PopCap is bringing some of their more popular titles to the Nintendo DS, which makes sense given its handheld nature and the short burst nature of puzzle titles. After already releasing Mystery P.I.: Portrait of a Thief late last year for the system, they have now released one of their most addictive puzzlers, Peggle, as Peggle Dual shot.

The game will let the player use either the stylus or buttons to control the game. Each option has its benefits. The stylus is easy to point at the screen and has a nifty zoom feature new to the DS version of Peggle. If you press down on a spot for an extended period of time the screen will zoom into that spot, allowing you to make a better decision about your next shot of the ball.

Using the buttons to control, you can speed up time to help you get the shots you want. Use the directional pad to move left and right, or use the shoulder buttons to aim around. This is more accurate than the normal stylus mode, though it doesn’t zoom in–usually don’t need to zoom in since you can tap the button to see all possible shooting locations.

PopCap decided to use the bottom screen for all the game play and only use the top screen for the menus and graphics of the currently selected Master. This is kind of unfortunate as it would be nice to have the extra space of the top screen, but since the levels were designed for a computer monitor anyways it works for the original levels.

The actual game play is the same as the PC versions of Peggle. You shoot a ball at pegs, trying to get rid of all the orange ones. They did include both Peggle and its sequel Peggle Nights in the game, which is a pretty good deal and explains the title. It does seem to lack the final Master of Peggle Nights, though.

Peggle Dual Shot has a few new additions to the original versions. First, there is a new underground mode added. When you get the purple points peg it now keeps track. After hitting four of them, the free ball bucket disappears and you go into the underground mode when your ball falls off the screen. The underground mode looks more like a pinball machine with bumpers all over the screen and jewels to collect. When you hit the action button it makes all the bumpers hit the ball, and you can hit the button to move the flippers. The player uses the bumpers to try to collect as many jewels as possible before the ball falls through both screens. The underground is neat in that it uses both the top and the bottom screen.‚  If you collect enough jewels your score will increase during the final extreme fever scoring. They will also get you free balls if you collect enough of them.

The game allows you to send a demo to another DS, and even encourages this by using it as one of the ways to unlock the extra levels in the game. There are 10 extra levels beyond the original levels of Peggle and the Peggle Nights levels. These are levels created specifically for the DS version of Peggle.

One of my few complaints with this game is that when you zoom in, the graphics take a hit, which they do not do on the PC version of the game. Things start to look pixilated, which isn’t a deal breaker by any means but it’s something you notice. The graphics mostly look like the PC version otherwise.

Overall, if you’re a fan of Peggle and want to be able to play the game on the go, Peggle Dual Shot is for you. If you have never experienced Peggle before, you’re getting a great deal by having two PC games packaged on one DS cartridge along with new levels and stylus play, if you so choose, and trust me, you want to play Peggle, as it’s one of the most addicting puzzlers out there on the market.

Blast readers — in addition to our free PC gaming headsets that we’re just tossing at readers like t-shirts at a basketball game — we have two PopCap games prize packs for you!

You get copy of Peggle, one of the most addictive games ever, a set of PopCap games trading cards, a PopCap games sports cap, a handful of Bookworm bookmarks, and a bunch of PopCap pens!

If you’re a games junkie or collect video game merch, this is for you!

What do you have to do to get some of these freebies? Write a review! Review a new movie, music album, video game, software, hardware, gadget, laptop, camera, pretty much whatever you want. Write up a review that’s at least 400 words, and if we use it, you’ll get a freebie!

Email all reviews to newsroom@blastmagazine.com, and include your name, address, website address if you have one, the review, any photos you have of the product and don’t forget the 1-5 star rating!

Casual game developer PopCap Games announced on Tuesday that they have released a follow-up to Peggle, one of the highest rated games of 2007 and the most popular casual video game of hte year.

“Peggle Nights sports 60 all-new Adventure Mode levels and 60 new Challenge Mode hurdles, along with a new ‘Peggle Master’ power-up, new kinds of style shots, achievements, and other special bonuses,” PopCap said in a statement. “In addition, Peggle Nights takes players into the ‘dream worlds’ of each of the eleven Peggle Masters, providing five beautifully rendered and themed levels for each character’s secret dreams and aspirations.”

