Spring Up Harmony is the new Peggle out on Indie Marketplace or is it? There are a lot of Peggle clones out there and even Peggle is a clone of the popular Japanese gambling machine Pachinko. Of course clones are usually just a flattering way of saying something is great and sometimes can improve on that formula. Spring Up Harmony is one of those games that tries to improve on an already fun and addictive formula but does it succeed? Read on to find out.
For those unfamiliar of Popcap Games Peggle or the Japanese gambling game Pachinko, you drop a ball and it collides with objects in the playing field and falls down to a bucket to earn points. What Frozax games did with this formula was combine that with a Breakout like gaming experience. Your goal is still to match color balls and try to catch the falling objects with a bucket to earn points. But instead of a stationary bucket, you move it across the screen and try to catch the fallen objects. As each level pans out, you must shoot the correct colored ball at the sparkling Harmony blocks on every stage to progress further. There are obstacles along the way such as switches, gravity and wind amongst others that create a unique experience.
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Spring Up Harmony has 30 single player levels and 1 secret level that I have not found a way to access yet, but the developer said they would give some information about the secret level in due time. If it has anything to do with catching all the fallen objects in every level, it will be a very incredibly hard thing to do because objects bounce and ricochet off other objects. The levels increase more in creativity rather than difficulty, but there is the challenge of beating the clock on every level. Even when you are racing against the clock, you rarely have to worry about it since you gain bonus time for collecting the fallen objects and power ups that add to the time. The power ups/downs of the game are very similar to the ones in Breakout as they both fall randomly. These include increase/decrease size of the bucket, reverse bucket movements, add time, and prevent objects from falling past you.
The multiplayer has two players playing split screen trying to hit all their objects as there are no Harmony objects in multiplayer. The power up objects that fall when caught, add to your own player but the power downs inflict you opponents bucket which adds to the fun.
The graphics of Spring Up Harmony are simple yet have that neon type retro feel. The animation of moving objects leaves behind a beautiful underwater feeling of effects. Each time a Harmony object is hit, the particle effect flies across the screen to fill in the indicated Harmony letter, it adds to the flow of graphics in game. It sometimes can be mesmerizing to just watch the graphics at work.
Spring Up Harmony’s soundtrack is a simple yet relaxing affair that does not become a nuisance throughout the game. The sounds that come from hitting objects, firing the cannon, and colliding with other things are good but do not take away or add anything to the games overall feel.
While Spring Up Harmony is a relatively short game, it has you coming back for more. It takes the Peggle like formula and transforms it into a simple and different experience that any casual gamer will enjoy. For 240 :MSPoints: you receive an addictive casual game that includes 31 levels, 10 achievement like rewards, and a multiplayer mode that alone grants the asking price. Frozax takes the simple and mixes it with the old to create a fun and casual experience.
You can find more information on the Marketplace.
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