Xbox

Strike Force Bowling

This is my third review of Strike Force Bowling (if you count the Fast Lanes PC version) and I continue to have as much fun today as I did back in February when I put on my first pair of virtual bowling shoes. I recently took a look at what some of the "other review sites" had to say about this game and while I wasn't totaly surprised, I was disappointed that so many "game reviewers" have become so self-important that they have forgetten how to have fun with a game. Not everybody has to have Halo-graphics, or Ninja Gaiden gameplay. There is a certain type of gamer roaming the stores with $20 in their pocket, perhaps with a wife and kids, looking for a "fun game". Well here it is.

I admit it; I am a bowler. Now just the average Saturday night "Rock 'n' Bowl" bowler either. I bowl on a Thursday night league with my wife. And it's pretty enjoyable. I get to see friends, have a good time, and yes; there's a little bit of competitive spirit involved. But it really is all in good fun.

They stand on a pirate ship, two humans and a pair of aliens, the latter wearing knee-high black rubber boots. The list of the ship has little to do with the bowling lane. Remarkably the ball hugs the rough wooden surface, smashing into the skull-capped pins as though on a flat surface.

The last month has seen more than a couple of high-budget games, with several more on the horizon. However, Strike Force Bowling is definitely not one of them. Weighing in with a price tag of $20.00 US, it seems like Crave is trying to rely on price more than quality to move copies of this one.

I'd respectfully decline a purchase of Strike Force Bowling, but for those that are eccentric fans of the sport, this will give you the dose you need. In reality, with the price, you can't go wrong, so I'd say you might as well purchase it over a rental.

Strike Force Bowling attempts to combine zany locales with tried-and-true bowling mechanics, but the game lacks substance and ultimately won't please bowling fans, be they hardcore or casual.

It has a few unlockables and modes of play, and though some of them are kind of cool (like cosmic bowling), the game fails in the simple task of capturing the excitement of actual bowling.

Why does the cleverly named "Pro 9" -- a computer controlled skeleton -- perform the same animation routines as the young Asian schoolgirl capable of hurling a 20 pound pirate ball at 800 miles per hour? More importantly, what is the difference between a ball composed of mud and magma and one that is 3 pieces of plastic? I don't know and Strike Force Bowling sure as all hell doesn't know.

You can tell a lot about a game from its manual. I should have had fair warning about Strike Force Bowling from the 9 page manual (five pages are about playing the game). There are 6 game modes and the manual states "you'll have to learn to play them all if you want to unlock "those secret lane variations." Goodness gracious, you'll have to have the patience of Jobe to reach "those secret lane variations."