Peggle Nights costs 19.95 with ‚ a free trial of the deluxe version is available for download at www.popcap.com.‚ 

“We at PopCap love the Peggle “Ëœmaster’ characters as much as anyone, so we decided to delve into their personalities a bit further and take a peek inside each one’s dream states,” said Sukhbir Sidhu, studio director in charge of Peggle and Peggle Nights at PopCap. “We also took the opportunity to incorporate user feedback from the original game by adding more challenges and style shots and ultimately making the game even more achievement- and skill-oriented.”
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Game features:

• New Peggle Master/power-up: “Marina,” the electric squid, brings the number of Peggle Masters / power-ups to 11; her “Shockwave” effect arcs between the first peg hit and the bucket at the bottom, clearing all intervening pegs with a jolt of electricity
• New Trophy/Achievement: In addition to the original game’s “all clear” achievement, Peggle Nights sets an “ace” score for each level; “acing” each level earns a special trophy
• More Trophies: The new game offers four different trophies for the various achievements: completing Adventure Mode, completing Challenge Mode, clearing all levels of all pegs, and “acing” all levels. Oh, and a new trophy room to keep ‘em in!
• 60 Newly Designed Levels: Each Peggle Master has five themed “dream state” levels in the game’s main Adventure mode, plus a final five Master levels in which the player chooses the Master/power-up
• 60 New Challenges: Five dozen new Challenge Mode levels, with many fiendishly tricky objectives for players to reach; new types of challenges include “low ball” challenges in which the player tries to get the lowest possible score, Style Shot based challenges and challenges involving specific or combined power-ups
• New Style Shots: More ways to score bonus points based on the player’s aim and timing acumen: “Off the Wall,” “Double Long Shot” and more
• All-New Soundtrack: Maintaining the cultured sensibilities of the original Peggle, the new game offers a mix of original tunes and well-known classical music – including a fully-orchestrated introduction by the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra
• Admire Your Skillz: You can now drag and drop replays of your top shots into the open game window to view them
• Power-Up Improvements: Existing power-ups including Tula’s “flower power,” Kat Tut’s “pyramid” and Lord Cinderbottom’s “fireball” have been tweaked to optimize their effectiveness
• Level Packs (Coming Soon): Peggle Nights is designed to accept additional levels and PopCap plans to begin issuing custom-made, in some cases themed, Level Packs

Later this month, you’ll be able to Peggle to your little heart’s content — if you can turn away from Spore for 10 seconds.

Peggle Mobile, lanching soon for cell phones in North America and parts of Europe, promises the same gaming experience on a smaller screen, PopCap Games said in‚ a statement Friday.

Peggle has been a hugely popular casual title. Since its first introduction in March 2007, Peggle has been downloaded more than 20 million times.

“Peggle combines elements of pinball, pool and pachinko to create a completely different kind of game experience. The game challenges players to use skill, strategy and luck to clear progressively more difficult levels of orange pegs by firing a small silver ball from the top of the screen,” PopCap says of its title. “Stationary and moving obstacles along with numerous power-ups and special effects combine with dynamically-assigned peg colors to make each level unique every time it’s played.”

In a move that makes me suspiciously think they are playing coy, PopCap Games released a statement Thursday vehemently denying they are making a Nintendo DS version of the mega-popular puzzler, Peggle.

“There are always rumors flying around regarding casual games and where they’re headed, and in this case the rumor mill seems to have gone into overdrive; this is a perfect example of why our company policy is to not comment on future plans until they’re finalized,” said Greg Canessa, VP of Video Game Platforms at PopCap.

But he went on to say:

“We have ambitious plans for many of our titles including Peggle, and are eager to bring its peg-popping pleasures to as many appropriate platforms and devices as possible. But Nintendo has not approved this product, we have not signed a developer to port Peggle to DS, and we have not green lighted this project.”

