Line #52 Videogame/Peggle


1	[[quoteright:274:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pegglev2.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:274:[-Yeah, ''sure'', Mr. Sun. Drug dealers smile like that, too. -] ]]
3
4	->''"I started playing Peggle around noon and emerged [[JustOneMoreLevel some time later]] to find that the authorities had declared me {{legally dead}}."''
5	-->-- [[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee Croshaw]] from WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation reviewing Peggle.
6
7	''Peggle'' is a highly addictive series of puzzle games from developer Creator/PopCapGames, available for purchase via Valve's Platform/{{Steam}} service and Microsoft's Xbox Games Store.
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9	The goal is simple: you're given ten balls and you have to knock out all the orange pegs on the screen by bouncing the ball off the various pieces of scene geometry. Succeed, and you're off to the next level. Beat all the regular levels and you can then try your hand at the challenges, which are the same levels, but with certain conditions that must be met to beat the challenge. Conditions include getting a certain minimum score (harder than it sounds), playing a variation of the usual level with more orange pegs than normal, or clearing every single peg to name the three most common ones.
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11	The Peggle series currently consists of six games:
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13	* ''Peggle Deluxe'': The original game. 55 levels and 75 challenges.
14	** ''Peggle'' (iPod): An iPod port of ''Peggle Deluxe'' that is identical gameplay-wise, but features numerous minor visual modifications to suit the iPod's capabilities as well as providing 12 balls on level start instead of 10. All the same levels and challenges as ''Deluxe''. Sold only through the iTunes Store.
15	* ''Peggle Extreme'': A sort of demo version of the game originally released as part of Valve's Orange Box, it contains unique levels themed for ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', and ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' and an extra ''VideoGame/CounterStrike''-themed level. 10 levels and 5 challenges. '''Available for free''' on [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/3483/ Steam]].
16	* ''Peggle Nights'': Dream themed game. 60 new levels and 60 challenges. An extra 10 levels (labeled "Spring Fever") were released around the time [=PopCap=] released ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies''.
17	* ''Peggle VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Like ''Extreme'', but for ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. [[http://www.popcap.com/promos/pegglewow/ Also available for free.]]
18	* ''Peggle [[FunWithAcronyms Dual Shot]]'': The Platform/NintendoDS version of the game. Contains all of the levels from ''Peggle Deluxe'' and ''Peggle Nights'', a new "bonus underground" mode, and a collection of new levels featuring art from Creator/QEntertainment.
19	* ''Peggle 2'': Released December of 2013 for the Platform/XboxOne. Has a new animated visual style, new levels, and five new Peggle Masters (Bjorn and later on via DLC Jimmy Lightning are the only returning [playable] Masters), each with their own leitmotifs and abilities.
20	* ''Peggle Blast'': Released in 2014 for Android and iOS. Bjorn, Jimmy Lightning, Warren, and Tula return from the original games to join seven new Peggle Masters with new abilities. Also takes the AllegedlyFreeGame route popularized by ''VideoGame/CandyCrushSaga''.
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23	!!'''Tropes used:'''
24
25	* AdaptedOut:
26	** Bjorn is the only playable master in ''Extreme'', with all the others either completely absent or DemotedToExtra.
27	** This is also the case for ''Peggle World of Warcraft''. Though Splork manages to avoid this trope here, being the only other master to be playable aside from Bjorn.
28	* BigWhat: Making an exceptionally good score in a single shot in ''Blast'' gets you this (in the same choir-like manner as the other ones, amusingly).
29	* BoringButPractical: Some of the more basic specials, like Bjorn's Super Guide and Kat Tut's Pyramid, can definitely come in handy on some levels. The Super Guide shows you where a ball will go after the first bounce, and the Pyramid is a good way to score easy Free Balls.
30	* BossRush: One of the challenges revolves around beating consecutive Peggle Master duels.
31	* ComebackMechanic: A minor one, but fail to hit a single peg with a ball, and your character will flip a coin to let you have a chance at getting it back.
32	* CompanyCrossReferences: In the original ''Peggle'', Chuzzles are scattered around Splork's stages, Claude has a level called "Insane Aquarium", and in ''Nights'', Warren reads 'Z-U-M-A' off a statue description. ''VideoGame/{{Chuzzle}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Insaniquarium}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Zuma}}'' are other games made by [=PopCap=].
33	* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The game's AI. Even watching Demo Mode is convincing enough. Heck, just shoot Master Hu's Zen Ball to see it--one of the few times you can actually use this to your advantage.
34	* CosmeticAward: One of the rewards for beating the Celestial Realm in ''Peggle 2'' is bragging rights. As in, the reward screen outright states "Bragging Rights Unlocked".
35	* CuteKitten: Kat Tut, and in ''Nights'', Lord Cinderbottom's stages consist of him saving the cats and kittens of a town from a fire.
36	* DevelopersForesight: Tula's Flower Power can light up orange pegs anywhere on the board, meaning that it's possible to win a level by hitting a green peg instead of the last orange peg. However the game recognizes that this would still be a winning move, and therefore goes into dramatic slow motion when you're about to hit the green peg.
37	* DreamEpisode: The premise of ''Peggle Nights'' is that each Peggle host has a dream they want to achieve, but it all turns out to be fake.
38	* ExcusePlot: The game's narrative premise is that you are learning to play Peggle at the famous Peggle Institute, and therefore must play endless levels of Peggle. One wonders who is willing to fund such a program.
39	* ExtraLife: Getting sufficient amounts of points - 25,000, 75,000, and 125,000 - on any shot can net up to three extra lives. Also, there's a moving bucket down at the bottom on the stage; getting the ball in this bucket grants an extra life.
