Peggle Dual Shot is Rated E for Everyone

This new DS version promised to bring Bjorn the Unicorn back into my life and it proved to be just as criminally addictive as ever. I thought I'd beaten the addiction back in 2006 when my PC turned into a Peggle machine. My five minute breaks snowballed into mammoth five hour sessions before I had to physically remove the game from my system.

Peggle is a cuter, friendlier version of pinball that's overdosed on sweats. You shoot a ball from the top of a board into a field of colored pegs. Hitting and clearing all the orange pegs advances you to the next level whilst the blue pegs help you to earn more points. Levels are divided up into character chapters. Each character (the charming Unicorn or wise Owl) have certain power-ups to help you clear the board if you can hit a green peg.

This is a game as addictive as Tetris but with some bonkers fun slapped all over it. Once you've cleared a level the real ego-massaging begins as a bizarre rendition of Beethoven's Ode to Joy blares out while fireworks and rainbows fill the screen. Peggle certainly knows how to give your nieces and nephews some life-affirming reasons to keep on playing.

Happily addictive

On the DS, this perfect storm of gameplay is happily as addictive as ever. More importantly it still feels like Peggle. After only a few minutes of play I saw that everything was hitting my endorphin centres just like it did before. The necessary changes simply make the game to fit around the DS hardware. I loved the way it gives Peggle a streamlined experience.

Dual Shot moves the scores and stats to the top screen, leaving the touch screen for pure action. Whilst the D-pad can move your aim most will prefer the stylus. Touching the screen for a few seconds also provides a zoomed view to make those precise shots easy-peasy.

Even after clearing a single level I knew it. The familiar orgy of primary colors and a 19th Century symphonic climax was as good then as it ever had been. And with the sequel, Peggle Nights crammed in as well this make for great value for money.

Even if you're a Peggle veteran like me, there's something compulsive about breezing through levels afresh. But either way this wonderful game, Dual Shot is the comprehensive Peggle experience that shouldn't be missed.

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