Games of the Abstract: Peggle Deluxe (2007)

 

Developer: PopCap Games

Publisher: PopCap Games / Electronic Arts

One Player

Microsoft Windows / Mac OS X / iPod / Windows Mobile / Java ME / BREW / Nintendo DS / Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / iOS / Zeebo / Android / PlayStation Portable

We can forget, more so now that we have games made with the budgets of mainstream Hollywood films, with storylines and cut scenes using the shiniest graphics, that games which are simple and focus on their game play are themselves to be appreciated, alongside the concept of games which can be appreciated by non-gamers, something which the mobile phone app market has been more commonplace with and is a holy grail in its own for companies to win over. Angry Birds (2009-) for example, playable with just a mobile touch screen, became so popular for its Finnish creator that it managed to have film adaptation, and even a tie-in Star Wars versions for a game. This is all for a game, in spite of controversially having a similar structure to Crush the Castle (2009), where you fire colourful birds at limbless green pigs in easily breakable castles, whose addictiveness for anyone, even non-gamers, I can attest to from playing the Facebook version when I was away from videogames. Peggle is the same too, the creation of PopCap Games, a company who just from two other franchises, Bejeweled (2001) and Plants vs Zombies (2009), have made themselves frankly the best of the best in terms of games for casual and non-games which, on phone apps but also available on multiple formats, gain an addictive foothold.

Peggle takes its inspiration from pachinko, the Japanese recreational mechanical game that is played for gambling which, as a cultural concept, is so dominant in Japan it is probably played by far more people than video games themselves, to the point companies such as Konami started to prioritise working on them. Pachinko, which has had video game adaptations too, is however randomised, entirely about sending the ball out and luck being on your side. Peggle, as played here in the Peggle Deluxe version, plays differently, where rather than firing the ball from below like a pinball, up with the intention of hitting the right target to gain pachinko balls, you can fire the ball in whatever direction you wish from the top of the screen. The desired goal here is to hit all the orange pegs onscreen with a limited number of balls to use. If you are lucky, you can get them in the bucket at the bottom of the screen, moving back and forth, to avoid losing a ball out of play, and the game has bog standard blue pegs, which give points but are less important, alongside purple pegs, which change position and give a points bonus, and green pegs, which are connected in the Adventure mode (or when you unlock them for other modes) to the Peggle Masters. These are a menagerie of cartoon figures that have their own special abilities, be it a magician rabbit that has a random wheel of luck, or a dragon with a fireball that burns through pegs. If you are lucky, getting enough points, including skill shots, can increase a bar up at least three times to be able to get a free ball (or two) to continue.

From here, the mechanics of the game are pretty much explained, which presents an obvious issue in terms of reviewing a game like this. It is so simplistic in premise, with the aesthetic dressing and a plot being the best peggle master, to really review without the danger of bizarre pretentious musings on tactics. I will be upfront in saying the game, as it plays, is exceptional though, admitting my laissez-faire attitude to shooting the balls out on whims, and enjoying myself, whilst growing some tactics as fewer orange pegs leave you having to figure out how to hit them with fewer ways to ricochet the balls to the. It is based as much on luck as it is skill, bouncing the ball off walls, the other pegs and hazards, but it works and it is a testament to the creators that this allows casual entertainment, luck in winning rounds, but you can play and learn how to succeed especially as there is an unlockable Challenge mode which ups the difficulty with specific goals to work through. It is fine tuned in the Peggle Deluxe version to the point that, over an Adventure mode, or the other modes, that you cannot complain in the slightest about it. There is nothing unconventional about the game, any strange turns, but I appreciate the skill from PopCap Games to have a game which does tap into an aspect of these casual games, deliberately engaging the player with quick hits of dopamine when you succeed, but is actually a well made game with a distinct gaming mechanic to it.

This does get into the one detail against this game, the one mark against Peggle that, for all my joy of it, undercuts the experience in being able to give it a high status even though I enjoyed the experience greatly - that being the aesthetic, which for me personally is very bland. This does not include the big trademark of Peggle, being that when you hit the final orange peg, with slow motion zoom when the ball is near it, an excerpt of Symphony #9 - Ode to Joy by Ludwig van Beethoven plays as the ball has the chance to enter one of multiple slots for a final points boost, which is that joyous dose of energy to the brain that is charming in its inclusion. The issue is entirely that, for a game perfect in mechanics, never was one where I wished it had such a better aesthetic. The look of the game is a cute, pastoral aesthetic, very Western, of unicorns and cute critters. Some of them are frankly stereotypes, like the dude hamster, to the frankly dubious guru owl, whose Zen Ball is still a great special, as the computer for 75% percent of the time worked out a better shot for me, but is still appropriating Eastern mysticism in an eye rolling way. Peggle, to be frank, and in respect to the creators' hard work, does not suit my aesthetic in the slightest. If there ever was a game, without changing the mechanics or including anything that compromised them, would have been such a better game with a lick of paint, this would be it, and never was there a case of even the most stereotypical of Japanese video game clichés being welcomed if from an actual Japanese studio having been brought in just to renovate the look and nothing else. Even if Peggle as a game kept me compelled throughout it, that one touch, if the aesthetic was entirely different, separates this from a great game to just a good one. Peggle 2 (2013), created after PopCap Games were bought by Electronic Arts, has a far more cheery aesthetic when looked at, but this review exemplifies a factor I will take into consideration for what I find are great games, even when they possess very clear flaws.