I know, I know. Yahtzee reviewed "Peggle" for the PC back in 2007 for "The Escapist" and it was the PC version...thing is two years have passed and now we have a DS version with newer features!
Peggle: Dual Shot, or as I will refer to it from this point forward "Peggle DS", is the first foray for casual gaming giant Pop Cap Games to attempt to tackle the portable gaming market and they tried to do it with this update. The result: Meh!
I don't know why people think that because a game is a smash hit on the computer its going to be as good on a smaller screen, but Pop Cap tried and, while not a completely miserable failure, you hope that next time they learn their lesson!
So what remained the same: Well you still have to try and remove 25 orange pegs from the board in 10 shots minimum, but the thing that you have to remember is that you don't have the mouse to use with this game. To compensate the designers gave you the use of the "ever so handy"(/sarcasm) stylus pen which can be just a touchy tool to use...problem is its your BEST aiming tool because the developers made aiming with the d-pad as stiff as can be! Trying to move the arrow to where you want to shoot a ball with the d-pad is the biggest chore ever and the stylus pen can take several taps to try and get it where you want it.
You also get the same levels that you had in the original Peggle and "Peggle Nights" as well as a challenge mode that is unlocked by completing the adventure mode in the first Peggle game(this is also how you unlock "Nights") and the right to play the levels in "quick play" and "duel" modes although the only conceivable reason one would play many of the levels over again is to match the "Ace" scores or get 100% and even then why bother?
So what's different? Well the developers gave us a "bonus round" called "Underground" which is a stylusfest in which you randomly smash the stylus into the touch screen to try and collect all the gems in a level to score a perfect and potentially unlock challenge levels that weren't before and the way you unlock the challenge levels is either by "collecting x amount of gems" or even "shooting the ball x number of times". Historically when you played Peggle all you had to do to unlock challenges was beat the Adventure mode and be done with it. How in the heck they could screw this up is unfathomable and yet its clicked in my mind that they have!
If you want a saving grace with the game its this: If you buy the game between now and some time in may you can download one of three Pop Cap games for free(and yes its the full game) but even then about the only game that you should get out of there is "Feeding Frenzy" and if ya want that game bad enough just go by "Pop Cap Hits. Vol. 1" for the 360!
If you stopped me in the street if you should buy it, rent it, or even skip it then here's my answer:
RENT IT!
Peggle: Dual Shot, or as I will refer to it from this point forward "Peggle DS", is the first foray for casual gaming giant Pop Cap Games to attempt to tackle the portable gaming market and they tried to do it with this update. The result: Meh!
I don't know why people think that because a game is a smash hit on the computer its going to be as good on a smaller screen, but Pop Cap tried and, while not a completely miserable failure, you hope that next time they learn their lesson!
So what remained the same: Well you still have to try and remove 25 orange pegs from the board in 10 shots minimum, but the thing that you have to remember is that you don't have the mouse to use with this game. To compensate the designers gave you the use of the "ever so handy"(/sarcasm) stylus pen which can be just a touchy tool to use...problem is its your BEST aiming tool because the developers made aiming with the d-pad as stiff as can be! Trying to move the arrow to where you want to shoot a ball with the d-pad is the biggest chore ever and the stylus pen can take several taps to try and get it where you want it.
You also get the same levels that you had in the original Peggle and "Peggle Nights" as well as a challenge mode that is unlocked by completing the adventure mode in the first Peggle game(this is also how you unlock "Nights") and the right to play the levels in "quick play" and "duel" modes although the only conceivable reason one would play many of the levels over again is to match the "Ace" scores or get 100% and even then why bother?
So what's different? Well the developers gave us a "bonus round" called "Underground" which is a stylusfest in which you randomly smash the stylus into the touch screen to try and collect all the gems in a level to score a perfect and potentially unlock challenge levels that weren't before and the way you unlock the challenge levels is either by "collecting x amount of gems" or even "shooting the ball x number of times". Historically when you played Peggle all you had to do to unlock challenges was beat the Adventure mode and be done with it. How in the heck they could screw this up is unfathomable and yet its clicked in my mind that they have!
If you want a saving grace with the game its this: If you buy the game between now and some time in may you can download one of three Pop Cap games for free(and yes its the full game) but even then about the only game that you should get out of there is "Feeding Frenzy" and if ya want that game bad enough just go by "Pop Cap Hits. Vol. 1" for the 360!
If you stopped me in the street if you should buy it, rent it, or even skip it then here's my answer:
RENT IT!
