Level 1 (Clear 25 red pegs from 99 total - Pro target 525k)
The design looks like the rear of a covered wagon with some straight lines at the bottom and some curves at the top.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 369,480
- The loose pegs all seemed to get in the way of the catches I tried to make, and the red pegs all seemed awkwardly placed for scoring off. I'll try again.
Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 530,780
- Just about managed to scrape together the points required for the pro target, but this was actually quite a tricky layout to work with.
I found it a bit easier to navigate my way through it on the next attempt for the video. I reached the pro target quite comfortably, scoring 695,290.
Level 2 (Clear 30 red pegs from 104 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 450k)
This design follows the lines of the road where it's visible between the mountain peaks, with some extra lines on the sea, and individual round pegs where the mountains are. Similar to the previous level, these look like awkward angles to judge.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 446,900
- One red peg left. I just misjudged the last ball. Annoying, because if I'd gone a different way I probably could have taken both pegs at once.
Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 262,950
- The distribution of the red pegs seemed more awkward that time. There were fewer easy starters. This is starting to look like it could be a tough board.
Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 256,810
- Two red pegs left and I had a clear shot at neither of them. Time for a laser ball.
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 517,440
- Got it with the laser ball, but only just. The points weren't to bad to get, but the red pegs were still awkward to clear. It didn't help that the yellow peg was right down the bottom in the middle, so it took about 3 or 4 balls to get to it.
On the next attempt for the video, it took a few attempts to get to the yellow peg again. And when I did get to the laser ball, it wasn't the greatest. I had some lucky ricochets though and some decent catches, so I got to the pro target nevertheless.
Level 3 (Clear 30 red pegs from 91 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 575k)
This design is of an ox's head, such as the one pulling the wagon in the picture. The horns give interesting curves, and it looks a little easier than the previous two layouts.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 754,450
- I was looking in trouble towards the end, but I picked up a couple of extra balls with catches to raise my balls remaining from 1 to 3 and suddenly it all looked rosy again. I got the total clearance just to make sure.
It took me another four attempts to get another pro for the video without using power ups, so I guess I did get lucky the first time. This time I scored 601,750.
Level 4 (Clear 30 red pegs from 142 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 475k)
This design is based around the wagon wheels that line the road in the foreground. We have most of three half-wheels sticking up from a horizontal lines, with a mass of individual round pegs scattered below. There are an awful lot of pegs here, so picking out the red ones could be tricky.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 175,840
- As I suspected, this is tricky. Battling through all those blue pegs to get to the red ones is very tough and judging catches is nigh on impossible. I still had half a dozen or so red pegs left, and I was nowhere near the pro target. Only 3 catches were made, and they were just through luck. There's no point trying this again without a power up so I'll go straight for the laser ball.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 696,220
- The laser ball certainly helped clear the decks a bit. There was still some work to do afterwards, but straightforward in the end.
Again, not too much difficulty with the laser ball. An even better score on the next attempt for the video with 752,370.
Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 124 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 575k)
The design features two wagon wheels above three wavy sea-like lines. Quite a lot of pegs here, but I feel there could be some potential sweeps.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 545,240
- Two red pegs left. Not far off, so it's worth another go.
Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 712,640
- A bit more comfortable this time. Completed it with 4 balls to spare and 130k over target. Even though there are a lot of pegs, they are condensed into small areas, with lots of empty space between them. This makes rebounds easier to judge and bonuses easier to come by.
It took another two attempts to get it again for the video. I got lucky at the end with a 100k final bucket for a score of 632,690.
Level 6 (Clear 45 red pegs from 104 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 650k)
The same design as level 2. I'll go straight for the laser ball as most of these levels were quite tough.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 709,720
- Two red pegs left. Should have had that - I had 6 pegs left with 6 shots to go, but carelessness prevailed.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 613,670
- I was hoping to catch an angle off the last peg into the 100k bucket, but I just missed it and it ended up in the 50k instead. Hadn't expected to clear the reds at all from the position I was in, so a good result nonetheless.
Level 7 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 74 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 625k)
The same design as level 1 but all pegs required now. I'll start with the laser as this could be tricky.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 517,860
- 94% clearance, which was more than I expected early on. It took about 4 or 5 balls to get through to the yellow peg, so the win never looked likely.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 614,530
- Only 2 pegs left, so pretty close. Just missed a catch on the last ball. It was one I should have got as well. But again, it took an age to get through to the yellow peg and there were hardly any pegs left to aim the laser at by the time I did. If I can get a clear shot at the laser early on, this will probably be quite straightforward.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 613,410
- Only 1 peg left that time. I'd been juggling the last ball for quite a long time and dropped it one shot too early. And that was after an easy yellow peg pick up on the first shot as well.
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 747,410
- Got it at last. The last few were all so close, it was only a matter of time before this one went. It took about three balls to get to the yellow peg and most of the balls on the left hand side, so I concentrated the laser on the right hand side.
It took a couple of attempts to get it a second time for the video. I scored 844,900.