40	* HarderThanHard: The AI difficulty levels are Easy, Normal, Hard, and Master.
41	* JawDrop: In ''Peggle 2'', Jeff's head goats, Berg, Luna, and Windy do this when you beat a level; Luna's jaw in fact ''literally does'' drop to the floor.
42	* LimitBreak: '''''Extreme Fever''''' in ''Blast'', where all remaining balls are fired into the play field.
43	* LuckBasedMission:
44	** It's easy for levels to devolve into whether you can land in the bucket twice in a row.
45	** The placement of pegs at the start of a level may cause players to just go right ahead and hit restart if things like green pegs are in impossible locations, or if certain orange pegs are in obscure areas.
46	** Some levels in ''Blast'' feature "Shuffling" between each shot. They remove some of the pegs (but bring them all back, even those that you just destroyed) and swap placements of all orange and green pegs.
47	* MissionPackSequel: ''Nights'' added one more Peggle master and Ace medals, but it's essentially 60 more levels and 60 more challenges.
48	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Once you get the last orange peg, the game goes into super-close-up, super-slow-motion on the ball while [[Music/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven's Ninth Symphony]] belts out at full blast, almost as if you had just ''achieved world peace by kicking cancer right in the gonads''.
49	* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: If you get near enough to the last orange peg to go into super-close-up, but don't hit it, the "Ode to Joy" chorus groans in disappointment.
50	* NoAntagonist: Played straight except in ''Extreme'', ''World of Warcraft'', and ''Blast''. The latter introducing [[EvilCounterpart Fnord]].
51	* {{Pixellation}}: When you complete a level with Berg, he gets so excited he turns and cheers, with this trope censoring his exposed ass.
52	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: The "Even. More. Cheevos." achievement in ''2''.
53	* RelatedInTheAdaptation: ''Peggle Blast'' turned Fnord and Bjorn into brothers.
54	* ScoreMultiplier:
55	** Lighting up orange pegs increases your Fever-Meter, and once the Fever-Meter hits a certain level, every peg you hit will be worth more: first 2x, then 5x, then 5x, and finally 10x.
56	** One of the possible benefits you can get from Warren's Lucky Spin is "Triple Score", which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin triples the score]] of your current shot as well as your next one.
57	** The purple peg is worth five times more than the orange pegs, and ''fifty'' times more than the round ones. Because of the way the game's scoring system works, this massively raises the value of the entire shot, essentially making it a score multiplier in all but name.
58	* SeriousBusiness: The ExcusePlot of the game is that you're at "Peggle Academy" being taught by "Peggle Masters." Why there's an entire academy set up to teach people how to throw silver balls around is beyond understanding.
59	* ShoutOut:
60	** Kat Tut references the "[[Series/SaturdayNightLive More]] [[Creator/ChristopherWalken Cowbell]]" sketch.
61	** Courtesy of Master Hu in ''Nights'':
62	---> ''[[Music/{{Tommy}} Ever since I was a young owl,]]''
63	--->'' [[Music/TheWho I bounced the silver ball…]]''
64	** Master Hu's band in his dream is even called "The Hu".
65	** If you pull off a particularly awesome shot, Jimmy Lightning (or [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 The Heavy]] in ''Extreme'') will pop out and yell a TotallyRadical phrase in much the same way that Dan Forden does in ''Franchise/MortalKombat''. This isn't a coincidence, either; one of Jimmy's phrases is actually "Toasty!"
66	** The ''Multiball Madness'' Style award is a direct reference to ''Pinball/MedievalMadness'', which shares the same name.
67	** All of Jeff's quotes for his stage intros are references to ''Film/TheBigLebowski''. In addition, there's his name combined with the many bridges that show up in his stages, and the fact that his special ability is a bowling ball.
68	* TheSmurfettePrinciple:
69	** Tula vs. 9 male masters (presumably Renfield the pumpkin and Splork the alien are male) in the original. ''Nights'' added a second girl in Marina.
70	** For ''Peggle 2'', it's Luna vs. 4 male masters. The DLC adds Windy.
71	* SpellingBonus: After getting Extreme Fever in ''Blast'', you can hit the bumpers between the five holes that usually appear after the main objective is accomplished. Hitting all of them will spell out "BLAST" and give you 100,000 points.
72	* StandardSnippet:
73	** The opening theme is "Morning Mood" from ''Peer Gynt''.
74	** Recognize Renfield's theme? That music that plays when you activate a Spooky Ball is Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor.
75	** The standard victory theme is "Ode to Joy". In ''Peggle 2'', only Bjorn still uses it as his victory theme, with the other characters having other pieces of classical music as victory themes or leitmotifs; though "Ode to Joy" remains prominent.
76	* SugarApocalypse: Preventing this is the ExcusePlot of ''Peggle Extreme'', more or less.
77	* ToBeAMaster: The player's role in the in-game story.
78	* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: In [[https://web.archive.org/web/20110912022031/http://www.pegglefever.com/2010/06/10/to-vacation-and-beyond/ Peggle Fever]], Bjorn and Fnord are not brothers. Bjorn has his own brothers.
79	* VariableMix:
80	** In the original game and ''Nights'', the music changes each time the Fever-Meter's ScoreMultiplier increases, adding extra layers of instrumentation and becoming more complex.
81	** ''Peggle Blast'' heavily utilizes this, with the music changing between each shot.
82	* VideoGameTutorial: A subtle one. The first character you meet is Bjorn, whose special skill explicitly shows the player how the ball will bounce after striking the first target.

Context Videogame / Peggle