Board 75: Majestic Gardens

We have a picture of a very ornamental garden this week. Full of shrubs and colourful flower beds with a large waterfall in the centre.

Level 1 (Clear 30 red pegs from 80 total - Pro target 525k)

Looks pretty straightforward. There are some tempting curves there which could be worth some bonus points, although they might be tricky to hit right. If I can pick the right spot on the side wall to bounce off I should be able to get some big bonuses.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 630,860

• No problem with the score, mainly due to a good first ball that I deflected off the side wall to run along the whole bottom curve giving a whopping 211k bonus. But, I still had one red pin left at the end. I probably should have cleared the high central pegs earlier.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 396,670

• I mucked up the first ball this time, just putting holes in the bottom curve instead of taking it all out, so I was always playing catch up with the score. I still had three or four red pegs left at the end.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 485,190

• Tried to take the final red peg off the side wall for 25k bonus that might have made all the difference in getting the pro score, but missed it by a whisker. This level is turning out harder than it looks.

Attempt #4 - No power ups. Score: 376,850

• Good first ball again, getting a 200k bonus, but a catalogue of disasters afterwards. Still 3 or 4 red pegs left at the end. Time for a power up.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 518,880

• Cleared all the red pegs but fell short of the pro score by an annoyingly narrow margin. The laser ball was a waste of time, as the peg for it was tucked away down the bottom, so by the time I hit it there weren't many pegs left anyway. I still had two blue pegs and two balls left when the final red peg went, so I could have got the pro score if I'd avoided the last red peg for a little longer. Never mind, I'll move on to level 2 and come back for the pro score later.

Level 2 (Clear 30 red pegs from 106 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 475k)

Some more tempting curves, but again they look tricky to hit right. There are a lot of blue pegs here which may end up getting in the way.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 367,090

• No problem clearing the red pegs, but nowhere near the pro target. Again, not to worry. I'll concentrate on earning the badges first and come back for any pro scores I miss at the end.

Level 3 (Clear 30 red pegs from 106 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 450k)

A lot of pegs again so it could prove tricky getting through to the reds.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 581,800

• No problem with the score, but 5 or 6 red pegs left and still lots of blue pegs left getting in the way. I think I'll go straight for the laser ball.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 507,190 

• The score was looking a little lower this time, but managed to leave a low central red peg until last for an easy deflection into the 100k bonus to finish, and I have a pro score at last!
  
  No problem coming back for the video, using the laser ball I took an easy total clearance for a seven figure score.

Level 4 (Clear 20 red pegs from 99 total - Pro target 350k)

With only 20 red pegs and a low pro target, this looks simple enough.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 205,300

• Not as simple as it looks. The loose pegs on top and the sloping roof beneath them make it difficult to judge the timing for catching balls in the bucket. Then get through that and all the angles are designed to funnel the ball into the middle of the screen where it's hardest to catch them. A laser ball should cut a swathe through them nicely.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 461,780 

• It took me a few balls to get to the yellow one, but once I had, the combination of the laser ball, and a few judicious side-wall deflections made for a comfortable victory with a pro score.
  
  Another comfortable pro score with the laser ball when I came back to repeat it for the video. I scored 684,980 with another total clearance.

Level 5 (Clear 40 red pegs from 62 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 500k)

Much fewer pegs this time - more red than blue for the first time. There are four moving pegs, though, sweeping on and off the screen which may make life awkward.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 358,950

• Still a dozen red pegs left at the end. The moving pegs make for an extra distraction, and the lack of flat sided pegs makes deflections tricky to judge. Trampolines can sometimes be good against levels like this.

Attempt #2 - Big Bounce. Score: 585,910 

• The yellow pin was in plain sight, and the trampoline took out a good chunk of the pins, adding over 200k points to boot. After that it was plain sailing.
  
  Coming back to make the video, it took me another five or six attempts to crack it. I could generally make the points, but clearing the red pegs was the problem. When I eventually got it, I should have had a total clearance, but I made a total pig's ear of the last couple of shots. Never mind, it got the job done.

Level 6 (Score 500k with 40 red pegs and 40 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 725k)

The same layout as level 1, so I should know where to put the mouse pointer to get a good first ball. Because of this I'll try it without power ups first.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 740,950 

• The first ball could have been better, but a few lucky deflections and bucket catches allowed me to get a total clearance which got me home with a pro score (just).
  
  On the next attempt for the video, I beat the pro target quite comfortably. I could have cleared the final red peg, but I was going for the total clearance, and was already well over the pro target, so I kept going for catches until I ran out of balls. I made 922,330.

Level 7 (Clear 30 red pegs from 99 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 425k)

The same layout as level 4 which proved quite awkward then, so I'll jump straight in with the laser ball.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 437,870 

• The actual laser ball shot itself was rubbish, but I managed to avoid some of the mistakes I'd made on level 4 and muddled my way through to a victory with a pro score.
  
  It took a couple more attempts to get it again for the video, but when I did I took a total clearance for 792,100.

Level 8 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 27 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 700k)

The same layout as level 5 with the four pegs sweeping in and out. Not many pegs, but clearing all of them could be tricky judging by my two attempts at level 5. I'll jump straight in with the bug guns, I think.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 380,250

• Tried using both the laser ball and the trampoline (which worked on level 5) but to little avail. Still 10 pegs left at the end and not much of a score.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 403,110

• A slight improvement with only 7 pegs left. The trampoline achieved practically nothing though, perhaps I should try a different combination.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 251,900

• A disastrous laser ball missed the first bounce off the bucket. After that it never looked likely. Probably cleared less than half the pegs.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 482,830

• Much closer this time. Only three pegs left at the end, but still some way off the pro target. That's me out of energy for now, but I'll be back later.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 313,160

• Missed the laser ball again, so still had 9 or ten pegs left in a central cluster at the end. This level is proving quite tricky.

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 290,260

• Started well enough, but failed to catch enough rebounds in the bucket, so ran out of balls with half a dozen pegs still left.

Attempt #7 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 348,350

• Yet another messed up laser ball. Still 8 pegs left at the end. I think I'll abandon the laser in favour of the trampoline.

Attempt #8 - Big Bounce & Grenade Ball. Score: 529,200

• The closest yet. Only two pegs left, and a much better score. I shall persevere with these power ups.

Attempt #9 - Big Bounce & Grenade Ball. Score: 438,700

• Nowhere near the pro target, but I finally cleared all the pegs. It'll be a tough level to ace, but I can worry about that later.

Level 9 (Score 525k with 40 red pegs and 66 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 725k)

The same layout as level 2. Lots of pegs to shoot at, but an awkward arrangement for big scoring. This will be a challenge.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 225,040

• 6 red pegs left and nowhere near the pro score. Perhaps attempting this without a power up was a little ambitious.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 384,530

• A slightly better score, but 8 red pegs left this time.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 188,810

• Only 5 red pegs left this time, but a truly awful score. The yellow peg was so awkwardly placed that it took nearly all my balls to hit it. By the time I had there were just not enough balls left.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 416,050

• Best attempt yet. Only two reds left and a decent score, but still over 100k short of the target.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 545,080

• Added a trampoline in an attempt to gain some points. I'll admit that for once I did take the win without pushing for the pro target. I had about 469k with one ball and one red peg left, so I took the last red peg, hoping to get a decent bonus, rather than build more points with deflections off the purple peg. I just felt that the pro target was just too far away.

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 30 red and 76 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 600k)

The same layout as level 3. That's a lot of pegs to get rid of. This might take a while.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 379,430

• Not a bad score, but that's immaterial as there were many, many pegs left.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 625,430

• A much better effort. Only three pegs left and no problem with the pro target.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 957,860 

• A new day, and the final level is comfortably beaten. Now to go back and get the pro score targets for the four levels I missed.
  
  Coming back for the video, I did it at the first attempt. It took quite a few shots to get through to the yellow peg, so I only had a couple of balls left after the laser ball. I took the green peg with one ball to go, but gained a couple back with the Big Bounce. I then managed to hang on to the few balls I had left all the way to the end for a score of 880,540.

Level 1 (Clear 30 red pegs from 80 total - Pro target 525k)
- continued
Attempt #6 - No power ups. Score: 616,750 

• I'm clearly having a much better day today. No power ups were required. I actually forgot I was only clearing red pegs rather than all of them, so I probably made harder work of this than I should have done.
  
