Peggle Deluxe is a casual puzzle videogame developed by PopCap Games, and the first installment of the Peggle franchise. It was released worldwide February 27, 2007, for PC, and was later ported to Mac, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and other platforms.
Inspired by pachinko and bagatelle, each level of Peggle challenges the player to shoot a limited supply of balls at a field of colored pegs to clear out all the orange pegs while attempting to achieve a high score through skilled shot planning.
Synopsis
Catch the fever of the peg-busting phenomenon from PopCap!
Want to be a Peggle Master? Take your best shot! Shoot and clear the orange pegs to achieve Extreme Fever as 10 whimsical teachers help you rise to Peggle greatness. Conquer 55 levels and wield 10 Magic Powers in Adventure mode… and the fun is just getting started!?
Put your skills to the ultimate test with 75 challenges as you rack up bonus points and style shots you’ll smile about for weeks. Face off against friends or the computer in Duel mode. It's luck and skill and joyous thrills, and amidst all this fevered action only one question remains: can you become a Peggle Master?[1][2]
Gameplay
Each Peggle level features an arrangement of approximately one hundred “pegs”, positioned to correspond with the level's background picture, inside of three walls on the top and sides (leaving the bottom opened), along with other fixed and moving features.
The goal of each level is to clear the board of the twenty-five random pegs that are turned orange at the start of the level, by using a ball launcher located at the top center of the screen to strike one or more of the pegs. Pegs light up when hit, and once the ball either falls through the bottom of the screen or is caught by the ball catcher (bucket) that moves back and forth along the bottom in a fixed manner, the pegs will be removed. Struck pegs are also removed if the ball is stuck on them.
Peggle Masters — characters with unique special abilities — assist the player through the game. Their “magic power” is activated when the player strikes one of the two randomly selected green pegs on the board.
The player begins each level with ten balls, but may earn more by either landing the ball in the bucket, or by earning high scores on single shots.
There are 4 different game modes: Adventure, Quick Play, Duel, and Challenge.
List of Masters and Powers
| Bjorn Unicorn | Jimmy Lightning | ||
|---|---|---|---|
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Power: Super Guide 3 turns, activates next turn Shows which way your ball will bounce! |
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Power: Multiball Activates on current turn only Throws another ball into the mix! |
| Kat Tut | Splork Sporkan | ||
 |
Power: Pyramid 5 turns, activates on current turn Attaches an ancient pyramid to the ball bucket! |
 |
Power: Space Blast Activates on current turn only Uses super advanced alien technology to light up all nearby pegs! |
| Claude Lobster | Renfield Pumpkin | ||
 |
Power: Flippers 3 turns, activates on current turn Lets you hit the ball like a game where there's a ball and you hit it with flippers! |
 |
Power: Spooky Ball Activates on current turn only Causes the ball to spookily reappear at the top of the screen after falling out the bottom. |
| Tula Sunflower | Warren Rabbit | ||
 |
Power: Flower Power Activates on current turn only Uses the power of flowers to light up 20% of remaining orange pegs! |
 |
Power: Lucky Spin Magic Hat & Triple Score last for 2 turns Win either a Magic Hat, Triple Score, a random Magic Power or an extra ball! |
| Lord Cinderbottom | Master Hu | ||
 |
Power: Fireball Activates next turn only Big Ball of Fire goes through all pegs! |
 |
Power: Zen Ball Activates next turn only Improves your shot through the power of mindfulness! |
Development
Click here to read PopCap's article about the game development.
Gallery
Reception
Peggle Deluxe was very well received by critics. Alec Meer of Eurogamer found the game to be a “constant series of rewards” in gameplay, graphics, and audio that would continue to satisfy the player[3]; Gus Mastrapa of The A.V. Club considered the game “comfort food for the omnivorous gamer”, with its ability to draw even hardcore gamers into its fantasy visuals[4], and IGN's Erik Brudvig cited Peggle as being “simple enough for anybody to pick up and instantly start having fun”[5].
Upon its release on Xbox Live Arcade, Peggle was the top-selling game on the service for two weeks, and remained in the top ten applications for several weeks afterward. Within a month, over 100,000 players were listed on the Xbox leaderboards for Peggle, though this number also includes players who purchased the game through the PopCap Arcade Volume 2 retail package, which contained the game as well.[6] In a list compiled by the IGN staff in September 2010, Peggle was listed as the 10th best Xbox Live Arcade of all time.[7]
The release of Peggle on iOS was extremely popular, placing in the top ten applications purchased through the App Store for the first two weeks it was available.[8] During a weekend in June 2009, the title was put on sale for $1 (normally $5); the sale caused the game to become the most purchased application in the App Store. A PopCap representative stated that they made as many sales during this four-day period as they had in the three weeks prior, after the game's launch on the Store.[9] Despite this, PopCap retired the game from Apple Store in August 18th, 2017.[10]
Peggle Deluxe is considered by some critics to be an addictive game, with Forbes noting that it entices the user to play “just a few more minutes”.[11][12] PopCap funded a study at East Carolina University which found that Peggle players experienced a “45% decrease in depression” in individuals under the age of 25.[13] Rock Paper Shotgun interpreted the same study more imaginatively, reporting: “Peggle was clear champ, improving the total ‘mood’ by 573% across all study subjects”.[14] Peggle, along with other PopCap games, were also found to help children with ADHD improve their attention span and memory recall, in a survey done by Information Solutions Group on behalf of PopCap.[15]
Peggle was nominated for the 2007 Game Developers Choice Awards for “Best Downloadable Game”, “Best Handheld Game” (for the iPod port), and “Innovation” awards.[16] The game was also nominated as the “Best Downloadable Game” for the 2007 Interactive Achievement Awards by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.[17] Peggle appeared as #40 on the 2007 PC Gamer Magazine (UK) list of their 100 favorite computer games of all time.[18]
Review Scores
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Trivia
- The opening theme is Morning, Peer Gynt Suite No.1, composed by classical musician Edvard Grieg.
- In the Xbox 360 port the Ode to Joy is different. You can listen to it here
External links
References
- ↑ https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/peggle/peggle#store-page-section-description
- ↑ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3480/Peggle_Deluxe/
- ↑ https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/best-of-steam-review?page=3
- ↑ https://games.avclub.com/peggle-1798211275
- ↑ https://www.webcitation.org/691iwjJG6?url=http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/961/961021p1.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090823004030/http://www.gamerbytes.com/2009/04/the_road_to_npd_xbox_live_arca.php
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100918065519/http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/112/1120887p1.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121025005327/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=agPp8Xt83fCo
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090819111025/http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/06/15/peggle-iphones-meteoric-appstore-boost/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/popcap/status/898605620756062210/photo/1
- ↑ https://www.forbes.com/2008/10/03/addictive-tech-facebook-tech-personal-cx_1003addict.html#378dfe9d797c
- ↑ http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18221146
- ↑ http://core.ecu.edu/hhp/russonielloc/popcap_results.htm
- ↑ https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/04/28/peggle-is-good-for-you/#more-1640
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121004220145/http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-16-2008/0004849851&EDATE=
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090519201044/http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/archive/gdca_8th.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090303204646/http://www.interactive.org/awards/annual_awards.asp?idAward=2008
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100129122658/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=169683
