Peggle Sequel Officially Released, Conquers All

Seeking to further its grasp on the hearts and minds of millions, casual game developer PopCap Games today released a sequel to its unicorn-centric and rainbow-tastic PC bouncing ball effort Peggle.

Dubbed Peggle Nights, the sequel features "a dreamtime adventure of alter egos and peg-tastic action," and once again requires players to eliminate colored pegs within a certain number of shots. According to PopCap, Nights is more focused on skill than the original, with more levels set to be released as downloadable content.

A free demo is currently available on the game's official site, with the full version priced at $19.95. "OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!," exclaimed beloved Shacknews community member dognose.

Much like the original Peggle, Nights will soon appear on Valve's digital distribution platform Steam, with its Steam debut slated for the nebulous "next month." A list of the sequel's key improvements, as highlighted by PopCap, follow below.

• 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