Peggle Deluxe

Let's get this straight from the start - Peggle fits nicely into the ever growing market of "Casual Games". The clues are all there; bright colours, cute cartoon characters.

The principle of the game is simple - the screen is made up of a number of coloured pegs, predominantly blue and orange, which are removed by hitting them with a ball. The player has a limited number of balls, which must be fired from the top of the screen in an attempt to clear all of the orange pegs. Hitting a purple peg will give you a large bonus, whilst green pegs grant access to special abilities, ranging from guide-lines or multiple balls to flippers at the side of the screen or an explosion that clears all the surrounding pegs.

As well as unique abilities, each character has a different artwork theme. For example, Claude the crab has backdrops with an underwater theme, whilst pumpkin Renfield’s are inspired by horror. In many cases the backgrounds also provide the basis of the layout of the pegs.

One area where Popcap have surpassed themselves is with some of the smaller details, such as the character picture at the top of the screen - many developers might have been tempted to just settle for a static image to remind you which character you're playing as. Popcap on the other hand have taken the time to code the character's eyes to follow the ball around the screen (although unfortunately, it won't go cross-eyed in a multi-ball situation). On top of that, the subtle Saturday Night Live reference scores additional cool points.

The game works well at building the tension as the pegs disappear; with each peg that is hit, the pitch of the note when the peg is struck increases. Additionally, as the ball closes in on the final orange peg, the action slows and the camera zooms in in anticipation; if the ball misses, an off-screen audience lets out an audible sigh. Succeed and the player is treated to the strains of Ode to Joy as the ball collects a last few bonus points. Unfortunately, this is the only instance in which the music is worthy of any note; the rest of the time the game is accompanied by forgettable muzak.

This game was never aimed at Serious Gamers, however that shouldn't necessarily mean they avoid it; the accessibility of the game makes it perfect for dipping in and out of, whilst the difficulty of some of the challenges means there is also plenty to keep players coming back.