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| Bowling For Burgers by PDAMill |
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Hey, Daddy-O, let’s pop a clutch on the screamer and head on down to the bash at the lanes. If you have any idea what I just said, you’re doing better than I am! Hopefully I’ve got you in the right mode for one of PDAMill’s latest offerings, Bowling For Burgers. I’m not a real big fan of computerized bowling simulations, but Bowling For Burgers is like, crazy, man…
You wouldn’t really think or expect a casual sports game to have a story, but Bowling For Burgers does - sort of. You play as one of three bowlers representing three burger joints out to win the annual Bowling For Burgers tournament. The three cats at your disposal are Maggie - the flighty but lucky blonde; Slick - the cool but decent bowler; and Mr. Cube - the preppy square with the mean strike ball. Each character has strengths and weaknesses that are divided into three categories: Strength, Accuracy and Luck. As a player you also have the option of ball weight, with 5 increments ranging from Super Light to Super Heavy. If the second player is a CPU opponent, you can set the level of difficulty from 1 to 5 bowling balls. Once you’ve set up the two players - hot seat against a friend or solo against the computer - it’s time to rock and roll (the ball, that is).
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I will admit that I don’t really have any experience with bowling games on the Pocket PC, but I’d wager to say this one is fairly unique in the way you control your ball. You actually use the stylus or your finger to drag the ball left and right for positioning purposes, and then you drag it across the screen towards the pins to actually throw it. A combination of the speed and length of your swipe determine the power with which you throw the ball, and the weight of the ball rounds out the equation. You can also add curves to your swipe in order to get the ball to hook as you’re tossing it down the lane. You need to be cautious however, as too much hook will result in that infamous gutter ball. You’ll also get a gutter ball if you don’t “throw” the ball hard enough and it stops before hitting any pins. You don’t get any “do-over” cheating like in real life!
Sadly, this has got to be one of the sloppiest bowling alleys I have ever seen. During the course of play, it’s possible that one of several different events can take place that might help or hinder your performance. The pile of fries causes your ball to slow down and potentially veer off course. A spilt milkshake accelerates your ball, so you’d best hope you threw it in the right direction. What I can only assume is a puddle of soda causes your ball to slide out of control. My favorite lane dressing, however, is the cigarette. While generally bad for your health, rolling over one here sets your ball on fire, and as long as you hit a pin you’re pretty much guaranteed to knock everything down. It works wonders for those ominous 7-10 splits.
Graphically the game stands with the best PDAMill has to offer. The playing field looks good, the flame effect on the ball is neat, and the caricatures of Maggie, Slick and Mr. Cube have a nice 50’s feel about them. It might have been cool to see something like milkshake trails on the ball or along the lane when appropriate, but I’m not sure what else could have been done to enhance the visuals.
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The sounds effects were right on as well. It really felt like you were in a bowling alley - except for the lack of noise outside of your own game. Since this was supposed to be a tournament there could have been applause, especially after spares and strikes. Or a quick “awwww” after a gutter ball would have been amusing. Alternatively, there could have been some background noise outside of your lane, like other people were bowling. I do think they did a great job matching the voices to the characters, and even the man announcing the strikes and spares sounded authentic. The couple of tunes that existed fit perfectly into the atmosphere of the game, but it would have been nice to have a couple of more selections to choose from.
Overall this is a wonderful game. However, there are a couple of things that I think would have made it even better. Since this is supposed to be a tournament, it would have been nice to have a tournament mode. Maybe something where you play x number of games in round robin mode, and the winner of the most sets is the ultimate victor. Also, it would have been neat if you had some control over the events happening to another player. Possibly after getting so many points or strikes or spares you can throw an event the other player’s way. Of course, even without these things I’m still highly addicted to this game.
The more games I play on my Pocket PC, the more I realize that casual games are among my favorites. Even more so, among the casual games I’ve played in the last several months, Bowling For Burgers is definitely top of the charts. A great atmosphere, unique control scheme, and quick, addictive gameplay put Bowling For Burgers in a league of its own. If you’re looking for your next kick on your windows mobile device, look no further than Bowling For Burgers.
*Note: several 50’s slang terms were intentionally harmed in the writing of this review (especially if this was intended to have a 60’s theme…)
Overall Score: 9/10
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