Rocket Bowl Review

[mariatamis]

Rocket Bowl is a wacky Bowling game from Indie Developers, 21-6 Productions, in which your goal is to get the highest possible score out of 10 frames on some the most bizarre courses you've ever seen. You start off with only one basic course and the basic bowling ball, but through some skilled bowling and high scoring you win money which you can use to purchase more advanced balls that have abilities ranging from increased speed, increased power, increased maneuverability, and more powerful Rocker Boosters. Rocket Boosters which are mapped to the X, Y, and B buttons all you to accelerate your ball Left, Up, or Right after you've thrown it. This lets you reach otherwise impossible to hit pins or grab bonus points.

In Rocket Bowl you have three basic modes, Free Play, Challenge, and Tournament. Free Play as the name implies, allows you to pick from one of the 10 Courses (though you first have to unlock each one in order by reaching a certain score on the previous course), picking a ball and playing a quick 10 frame game. It is here that you will have to play the most in order to earn enough money to play in the other two modes. Challenge puts you up against other A.I. Bowlers on a certain course where you can bet money on the outcome. Finally Tournament can be considered the main game mode. Here you pay an entry fee to play a Tournament against other A.I. Bowlers on each course. Winning will grant you a large amount of money and will unlock the next course and tournament. On the Multiplayer side of things, you have options for both Local and Xbox Live Rocket Bowling. Up to 4 players can compete against each other to see who's the best. Both Player and Ranked Matches are available online as well as Leaderboards to keep up with who's the best in the world and how many of your friends you're currently dominating.

The gameplay in Rocket Bowl is fast paced and easy to get into. At the beginning of each frame you start by aiming which direction you want to roll your ball followed by charging the power bar to determine how far you want the ball to go. After you throw the ball then you can nudge the ball left and right with the Left Analog Stick as well as use your Rocket Boosts. Besides the pins, you can also aim for bonus points targets as well as powerups. The game's fun is found in it's simplicity, it's an awesome feeling when you manage to pull of a seemingly impossible shot or to miss one or two pins and have the ball roll backwards after hitting a ramp only to take down the remaining pins for a strike. Rocket Bowl is a great pick up and play game that is easily accessible for all ages, but it's not without it's problems.

[Nurann]

Locked while under review for spammage.