Already a phenomenal smash on the PC, the release of Peggle on XBLA and PSN this year means the game was given a whole new audience to enslave with its addictive gameplay. Wasting little time in keeping the momentum going, the successful expansion pack Peggle Nights has also been released.
Unsurprisingly, Nights doesn’t change the game at all – after all, why would it need to alter an already successful formula? Instead the game offers Peggle aficionados exactly what they want; more levels and challenges to get to grips with.
In the event that you missed our earlier review of the original Peggle, the concept is quite simple. Using a limited number of balls the player must obtain points by hitting pegs, with the ultimate aim of removing all the orange pegs in a stage to progress to the next. Shots can be angled and then fired from the top of the screen, hopefully bouncing off as many pegs as possible and landing in the moving bucket at the bottom, granting another go. Use up all the balls without clearing the orange pegs and it’s game over.
Taking place after dark at Peggle University, Nights reintroduces players to the various Peggle Masters as they dream the night away, discovering Bjorn the Unicorn’s desire to be a crime fighting hero and Renfield the Pumpkins artistic leaning towards being a painter. Of course these are all academic in terms of progress, but as ever they offer the warming and light charm which shined throughout the original.
Adding one new Peggle Master with new powers, 60 new adventure levels and 75 challenge levels, Nights has a wealth of content to get to grips with. This is alongside the robust multiplayer aspect of the original Peggle release, which still remains a lot of fun (as well as a true test of how great a Peggle player you actually are).
Peggle Nights reaffirms the games strength is its ability to offer such a simple premise, but at the same time containing a real depth which demands a huge degree of skill and concentration to get those high scores. Before you know it with Peggle Nights, you’ll again find yourself on the edge of your seat as you try to will the ball into the high scoring bucket at the end of the level, or pumping your fist in the air as you manage an impossibly complex and high scoring shot.
A Peggle addiction comes all too easily and those already nursing an extreme penchant for the ball and bucket will welcome this expansion with open arms. Before long you’ll once again yourself promising that it’ll only be one more game before you switch off and go to bed, and find yourself uncontrollably whistling `Ode to Joy`.