  Coming back to complete the videos, I did it first time without power ups. A few missed catches left me having to keep the final ball going for quite a few shots, but I picked the pegs off carefully, and finished with a 100k bonus.

Level 2 (Clear 30 red pegs from 106 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 475k)
- continued
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 486,490

• Last time I cleared the reds but couldn't reach the pro target, this time was the exact opposite. It's all those blue pegs that get in the way, particularly the high central ones.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 560,970 

• Much better this time. Picked up a fortunate angle off the rim of the bucket with the laser ball which took out some extra pegs and ramped the bonus up to about 400k. That meant I could concentrate on taking out the last few reds without having to worry too much about the score. No more energy left now, so I'll come back later and try to polish off the last couple of levels.
  
  Much easier coming back for the video. I had an abundance of ricochets that just seemed to go on forever. I ended up taking out all the pegs for a score of 801,570.

Level 8 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 27 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 700k)
- continued
Attempt #10 - Grenade Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 622,840

• Pretty close. Picked up the ideal scenario with the trampoline, where it hits the white peg and triggers the split ball bonus. When that happens the trampoline stays until the original ball has bounced three times, but the extra ball can bounce an unlimited number of times. That left me with only 8 pegs and 8 balls to hit them with. But even bouncing every ball off the side wall first, 700k was just too big a target. If both bonus balls at the end had fallen in the middle bucket for 100k each, I would have made it. As it was, they both fell in the 50k instead.

Attempt #11 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 418,190

• Back on the laser ball again, but wasted it. Still had 6 pegs left at the end. I've run out of coins now, so I'll have to be much more sparing with the power ups from now on.

Attempt #12 - No power ups. Score: 427,120

• Not a bad effort considering I couldn't afford any power ups. Only about half a dozen left at the end. I managed to take out all four moving pegs with the first ball which made life a bit easier.

Attempt #13 - No power ups. Score: 356,100

• 9 pegs left. Never looked likely.

Attempt #14 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 474,410

• 6 pegs left. This is definitely going to need a bit of luck.

Attempt #15 - No power ups. Score: 411,080

• 8 pegs left. I'm starting to get better scores, even without power ups, but I'm going to need a bit of luck to get those few extra pegs.

Attempt #16 - No power ups. Score: 469,240

• Much the same result. Still waiting for some luck.

Attempt #17 - No power ups. Score: 439,140

• 12 pegs left this time.

Attempt #18 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 771,920 

• Finally - success! Took out a lot of pegs with the two power ups. The score was still looking low, but both balls at the end did indeed fall in the 100k bucket. That was the piece of luck I was looking for.
  
  Coming back to repeat this one for the video, I was rather pleased to get it at the first attempt. I was short of points for most of the game, but I took a lot of catches, so I had plenty of balls left in the endgame. I managed to pick up a lot of bonuses towards the end, and got over the line with room to spare with a score of 789,630.

Level 9 (Score 525k with 40 red pegs and 66 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 725k)
- continued
Attempt #6 - No power ups. Score: 732,010 

• A few fortunate bonuses early on, then a lot of careful deflections into the bucket to eke out the last couple of balls for as long as possible, gave me this pro target at the first attempt. Well, the 6th really, but the first since completing it yesterday. And that's the Majestic Gardens board aced.
  
  It took another five or six attempts to repeat this pro score without power ups for the video. I eventually got it with some good catching and some lucky bonuses for a score of 745,850.

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	30	80	Reds	10	-	525k	6	630,860	504,200
2	30	106	Reds	9	-	475k	3	560,970	471,516
3	30	106	Reds	9	-	450k	2	581,800	544,495
4	20	99	Reds	10	-	350k	2	461,780	333,540
5	40	62	Reds	9	-	500k	2	585,910	472,430
6	40	80	500k	9	-	725k	1	740,950	740,950
7	30	99	Reds	9	-	425k	1	437,870	437,870
8	35	62	All	9	-	700k	18	771,920	434,877
9	40	106	525k	8	-	725k	6	732,010	415,253
10	30	106	All	8	-	600k	3	957,860	654,240