Overall: There are just so many things that could have been done to this game to make it great, or at least good. They should have upped the detail on the player models. They should have had some kind of career mode, where you could earn points or maybe your character would get better as you progress. They should have had other people in the bowling alley bowling on different lane’s, instead of just an empty alley and you on two lanes. This way the game wouldn’t seem so stale when you’re playing. They should have had an entire song playing in the background, instead of cheesy music playing each time you go up to bowl. One thing that really bugs me is that you have to press a button to see the scoreboard. It should show you the scoreboard after every throw, but instead it won’t show it to you till the end of the match, or if you press a button and wait for it. If it would have shown the scoreboard after every throw, you would know where you stand, and it would have made the game feel more like a sports game. Xbox live support would have been nice, although I bet no one would play it online.
The people making all these bowling games need to realize that people don’t go bowling in real life just to go bowling; they go for the atmosphere as well.
Gameplay: I've played many bowling video games, some are fun, some are not. This one can be fun if you have another person in the room to crack jokes about the cheesy music, or how cheesy the players look. If not, this turns out to be rather boring.
You can basically do either a single game, or a tournament. Tournament mode isn't that fun though. You don't get anything from winning a tournament, and even when you are in a tournament, it still feels like you're playing with yourself.
Single games can be fun if you have another person(s) in the room to play with. Another person who is willing to play this game, and is willing to take the time to figure out how to play the game.
If you've bowled before, and had an instructor show you how to bowl, then figuring out how to do it in this game isn't too hard. You line you're player up on the dots, and you line up where you want the ball to go over the arrows. Then there’s a little meter in the bottom right. You press the button to activate the meter, then stop it around the top for power, then the meter drops down for accuracy. You want to stop it on the bottom in the center for this. Then the meter starts again where you get to choose how much spin you want to put on the ball. This sounds complicated, and it is somewhat. I couldn't figure it out on my own till I read the instruction manual, and I haven't seen anyone else that was able to figure out how the meter worked on their own. You can also look at how wet and dry the lane is.
The game and instructions never tell you how much power, or spin you should put on the ball, or where you should line up your player. So it usually takes about 2 games before you figure out where to set everything and the timing of the meter.
Graphics: The menu system looks plain, but it doesn't bother me. A menu is a menu.
There’s only a limited selection of bowling alleys, and they all look nearly identical except for the backdrop above the pins. The alleys, lanes, and pins are detailed and look nice. However, the player models and animations aren’t that great. The player models should have been a lot more detailed. Why? Because the Xbox could have easily supported 2-4 highly detailed player models. The only other thing rendering on the screen are the lanes, and two sets of pins. The players stand in awkward position, the animations are somewhat jerky, and the lower detail in the players makes everything else look not as good.
When you actually bowl, it shows the ball rolling down the lane and then shows the ball hitting the pins. The lane is detailed. It shines with oil like in a real bowling alley. The pins are detailed too. The physics on the pins act like real pins in a real bowling alley.
Sound: They did the same thing with the sound that they did with the graphics. Half of it is great, and the other half is horrible, which in turn brings down the overall quality. When the ball’s rolling down the lane and hitting the pins, the sound is excellent. Sound’s just like bowling all by yourself in a bowling alley.
However, each time someone steps up to bowl, there is some cheesy music that gets played. Let me describe this music to you. If any of you were in elementary or middle school anytime in the 90’s then you’ll know what kind of music I’m talking about. Remember those puberty, aids, and the just say no videos? Remember the music? The same songs get played each time you go up to bowl, except for the cheesy rap songs.
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