Level 8 (Score 650k with 30 red pegs and 94 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 875k)
The same design as level 5. I'll stick with the laser ball as the pro target is pretty high.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 862,090
- It took way to many balls to get through to the yellow peg which was second from the left in the middle wavy line. Despite that I was irritatingly close to the pro target, finishing less than 15k short. If I could only have got to the last couple of red pegs which were buried inside to left hand wheel then the final bucket bonus would probably have been enough.
Level 9 (Clear 45 red pegs from 142 total, with only 6 balls - Pro target 800k)
The same design as level 4. The laser ball will definitely be needed here as there are a vast number of pegs here.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 500,610
- The yellow peg was nicely on top, but even so there were just too many blule pegs in the way to get to all the red ones.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 850,250
- Just about got there this time. The grenade ball helped. Neither trigger peg was particularly accessible this time, so both power ups were definitely needed to reach the pro target.
It took another to attempts to get it again for the video, but on the second go, I took a total clearance for 1,056,490.
Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 56 blue, with only 7 balls - Pro target 825k)
The same design as level 3. I'll start with just the laser and see how it goes.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 658,600
- Got the clearance, although the last dozen pegs or so had to be picked off one at a time with the final ball. Quite a long way short of the pro target, though. I got 60k with the final bonus, but even a maximum 200k would have left me over 25k short.
Level 6 (Clear 45 red pegs from 104 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 650k)
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 561,780
- Two red pegs left. I'll have one more go before I add a second power up.
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 754,100
- Got a bit lucky with a few balls as they ricoched around taking out quite a few red pegs. It made life a bit easier towards the end. I got down to one red peg required per ball with still about 6 balls to go, so it left me a certain amount of freedom to build a bigger score.
I got it again at the next attempt for the video, and quite easily as well. I scored well over the target at 907,200.
Level 8 (Score 650k with 30 red pegs and 94 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 875k)
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 961,450
- It took ages to get through to the yellow peg, but there are so many pegs in this level that there were always going to be plenty left for the laser ball. In the end I got the target score with balls to spare.
It took another couple of attempts to get it again for the video. But when I did get it, I took a total clearance with lots of bonuses for a whopping 1,356,800.
Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 56 blue, with only 7 balls - Pro target 825k)
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 848,450
- I tried to take the last peg off the side wall to make sure of the final few points, but missed the peg and the catch. Very careless.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 628,990
- Only 90% clearance. I'll give it another go, but I suspect I'll need to add a grenade ball before I reach the pro target.
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 553,330
- Only 86% clearance that time. I'll try adding the grenade ball and see how that goes.
Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 370,240
- Only 85% clearance. The grenade ball didn't really seem to help at all.
Attempt #6 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 702,170
- 96% clearance which equates to 4 pegs left. A better effort, and indeed the trampoline seems to work better than the grenade on this level.
Attempt #7 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 584,970
- Got the clearance that time, but got nowhere near the pro target. Didn't get much for the trampoline as the ball got itself stuck in a corner.
Attempt #8 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 584,860
- 81% clearance, so lots of pegs left at the end. I did quite well with the trampoline, but the laser ball was poor. But the real problem was a failure to make catches. Only 9 shots in total.
Attempt #9 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 364,780
- 81% clearance again. It was the trampoline that didn't work well this time. The ball got trapped under the skull and hardly took out any pegs. 10 shots taken this time, one better than last time, but still nowhere near enough catches.
Attempt #10 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 685,510
- A much better effort. Only three pegs left although reaching the pro target might have been touch and go.
Attempt #11 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 854,990
- Got it at last. But, by golly, I rode my luck a lot on the way. There were a lot of misjudged catches that caught the rim only to deflect off another peg and back into the bucket for an extra bonus. I stumbled my way to the point where I had five pegs left and five balls to hit them with so I could stop worrying about making catches and take them all off the side wall first. It got me to the pro target despite only hitting a minimum 20k final bucket bonus.
I got it again for the video at the fourth attempt. I needed a reasonable final bonus, and one of the balls found its way to the 100k bucket which was perfect. I scored 842,700.
SUMMARY
Level | Reds | Pegs | Target | Balls | Clock | Pro | Attempts | Record | Average | Video |
1 | 25 | 99 | Reds | 10 | - | 525k | 2 | 530,780 | 450,130 | |
2 | 30 | 104 | Reds | 9 | - | 450k | 4 | 517,440 | 371,025 | |
3 | 30 | 91 | Reds | 9 | - | 575k | 1 | 754,450 | 754,450 | |
4 | 30 | 142 | Reds | 9 | - | 475k | 2 | 696,220 | 436,030 | |
5 | 25 | 124 | Reds | 9 | - | 575k | 2 | 712,640 | 628,940 | |
6 | 45 | 104 | Reds | 8 | - | 650k | 4 | 754,100 | 659,817 | |
7 | 25 | 99 | All | 9 | - | 625k | 4 | 747,410 | 623,302 | |
8 | 30 | 124 | 650k | 8 | - | 875k | 2 | 961,450 | 911,770 | |
9 | 45 | 142 | Reds | 6 | - | 800k | 2 | 850,250 | 675,430 | |
10 | 35 | 91 | All | 7 | - | 825k | 11 | 854,990 | 621,535 |
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