REVIEW: Peggle: Dual Shot (DS)
- Scribbled on March 28th, 2009 by casualgamerchick
- Filed in Casual Gaming, Nintendo DS, Puzzle, Reviews
Popcap’s Peggle has invaded the gaming industry and most gamers have probably played or heard the name “Peggle.” Over the last two years we’ve had the opportunity to see the launch of Peggle on the PC, Macintosh and even a release on Valve’s Steam service. Later, we’d see Peggle Nights storm the industry with yet more Peggle style action.
They’re back, but now they’ve arrived on the Nintendo DS with a value packed game release called Peggle: Dual Shot. If, somehow you’ve missed the boat on Peggle now is the time to change.
Dual Shot offers both Peggle and Peggle Nights in one single tiny package. You’ll receive all the great levels and unlockables in both titles along with additional game unlocks from Q Entertainment (creator of Lumines), the folks that ported Peggle to the DS. Peggle: Dual Shot retails for USD $29.99, a great deal considering you’re getting two games with 10 additional stages, unlockables and features.
This isn’t a simple port to the DS as Peggle: Dual Shot does bring a few new features to the table. One, feature, the magnifying glass assists allows the player to make more accurate pin-point shots on the peg by holding the stylus in one position for a few seconds to bring up magnification of the pegs on the top-screen. This feature is obviously designed to assist the smaller-screened DS overcome the viewing challenges for tight shots. While this is technically a “feature” it’s only needed because of the small game screen.
Underground mode is a new feature designed for Peggle: Dual Shot that could in-fact have made the original titles a bit bitter (if that is possible!). In the classic Peggle titles, you’ll gain bonus points for bouncing your ball off bonus purple pegs to gain additional scores. In Dual Shot, you will be granted access to an underground gem collection mini-game if you hit five purple pegs in a stage. These gems will increase your high scores and potentially get you spare balls to fire. This is a fine advancement in the Peggle gameplay as it doesn’t off-balance the game mechanics. In addition, gathering enough pegs can unlock new stages outside of the adventure mode.
Peggle: Dual Shot suffers a little in the graphics department, due to the little hand-held DS trying to keep up with technology. Popcap’s titles are typically crisp, flashy and well polished but the DS leave a little to be desired in this area. It was very clear after playing Dual Shot that they’ve done all they could to keep to the traditional graphic updates but fall short due to the old hardware. Levels take a few seconds to draw and the ball and pegs are a bit more pixelated than we’re used to seeing.
The DS isn’t all about graphics, so most gamers won’t realize the Popcap graphic experience is a bit muted. The game play value and length of this title far exceeds any graphic shortcomings. You can read a full review of classic Peggle if you’ve never played the title before, we won’t re-iterate the game play as it’s the same in Dual Shot. This title is well worth the money if you’re new to the Peggle experience and for anyone that hasn’t purchased Peggle Nights but was considering it.
The local-multiplayer is more turn-based; you must turn over your DS to the next player and then they’ll give it back when they are finished their move. You can also blast the demo stage to other DS’s so others can try the game for themselves, this is more of a marketing technique than a feature.
While some review sites, like Gamespot, said the Dual Shot isn’t worth the $30.00, we’re thinking they’ve got the wrong perspective. If you’re looking for a game with a lot of great puzzle stages that will require plenty of time to unlock all the challenges this game is worth every penny. Casual Gamers will enjoy the DS title if they’ve not burned themselves out with the prior PC and Macintosh games but the new features alone won’t sell this title, they just make it better.
[Originally posted at CGC without a review score. Obviously, they loved it, so take that as its score.]
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