I think you’ll eventually (or soon) see some peg-popping pleasures on Nintendo DS. PopCap clearly doesn’t want rumors to perpetuate because (A) it might piss off Nintendo if, in fact, they haven’t signed off yet and because (B) it would dilute the hype if it leaked too early. Stay tuned.

PopCap Games announced that beginning today that Peggle is available on the iPod.

iPod Peggle will take advantage of the the iPod’s clickwheel and high-resolution display. You can also listen to your own playlists while Peggling.

That’s right, Peggling: Verb, to Peggle. One who is playing Peggle.

The iPod version includes all 55 levels, 10 magical powers and 75 Grand Master challenges, as well as the two-player Duel Mode.

“The clickwheel input of the iPod is a natural fit for controlling Peggle, so we knew this adaptation of the game would be amazing,” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of PopCap. “And with the Duel Mode included, two players can pass the iPod back and forth while battling their way to Extreme Fever!”

Peggle is one of the most successful and best pure casual games ever and has been downloaded more than 10 million times since its introduction in March.

From Popcap: In Peggle, players fire a metallic silver ball from the top of the screen, relying on gravity to propel the ball downwards while it ricochets off orange and blue "pegs". The goal is to clear all the orange pegs from the screen before running out of balls. A moving "bucket" at the bottom of the screen offers free balls, while green power-up pegs give the player one of ten different abilities courtesy of the ten "Peggle Masters" who guide players through the game. These power-ups include explosive area-clearing blasts, lobster claws which serve as pinball-type flippers, and "fireballs" that cut through all pegs in their path. "But nobody can really be told what Peggle is like," said Kapalka, "you just have to play it for yourself." Available on retail store shelves, on the Web and now on iPod, Peggle is the must-have game of 2007.

Gamers can download Peggle from iTunes for $4.99, and the game is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish, Popcap said Tuesday.

Peggle was described to me by Garth Chouteau, PopCap games’ PR wiz, as “pinball-meets-pachinko-and-starts-dating-billiards-on-the-side.”

Be warned: once you start playing Peggle you’ll have a hard time stopping. If you have ever watched or heard of a pachinko machine, the game at first glance looks similar to that. It features lots of pegs that the balls that fall from the top have to hit, but that’s where the comparison stops.

Whereas pachinko is completely based on luck, Peggle is a highly skilled game. The object of each level is to hit every orange peg. When a peg is hit, it will be removed from the board, and points are given after the ball leaves play. The ball is aimed and then shoots out with some force. This allows it to bounce more than a real pachinko ball would.

Only if you were the rainman of geometry could you actually predict where the ball is going to travel. The game is also made interesting by having the “Free Ball Bucket,” which gives the player a free ball if the ball lands in it. This is useful on all levels, and on some challenges, it’s the only way to beat the level. The Free Ball Bucket also has sides off of which it can bounce balls, and this can get more pegs before the ball leaves play.

After all the orange pegs have been hit, the game goes into an extreme mode, where the Free Ball Bucket is removed, only to be replaced with a set of holes worth 10,000-100,000 points. This can quickly increase the score, and it may be needed for some of the score-related challenges.

The dual mode allows up to two people and the computer to play on the same level together. They take turns shooting the ball. This is interesting because you need to be careful what shots you open up, as your opponent will get to go after you. You also want to be the person to get the last ball, in order to get the end-of-level bonus. Unfortunately, the dual mode will not work between two computers, so both players have to be sitting there to play it.

I give the game a 9 out of 10; I love the game, and it’s very addicting. I wish they had allowed dual mode to work over the Internet, though. There is also, quite unfortunately, only a set number of levels, though, in all fairness, there are a lot of them.

PopCap has also released a guide for playing Peggle at www.popcap.com/extras/pegglestrategy

Quick hits:

Publisher: Popcap
Developer: Popcap
Platform: PC
Genre: First-person shooter
Players: 1

Playability: 5 out of 5 stars
Learning Curve: 5 out of 5 stars
Sound: 5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars Editor’s Choice