Peggle Nights Review

Platform: PC
ESRB: E
Number of Players: 1-2
Publisher: PopCap Games
Release Date: September 2008
Official Website
Writer: Dawn

Rating: 9.75
Same for it’s sameness

Basic Idea as I See it:
This new installment in the Peggle franchise delves a bit deeper into the psyches of the Peggle Masters in a more theme driven edition of the same great Peggle action. Again, the premise of the game is to shoot little metal balls at the little colorful pegs to rack in some great big scores. Peggle Nights offers some new bonus potentials to aid in the point collecting, as well as additional trophies and new trophy room to appease those of us who appreciate recognition for our exceptional aiming skills and jaw dropping luck. Peggle Nights also introduces players to the lovely new Master, Marina (yay, another chick), who may give Lord Cinderbottom a run for the best sound effect category.

Graphics:
As the sun goes down on the Peggle Institute and day becomes night, the full and happy moon, with some help from the neon Nightslogo, cast a gorgeous silvery blue light across the once bright and flowery hill, still beautiful, but now with more depth. Then, the uncatchable fireflies come out. Chase them it’s mesmerizing. Once the mouse finally finds its way to the play button, players are brought into Bjorn’s cozy sitting room by a crackling fire (the mantle over which will soon sport some spiffy trophies) to choose where to start. The game manages to guide players through the dream kingdom of the Masters without becoming too dark. Some of the levels came across more cartoonish to me at first, but then I came across Renfield’s sequence of artwork dreams and fell in love. I wish now, that I could go back and hear their explanations of their dreams again without starting over in the adventure. But there is something there for everyone to relate to. The levels are themed within each Master’s secret ambition, dream, or fantasy, which doesn’t interfere at all with game play and actually adds a layer of appeal and interest. Some of the levels also have quite different movement to the pegs as well, which added to its aesthetic value as well as its difficulty level. And there are more bumpers or more levels with bumpers in Peggle Nights, some of which blend in with the background all too well and are not noticed until hit. The pegs look the same. The ball looks the same. The existing Masters look the same, maybe a few with a little more detail. All of that is good, actually. Small details that I noticed different alongside all the small details I enjoyed in the original Peggle, the frame around the current level changes color depending on the Master selected and when selecting helpful Masters at the beginning of the level, the box translucenates so players can see where the green pegs are, which is sometimes a large factor in whose help will be most beneficial. All in all, Peggle Nights is a beautiful game to play.

Sounds:
The introduction music to the game is quite peaceful and appropriate, and a (short) symphonic auditory treat. The music within the levels resembled that of the original, but more involved and actually a little synthetic. This was an area I would have liked maybe something a little different – not only within the levels themselves, but in the fever as well… The first time I finished a level, I expected something different. It’s difficult to be disappointed with all the fanfare and ultra extreme ovation that exists when that last orange peg gets tagged, and I am not sure how I would have felt if it were vastly different then that of Peggle. I was just for some reason expecting it to be. But, why mess with a good thing? Other than that, the sounds were mostly familiar, but evolved.

Controls:
Playing the PC version, the game is all purely mouse controlled, still taking advantage of the scrolling wheel on the mouse to help fine tune shots. Gross, and even fine, movement of the aiming arrow is easily done with the motion of the mouse itself (especially the further away from the shot origin the cursor is), but players can also superfine tune shots using the wheel. I (still) like this feature of Peggle. The arrow keys can also be used to aim, and the enter key to shoot. The controls are not different from the original. The effects of some of the masters have been improved. The one I noticed most was Tula’s Flower Power, with a new minimum of 2 orange pegs lit, instead of just 1 when percentages lower. The pyramid not only gives a bonus for a pyramid pickup but also for eye of the pyramid, getting the ball into it without bouncing off the sides, something not recognized before. I am not entirely sure the improvement made on the fireballs, though there is rumored to be something. Marina, the newest Peggle Master’s power focuses on the player’s timing as well as strategy, as each peg from the initial ball hit to the bucket is lit, but the ball keeps going as if nothing happened. The new bonus shots, Off the Wall, and, Double Long Shot also encourage more strategy and aiming.

Flow:
Like the original Peggle, Peggle Nights offers a comfortable flow throughout the game. Players are tossed in with story and slight tutorial, getting used to the way of the ball and the aid of the Masters, and the different aspects of aiming and point nabbing along the way in Adventure mode… again, after tearing themselves away from the elusive fireflies in the beginning. It does seem again like the Adventure mode is just a warm up for the Challenge mode, which adds a layer of smoothness within the game as a whole as far as flow is concerned. The Challenge mode itself moves well through each stage and from stage to stage, climbing in difficulty, culminating in the decathlon – a great final exam.

Fun Factor:
Peggle Nights is super crazy fun time. As my good friend, Trina would say, it is made of awesomeness. Having played Peggle for so long (yes, still), when I can marvel at the incredible motion, still physically move in my chair to edge the bucket, feel a dose of euphoria at the realization I am about to defeat a challenge, and even spend minutes in a daze following fireflies with my mouse, I know I have found the fun. On top of all of that, the addition of pinball and lowball challenges present freaky cool fun that the original Peggle did not have. And I can’t wait to see some of the new downloadable bonus levels that come available!

Female Aspect:
Again, players are themselves, so if you’re a girl, yippee! But the masters are still heavily male though the new one they did introduce is female and she’s wicked cool. However, to quote myself, To be honest, I think that Peggle (in this case Peggle Nights) is a great example of a game that can appeal to anyone. As far as casual games go, there never seems to be a shortage of games that appeal to females. This one is not overtly masculine or feminine. That’s a bonus in my book.

Replay Value:
There is plenty of first playthrough Peggle Nights to be had. The All Clear All Levels is an outright trophy this time around, as well as an All Ace Score trophy for beating the ace score on each level. Some levels are also, it seems, designed for a mega shot. I look at the way the lines curve and see how the ball could go so very far, but have yet to hit one. This intrigues me to keep playing. Also, the promised availability of new downloadable levels coming soon that are free with the purchase of the game should keep interest for many, many moons.

Final Thoughts:
I wonder what it would have been like if they changed the fever
Play Peggle Nights. I will see you in the dream kingdom.

Thanks for reading!

Dawn