Board 58: Colossal Tropics

We have a picture of an enormous statue standing on a tropical beach. The statue towers over the palm trees next to it.

Level 1 (Clear 25 red pegs from 99 total - Pro target 625k)

The first design features a load of curves which all appear to be in line with the launcher, so this one really ought to be a doddle.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 771,650 

• I missed several catches off the opening curves which was a little clumsy, but I still had plenty of balls left after taking them all out to play the remaining pegs one at a time to earn the points I still needed for the pro score. A very straightforward starter.

Level 2 (Clear 25 red pegs from 92 total - Pro target 450k)

This design features vertical columns of pegs, with a few round pegs between them and above them.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 537,980 

• Actually not that difficult. All those vertical pegs make for pretty easy catches on the whole.

Level 3 (Clear 25 red pegs from 139 total - Pro target 475k)

This design is a repeating pattern of stars and boxes. It makes for a lot of pegs, so picking the red ones out from among all those blue ones might be tricky.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 384,760

• As I thought, it was tricky to negotiate all those blue pegs to get to the red ones. I'll give it one more go then add a laser ball.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 397,580

• I took an unnecessary risk at the end there. I only had two red pegs left and about 8 balls as I'd been making a whole load of lucky catches. I took the purple peg off the side wall, knowing there was a chance the ball would rebound into the reds. That's exactly what it did, then it fell into the 10k bucket. Annoying, as with all those shots in hand, I could easily have reached the pro target otherwise.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 190,730

• The yellow peg was too hard to get to. It took nearly all of my balls to get there, taking out way too many pegs with not enough bonuses.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 496,020 

• It took quite a few balls to get through to the yellow peg again, but I made a lot of lucky catches, so I still had quite a few balls left when I got there. Again, I took out the last red peg before I was ready, when I still had lots of balls in hand, but this time I managed to accumulate enough points from final bonuses to get me over the line.

Level 4 (Clear 25 red pegs from 100 total - Pro target 650k)

This design consists largely of curved lines that follow the outlines of the statue, the rocks, and the forest in the background. There is also a sprinkling of single round pegs as well.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 405,600

• Only one red peg left, but I was struggling both for points and catches. I'm not in the mood for perseverance, so I shall go straight for the laser ball.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 660,640 

• Well, I meant to add a laser ball, but forgot. As it happens, I didn't need it. It looked far from promising at one stage, but I managed to pull it back in the endgame by making lots of catches, some of them by the slimmest of margins. I had to take it all the way to a total clearance to squeak in by just 10k.

Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 89 total - Pro target 500k)

This design looks tricky. There is a big, unmoving, vertical barrier just to the right of the shooter, then one large box and four small ones to the left, plus a few single round pegs. At the base of each box is a teleport that deposits the ball at the top of the right-hand section.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 366,450

• Five red pegs left and plenty of points short. This is too tricky to be attempting without power ups. I'll add a laser ball.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 601,110 

• The yellow peg was quite easy to get to, so I triggered the laser ball quickly. I shot it straight into a teleport, and got a good bounce on the right-hand side. I managed to take out all the red pegs on that side bar one, but that was quite close to the top so it went pretty soon after anyway. Then it was just a matter of picking off the remaining reds on the left-hand side and making sure to earn enough points for the pro target.

Level 6 (Clear 40 red pegs from 139 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 600k)

The same design as level 3, but with 15 more reds, one less ball, and 125k on the pro score. I needed the laser ball last time, so I'll certainly need it here.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 625,950 

• I was struggling for points all the way through. The final red peg was flat and central, and I still needed 70k for the pro target, so I took the chance that by firing straight down I could take out the last red peg, and the flat blue one beneath it, and land in the 100k bucket. It worked.

Level 7 (Clear 40 red pegs from 92 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 625k)

The same design as level 2, but with 15 more reds, one less ball and 175k on the pro target. I found level 2 quite easy so I'll try this with any power ups to start with.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 602,890

• I got a decent score, but I still had a lot of red pegs left. I felt I missed a lot of catches that I should have got, so I think it's worth another try.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 510,900

• A lot of red pegs left again. I think expecting to be able to take out 45 red pegs one at a time is probably too much. I think I need to reduce the number with a laser ball to have a decent chance at this one.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 724,980 

• The laser ball took out a big chunk of the pegs, and what was left could be taken out one or two at a time. I made a total clearance in the end.

Level 8 (Clear 35 red pegs from 89 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 600k)

The same design as level 5, but with 10 more red pegs, one less ball, and 100k on the pro target. I'll try for a similar approach to that of level 5 - try and use the laser ball with a decent bounce to clear out the bulk of the right-hand side, then concentrate the remaining balls on the pegs I can see.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 636,990 

• I re-used the same technique that worked so well on level 5, and it worked a treat again. It took a couple of goes to get through to the yellow peg, but the laser successfully cleared all the red pegs on the right-hand side in one go, leaving me free to tackle the boxes on the left. I got a bit lucky at the end as I hadn't really intended to finish when I did, but a 100k final bucket bonus carried me across the line.

Level 9 (Score 600k with 40 red pegs and 59 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 725k)

The same design as level 1, but with 15 more red pegs, two less balls, and 100k more on the pro target. This is now a score based level, and quite frankly, it looks like a doddle.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 558,320

• Missed a few too many catches at the end. It's easy enough to remove all the curves, but more points are still needed afterwards. I'm sure I can improve substantially on this effort though.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 672,560

• A lot closer to the pro target that time, although I missed several of the catches off the curved sections, so there's still plenty of room for improvement.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 928,060 

• Quite comfortable that time. I only made one or two mistakes off the curves, and then I made sufficient catches off the remaining pegs to secuire the pro score. I carried on anyway for the total clearance just for the hell of it.

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 65 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 675k)

The same design as level 4, but with 10 more red pegs, two less balls, and a paltry 25k on the pro target. All pegs are now needed, not just the red ones.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 733,980 

• Not too hard with a laser ball. Although I had a couple of pretty lucky catches with the very last ball which I only got by the skin of my teeth. I managed to find an entirely new path for the laser ball. I shot it too late and only caught the rim of the bucket. It bounced low across the screen, caught the rim again, bounced back again even lower and disappeared. This level has quite a lot of low pegs, so I got 38 pegs and scored just over 385k with it.

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	25	99	Reds	10	-	625k	1	771,650	771,650
2	25	92	Reds	10	-	450k	1	537,980	537,980
3	25	139	Reds	10	-	475k	4	496,020	367,272
4	25	100	Reds	10	-	650k	2	660,640	533,120
5	25	89	Reds	10	-	500k	2	601,110	483,780
6	40	139	Reds	9	-	600k	1	625,950	625,950
7	40	92	Reds	9	-	625k	3	724,980	612,923
8	35	89	Reds	9	-	600k	1	636,990	636,990
9	40	99	600k	8	-	725k	3	928,060	719,646
10	35	100	All	9	-	675k	1	733,980	733,980