Level 1 (Clear 30 red pegs from 88 total - Pro target 525k)
This design mimics a castle wall with vertical sides, a crennelated top and a regular pattern of single pegs inside.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 568,570
- Points were quite hard to come by, and I had to do quite a lot of shooting straight into the bucket while I waited for the purple peg to appear somewhere useful. I had to play a lot of single peg deflections into the bucket, but at least this layout is quite conducive for that. I had to take the final red off the side wall at the end which was a dangerous moment. There was a purple peg right above it which I needed to miss.
Level 2 (Clear 30 red pegs from 89 total - Pro target 500k)
This design is of a bridge with a flat top and a curved underside.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 497,730
- I had two red pegs left at the end and just one ball. I tried to take out the one I thought I had the best chance of a catch off, but I misjudged it. I very nearly hit the other red peg off it, but missed that too.
Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 730,640
- No problems this time. I felt pretty much under control all the way through. I ended up taking the total clearance even though I didn't need to. Although I realised when I got down to the last ball that I'd taken something of an unnecessary risk by doing so, as the final ball could easily have gone wrong. But it all turned out OK.
Level 3 (Clear 30 red pegs from 109 total - Pro target 500k)
This design generally follows the major lines in the picture. There are vertical lines where the castle turrets are, sloping lines following the edges of the bridge, plus a few others.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 238,950
- As is often the case on these designs which follow the lines in the picture, catches were difficult to judge amidst the jumble of different angles and surfaces. I only made one catch, I think, which just isn't enough. I'll use a laser ball.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 627,630
- I didn't get through to the yellow peg for two or three balls, but it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I got a reasonable score with the laser ball, and I made quite a few catches. That meant I always had plenty of balls in hand which allowed me to build a score off the purple pegs without worrying about running out.
Level 4 (Clear 30 red pegs from 127 total - Pro target 525k)
This design mimics three of the tower tops with their pointed roofs.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 287,400
- With no red pegs on the sloping lines nearest the side walls, my opportunities for early bonus were severely limited. Early catches were tricky as well, mainly because of the vetical lines of diamond-shaped pegs which are extremely unpredictable. To hell with it, I'll use a laser ball.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 912,770
- This must be one of my highest ever scoring laser balls. I triggered it with the first ball, then shot it perfectly, getting a beautiful rim bounce that popped up to a decent height, flew across the screen to land back in the bucket. As luck would have it, it had hit the white peg on the way which gave a triple bucket bonus. That gave me 101k tripled up to 305k plus 195k in skill bonuses making a smidgen over 500k all told. I could forget about scoring points after that amd concentrate on clearing the red pegs with the balls I had left. I had balls to spare at the end so I took the total clearance.
Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 90 total - Pro target 525k)
This design shows three swords similar to the one being held by the statue in the foreground, plus a few single round pegs.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 248,290
- Similar to the first attempt at the previous level, I had no real opportunities for early bonuses and catches were tricky to judge. I'll go with the laser ball again.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 395,030
- I didn't pick a very good path for the laser ball. It took out the whole left-hand sword, but failed to touch either of the other two. It didn't score me enough points and I wasn't able to make up the shortfall with later bonuses.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 643,040
- I took a more standard path with the laser ball this time, and it gave a better result, taking a chunk out of each sword. Also, due to the fortunate positioning of the red pegs, it took out nearly all of them as well. I had more than enough balls left to cope with those red pegs that remained, so I could concentrate for a bit on boosting my score up to pro levels.
Level 6 (Clear 40 red pegs from 109 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 600k)
The same design as level 3, but with 10 more red pegs, one less ball, and 100k more on the pro target.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 730,390
- It took two or three attempts to get to the yellow peg, although I did catch most of them, but by then most of the right hand side was clear, so I concentrated the laser ball on the opposite side. I got a reasonable rim bounce even so, but didn't score as much with it as I would have liked. I seemed to still have quite a few red pegs left afterwards, but it didn't turn out to be problem.
Level 7 (Score 450k with 30 red pegs and 58 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 650k)
The same design as level 1, but with one less ball and another 125k on the pro target. The pegs are not important this time, just the score.
Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 481,030
- I think the pro target might be a step too far without power ups. I had to do a lot of shooting straight into the bucket again here. A laser ball should do the trick.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 566,450
- The yellow peg was very buried and it took too many balls to get to it, and it got rid of too many pegs for too little a score. I tried to get the most out of what was left but the catches were tricky and I missed too many of them.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 617,520
- I had loads of blue pegs and plenty of balls to pick up points from them, but the last red peg got taken out off a ricochet too early. Disappointing.
Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 704,290
- I seemed to get a better grip on the angles with each attempt. This time, despite not getting the best of scores with the laser ball, I managed to make enough catches to make the pro target. Once the pro target was guaranteed, I took out the last two red pegs to finish it.
Level 8 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 102 blue - Pro target 600k)
The same design as level 4, but with 5 less red pegs, and a measly 75k on the pro target. A total clearance is now required, though, so having less red pegs makes it harder to reach the pro target as bonuses are less forthcoming.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 556,350
- 91% clearance which equates to 11 pegs left. The score was on target, but the the yellow peg was awkward to get to at the start, I didn't get a particularly good rim bounce with the laser ball, and I generally felt that luck didn't really go my way. I can do better than that.
Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 491,240
- I started well enough, getting an easy yellow peg to start with and then a reasonable rim bounce with the laser ball, but I think I started picking off single pegs too early when I should have gone for a few ricochets to cut down the number of pegs. Only an 86% clearance.
Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 900,280
- A big improvement. I could take the yellow peg easily with the first ball, then I got a much better rim bounce with the laser ball. I went for a few ricochet shots early on which took out a few extra pegs, just picking off single ones when a good opportunity presented itself. I finished with at least half a dozen balls in hand, and well above the pro target.
Level 9 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 65 blue - Pro target 525k)
The same in all respects as level 5, but all pegs need clearing, not just the red ones.
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 827,770
- This level is considerably easier than the previous level. There are less pegs to clear, the pro target is lower and the angles are easier to get catches from. Admittedly I got some pretty fortunate ricochets and catches in the endgame, but most of the work had already been done by then.
Level 10 (Clear 30 red pegs from 89 total, with only 5 balls and a 5s shot-clock - Pro target 650k)
Attempt #1 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 951,620
- This turned out to be really quite easy. I generally find that a shot-clock of five seconds or more is not to be feared. Unless, of course, the screen features some sort of slow-moving obstacle. A standard bucket will move back and forth in under 5 seconds so there is still time to wait for the bucket to be in the right place before making your shot. You have to make up your mind about the shot you want to play pretty quickly, but I tend to do that anyway. I got lucky early on here with some early catches, and an excellent rim bounce with the laser ball. The Big Bounce came at the perfect time, as well, and took out a lot of pegs. I ended up taking a comfortable total clearance with more than enough points for the pro score.
SUMMARY
Level | Reds | Pegs | Target | Balls | Clock | Pro | Attempts | Record | Average | Video |
1 | 30 | 88 | Reds | 10 | - | 525k | 1 | 568,570 | 568,570 | |
2 | 30 | 89 | Reds | 10 | - | 500k | 2 | 730,640 | 614,185 | |
3 | 30 | 109 | Reds | 10 | - | 500k | 2 | 627,630 | 433,290 | |
4 | 30 | 127 | Reds | 10 | - | 525k | 2 | 912,770 | 600,085 | |
5 | 25 | 90 | Reds | 10 | - | 525k | 3 | 643,040 | 428,786 | |
6 | 40 | 109 | Reds | 9 | - | 600k | 1 | 730,390 | 730,390 | |
7 | 30 | 88 | 450k | 9 | - | 650k | 4 | 704,290 | 592,322 | |
8 | 25 | 127 | All | 10 | - | 600k | 3 | 900,280 | 649,290 | |
9 | 25 | 90 | All | 10 | - | 525k | 1 | 827,770 | 827,770 | |
10 | 30 | 89 | Reds | 5 | 5s | 650k | 1 | 951,620 | 951,620 |
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