Arcade Bowling

I down loaded Arcade Bowling and fired it right up. You’re instantly presented with a choice of two games, Classic and Progressive. A quick look over the screen and I found the “i” (info) button in the lower left corner. A touch to the “i” brought several options, all sound related. There are two soundtrack choices and two volume controls. The volume controls were preset to max and a quick adjust to 1/2 volume brought the sounds to a good home level. There is also a 1/2 dozen or so bullet points on how to play the games and scoring. Everything was brief and to the point. Now it’s time to play.

I selected Classic and the game screen flashed up in an instant. Waves of memories flood my mind. I was taken back 40 years to the Penny Arcades at Cedar Point. Arcade Bowling is just like the old arcade games. Several concentric rings surrounding holes in the slanted back stop provide the scoring opportunities. Single holes for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 points. Two 100 point holes at each back corner are the real challenges.

Would this game prove worthy of all those memories? A quick flick of the index finger and my ball flew down the lane, past the holes and bounced off the backstop before falling into the 10 point score. Hum, a bit more technique will be required. I steadied my finger and took aim. I flicked about half speed and the ball raced down the board. Again 10 points. A slower flick and I added 20 points to my score. I think I got the hang of it. Flick, 40 points, flick 40 points, flick 30 points, flick 20 points. Nine balls and a final score of 210 points. Not bad for a first time out.

The end of the game brought the opportunity to enter my name. The directions seemed simple, “Touch to enter name.” A touch of the screen brought nothing. I touched again, nothing. Another touch and a long wait. After 6 to 8 seconds a keyboard slid up from the bottom and I could enter my name and a press of the “Done” button brought up a list of top 10 scores. I’d made the list. Not bad for a first attempt. I pressed the Arcade Bowling button at the top of the screen and was instantly transported to the game choices screen. After a few more games and a first place score of 260 and it was time to play Progressive.

Progressive presents you with the same game board but assigns a point goal for each game. Make the goal and you play again, but with a slightly higher goal. Flashing holes allow you to score 5x their normal point value. I played along and scored a total of 1050 points in 4 levels of play. Not enough for a top ten score. Another game and I cracked the top ten. This game is a little more challenging trying to drop the ball into the flashing holes. Tilting the iPhone allows you to guide the ball towards the flashing holes, but not guarantee of an easy score.

Arcade Bowling has earned a place on my game screen along with 15 other favorite games. The play and scoring is straight forward, but challenging enough to keep your interest. The minor glitch entering my name seemed to get better with time. The usual tricks of restarting the phone to free up memory seemed to have no effect, so maybe it was user error. The game is challenging enough to keep you wanting more, yet is over quick enough that game doesn’t get tedious. Four Stars for a fun game, that will keep you entertained for hours, or minutes, your choice. When I think about all the pennies and nickels I spent in my youth playing this game, at $1.99 this game is a steal.

Follow Us On: