Level 1 (Clear 25 red pegs from 90 total - Pro target 525k)
Not too many red pegs to hit, and what looks like a fairly friendly arrangent. The wavy lines should allow a small early Sweeper bonus or two.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 672,570
- Luck was with me and I picked up quite a few fortunate deflections in the bucket. As a result I reached the pro target still with 6 balls remaining.
It took me three further attempts to get it again for the video. When I got it, the ending was unexpected, but good enough with a score of 628,560..
Level 2 (Clear 30 red pegs from 100 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 725k)
No odd pegs at all, just four wavy lines, so there ought to be some sweeping bonuses.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 682,870
- One red peg left and just under 50k short of the pro target so close on both fronts.
Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 746,270
- Managed to get that little bit extra this time.
It took me another two attempts to get this one again for the video. However, I forgot to start recording the second attempt. This was annoying as I got about 917k and a total clearance. It wasn't so bad, though, as on the third attempt, I got another total clearance with an even bigger score of 1,084,620.
Level 3 (Clear 25 red pegs from 88 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 550k)
A design based on the picture, which can sometimes make for some odd shapes and angles. Only 25 pegs to get rid off, though, and comparatively few blue pegs to get in the way.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 256,790
- Didn't even come close with this one. I'll have another go without power ups as I'm sure I can do better than this!
Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 321,040
- Slightly better, but not much. This level is more awkward than it looks. Let's get the laser out.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 324,510
- Wasted the laser ball a bit, so no real improvement.
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 501,090
- Made much better use of the laser ball, and was going well but failed to keep track of how many balls I had left. I was too busy trying to pick up bonus points of the purple pegs, that before I knew it I only had 1 ball left and still 3 red pegs to hit. Silly.
Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 453,330
- I'm not scoring enough with the laser ball. I've still got too many points to get after it's gone, so I'm forced to attempt lots of rebounds which is causing me to run out of balls.
Attempt #6 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 653,620
- Added a trampoline and adjusted the trajectory of my laser ball slightly to take out more of the fountain, and these changes seemed to make a big difference. This time I easily reached the Pro target and took out all the red pegs with about 7 or 8 balls left.
The next attempt for the video was a disaster with the yellow peg very hard to get to. Despite that, I nearly made it, only missing by a couple of catches. I got it on the second attempt, with a total clearance for 717,100.
Level 4 (Clear 30 red pegs from 100 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 600k)
The elephant's head design looks like it should offer a number of sweeping possibilities. It looks easier than the last design at any rate.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 845,010
- Yes, there were plenty of big bonuses available here. Using the top curve of the trunk gave me over 180k for the first ball alone. I maybe got a little lucky towards the end when a couple of balls fell unexpectedly into the bucket, but no real problems.
It took me another eight attempts to get a video made. It should have been half that, as I did it on the fourth attempt. Unfortunately, I stopped the video after failing to catch my final ball. Only then did I realise that I hadn't hit anything and had been awarded the ball again. I went on to clear the reds with that ball and earn a large enough final bonus to scrape home by about 6k. On the eighth attempt, I got home with a score of 681,740 thanks to a 100k final bucket bonus.
Level 5 (Clear 30 red pegs from 101 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 450k)
I seem to remember from doing this the first time round, that this design can be quite tricky without a power up. Even with a power up, the yellow trigger peg is often buried down the bottom of the screen, and it takes too many balls to trigger it.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 569,740
- The yellow peg was indeed buried low on the right hand side of the fountain, and it did indeed take me 5 balls to break through to it, none of which I managed to catch. However, that didn't leave many pegs left on that side, so I could concentrate the laser ball on the opposite side, wiping out most of it in one go. I was then able to eke out the last few balls just enough to mop up the remaining red pegs.
Getting it again for the video took a couple of attempts. I managed to get the yellow peg with my first ball, did OK with the laser ball, then managed to find enough catches and bonuses to finish off with a pro score.
Level 6 (Score 500k with 40 red pegs and 60 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 800k)
The elephant's head design again, same as level 4, so there should be plenty of points available, even without any power ups.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 591,670
- I was some way short of the pro target, but I did beat the level. I think I'll have another go at it before I move on, because the points are definitely there to be taken.
Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 963,130
- That's better! I knew it was worth another shot. I picked my deflections and ricochets with a little more care this time, and ended up with a total clearance for an extra 150k bonus at the end.
It took three more attempts to get it again for the video. When I did get it, the ending was unexpected, but luckily I found the 100k final bucket which was enough for a pro score.
Level 7 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 65 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 650k)
The same layout as level 1, but this time all the pegs need to be taken out. The layout was quite conducive to rebounds last time. So I think I'll try it without power ups to start with.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 308,440
- Some 16 pegs left at the end and not even halfway to the Pro target. Maybe I was being a little ambitious attempting a complete clearance without any power ups.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 435,720
- A much better effort, but still well short of both targets. Let's try it with the grenade as well.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 201,990
- A truly dreadful effort. The laser took far too long to get to, so when I did, there weren't enough pegs available to build up a decent score with it. Awful!
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 590,080
- Got the clearance, but both balls fell in the 10k bucket at the end and I missed out on the Pro target. I'll move on for now and come back to it.
Level 8 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 65 blue, with only 7 balls - Pro target 900k)
It's those wavy lines from level 2 again, but all the pegs need clearing this time. I think I'll need a power up as that pro target looks pretty sizeable.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 760,670
- One red peg left at the end, and it was low and central, so there would have been every possibility of a deflection into the 100k bucket or two. So pretty close really.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 602,160
- Five pegs left this, and a lower score, but it still didn't feel a million miles away. I only managed 15 shots, so with a few more catches I probably could have done it.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 674,660
- About 10 pegs left, but a better score.
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 770,160
- Got a big score from the trampoline, although there then wasn't much left for the laser ball to hit. And I still had about 4 pegs left at the end. This is proving quite tricky.
Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 682,990
- I was scoring points OK, but not getting rid of enough pegs. The Big Bounce was no help as the ball got jammed down the bottom and hardly took out any pegs.
Attempt #6 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 829,270
- Aagh! I really thought I had it this time. I had three pegs left on the final ball, all together in a curve. I tried to run the ball along the curve and it missed the middle one. Damn!
Attempt #7 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 1,014,070
- Finally. The two power ups both did their jobs, scoring some big bonuses and taking out a lot of pegs. Once I got down to 8 pegs remaining still with 6 balls in hand, I knew I had it won.
I got it quite easily on the next attempt for the video. I scored 1,299,610 and still had a ball left over at the end.
Level 9 (Clear 50 red pegs from 101 total, with only 6 balls - Pro target 675k)
The tricky design from level 5 again. Only red pegs needed, but there's a lot of them.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 703,090
- An excellent first ball took out most of the centre of the fountain, and landed in the bucket for good measure, then a good laser ball took out most of the rest of it. I picked off the remaining pegs without too many problems. I needed a complete clearance to accrue enough points for the pro score.
It took me another six tries to get this one again for the video. I cleared the reds a few times, and even the blues as well, but it took a while to accrue enough points for pro on top. I eventually got it with a score of 899,650, helped by a Double Score for the laser ball.
Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 53 blue, with only 7 balls - Pro target 750k)
The same design as level 3, and it took me 6 attempts to get rid of 25 pegs then. Now I have to remove all 88, so it could be a tricky one.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 591,730
- A reasonable start, but I needed the Big Bounce to take out quite a few pegs, and it only got about 4. From that point on it never looked likely. I still had about 20 pegs left at the end.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 339,040
- Even worse this time. Still about 25 pegs left at the end. The laser ball misfired this time. The mouse button stuck slightly as I released it, and I didn't get a proper bounce of the bucket, just a glancing blow that took out a couple of low pegs.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 153,330
- Both coloured trigger pegs were completely buried at the bottom of the fountain, and I completely failed to break through to either. Enough said.
