Whether you find the Peggle series' pachinko-pinball madness mildly enjoyable, fiendishly addictive, or wholly uninteresting, the physics-centric puzzler has sold gangbusters on the myriad devices it has graced, ensnaring both casual and hardcore players.
And in what I can only surmise is a thinly veiled attempt at enslaving the rest of the general populace, the game is making the foray onto proper handheld consoles, with Peggle: Dual Shot arriving on March 3rd for Nintendo DS. It's being developed in partnership with Meteos and Lumines creator Q Entertainment.
Make no mistake – this is Peggle, all over again. But a number of improvements, refinements, and additions are sure to make this iteration the definitive portable Peggle experience.
If you're looking for brand new levels and a totally re-imagined experience, then you're going to be a bit disappointed. Dual Shot crams the original Peggle in with Peggle Nights, and includes 10 unlockable levels developed by Q Entertainment. So although that's over 100 levels, all but 10 of them will already be familiar to fans of the series.
Nevertheless, Dual Shot is no half-hearted port, as it takes full advantage of the Nintendo DS console's dual screens for the ideal portable experience. Game elements that aren't relevant to ball-on-peg action have been moved onto the top screen, and are accompanied by a fully animated version of your chosen Peggle master. This leaves plenty of uncluttered real estate on the touch screen.
While the fidelity of the visuals have taken a bit of a hit, the most important aspect of the game – the chaotically accurate Peggle physics – have successfully made the transition. That means being impeccably precise with every shot is as important as ever. Control via the directional pad is smooth, and the shoulder buttons can be used to make finite adjustments to your shots. But the game really shines if you decide to whip out your trusty stylus: control over your shots nears desktop-mouse levels of accuracy, and a new feature called "Peggle Zoom" allows you to zoom in on the action and adjust your shot pixel by pixel.
To add a bit more variety, Dual Shot includes an exclusive Bonus Underground mode. Hit a purple peg, and you'll gain a star, in addition to the traditional bonus points. Collect 5 stars on a single level and you'll be thrust into a Bonus round. Each of the 10 Peggle masters have a unique bonus round, but the general goal is the same – collect as many gems as you can. If you manage to complete the level by hitting ever orange peg, you'll be allowed to keep the gems you've amassed as a sort of currency, which can be used to unlock bizarre bonus levels inspired by Q Entertainment's other puzzle games.
Dual Shot lacks much in the way of multi-player options – you'll be able to transmit a demo via the DS' download feature, but actually competing with another player is limited to passing one DS console back and forth.
New features are welcome, and unlocking the extra Q Entertainment levels will prove to be quite a challenge. But all things considered, this is Peggle all over again. Yes, there's quite a bit of it, and if you're a dedicated fan who's absolutely needs your fix while you're on the go, this version will easily trump the experience you could get on a scroll-wheel iPod or mobile phone. But if you're on the fence, or have played Peggle and Peggle Nights so much that jovial, anthropomorphic flowers haunt your technicolor nightmares, you won't really be missing much if you skip the DS iteration.
Image courtesy PopCap Entertainment
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