectly and never distract the player by being annoying or repetitive which is a killer in my opinion which brings down so many puzzle games. This could have been a bad clone of a flash game but it has become its own beast and is worth every penny or MS Point.

Value

Not expecting a multiplayer feature at all in this game I was shocked at how good it was and with the excellent single player game this is one of those games like Zuma, which will be played for hours on end late at night because it is so addictive.

Bottom Line

There are many reasons why Peggle is a must own but the best has to be the sheer number of hours you will put in playing this. PopCap knows how to make some insane crazy addicting games and to be sure this is their best.

Your verdict [2 votes] : 9.3 Add to my collection Discuss

Pros

+ Highly addicting gameplay
+ Fun multiplayer
+ Nice graphics and sound
+ Easy to pick up and play gameplay makes it a fun family game
+ Local and Xbox Live multiplayer
+ Tons of levels

Cons

- Bit more luck is needed rather than skill to beat the Grandmaster levels
- Lag during multiplayer (but it’s not bad)

Final Verdict

9.5

Breakdown :

Presentation :

9.0

Graphics :

9.5

Sound :

9.0

Gameplay :

9.9

Replay Value :

9.9

Our review : 9.5
Your verdict [2 votes] : 9.3
System :
Publisher :
Developer :
Category :
ESRB : E - [GameFocus' ESRB Guide]
Consult the complete file

Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.

PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)

GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.

AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?

GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.

REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.

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