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 528,040
- Both power ups seeemed to work OK, but I still had 16 pegs left at the end. Perhaps a rethink is necessary.
Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 412,060
- 15 pegs left. Swapped the trampoline for the grenade ball this time, and the grenade ball did take out a big chunk of the fountain. Although perhaps, in retrospect, the grenade ball might be better used to take out the sun, then use the laser to take out the fountain. Maybe I'll try that next time.
Attempt #6 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 325,300
- The green peg (for the grenade ball) was perfectly positioned on the nearest part of the sun so I could hit it and leave a gap to detonate the grenade inside, however the yellow peg was at the bottom of the fountain and by the time I triggered it, I only had 2 balls left to clear the remainder and it just wasn't enough.
Attempt #7 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 572,250
- Close this time. Only two pegs left at the end. Using the grenade for the sun and the laser for the fountain seems to be a decent tactic, so I'll stick with it for a bit.
Attempt #8 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 429,450
- Lots of pegs left at the end. Not enough catches in the ball bucket that time. 10 shots and it was all over.
Attempt #9 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 325,660
- 10 shots again, so not enough catches and lots of pegs left at the end.
Attempt #10 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 748,680
- Very close again. Tried to stretch the last few balls out as much as possible, but had two pegs left at the end. Best score yet, though.
Attempt #11 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 723,170
- I got the total clearance at last, but frustratingly just missed out on the pro target. I only picked up 60k from the final bonus buckets. Any more and I would have got it.
Level 7 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 65 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 650k)
- continued
Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 652,080
- I thought I was going to be agonisingly short, but I'd forgotten I still had a spare ball, and the extra 10k bonus for that made all the difference. So it's straight back to level 10.
It took three more attempts to beat this one again for the video. It was a little more comfortable this time with a score of 823,390.
Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 53 blue, with only 7 balls - Pro target 750k)
- continued
Attempt #12 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 498,060
- A long way short again. I didn't catch enough early balls, and that puts too much pressure on catching the later ones.
Attempt #13 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 875,820
- At last! I needed a bit of luck, but then with levels like this you generally do. I got lucky with the first ball. In trying to hit the yellow peg in the fountain, I hit the white peg which gave me a split ball, and the two balls took out most of the centre of the fountain, including the yellow peg. The laser ball then took out most of the rest. A few fortunate bucket catches later on and the pro target was met with ease.
It only took two more attempts to get it again for the video. I needed to make plenty of catches in the endgame, and I still needed to avoid the minimum 20k bonus at the end. I did that in style, though, with a maximum 200k instead for a total of 929,930.
SUMMARY
Level | Reds | Pegs | Target | Balls | Clock | Pro | Attempts | Record | Average | Video |
1 | 25 | 90 | Reds | 10 | - | 525k | 1 | 672,570 | 672,570 | |
2 | 30 | 100 | Reds | 9 | - | 725k | 2 | 746,270 | 714,570 | |
3 | 25 | 88 | Reds | 9 | - | 550k | 6 | 653,620 | 418,396 | |
4 | 30 | 100 | Reds | 9 | - | 600k | 1 | 845,010 | 845,010 | |
5 | 30 | 101 | Reds | 9 | - | 450k | 1 | 569,740 | 569,740 | |
6 | 40 | 100 | 500k | 8 | - | 800k | 2 | 963,130 | 777,400 | |
7 | 25 | 90 | All | 9 | - | 650k | 5 | 652,080 | 437,662 | |
8 | 35 | 100 | All | 7 | - | 900k | 7 | 1,014,070 | 761,997 | |
9 | 50 | 101 | Reds | 6 | - | 675k | 1 | 703,090 | 703,090 | |
10 | 35 | 88 | All | 7 | - | 750k | 13 | 875,820 | 501,737 |
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