April 18, 2001 - After several unsuccessful attempts to locate Super Bowling we finally found it at a popular electronics store around 40 miles from our offices. Subsequently we've given the game a good run-through and are now happy to be bringing you this review, which stands as one of the last N64 games to ever be reviewed. Super Bowling is nothing special, but it does offer something for the bowling fanatic or those looking for a new twist on this very traditional sport.

Features

• Eight selectable characters
• Variety of game modes -- regular, challenge, versus, golf, and more
• Unique alley environments
• Keep track of high scores, averages, and more
• One to four players
• Save to memory pak
• Rumble pak compatible

Gameplay
Super Bowling is the third installment of bowling on the Nintendo 64 after Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling and Milo's Astro Lanes -- each one of them unique in their own way. Super Bowling, however, is the only one of the few that mixes reality and fantasy in a balanced way. Its main appeal is not working on maintaining a high average, or winning trophies as you advance through tournaments held in alleys around the world. Instead, there are a variety of levels hosted in their own unique environments ranging from icy ponds and misty forests to woody Japanese corridors and neon-laced Chinese temples.

With each of these different themes comes a different experience. The alleys have a different set of pin physics and "wax" friction depending on the environment. For example the icy tracks hardly react to your spinning ball at all, while on the other end of the spectrum the concrete warehouse floor will instantly react to any spin you put on your ball. The same applies for the pin physics. In one level they are half-submerged by water and tend to bounce around much easier than they would on for forest's dirt floor.

As for the gameplay itself the bulk of the single-player experience revolves around competitions. It's almost like a fighting game in some ways. You can choose from two characters to begin with and must "fight", or competently bowl, your way through a number of opponents. Each opponent has his, her, or "its" (yes, not everyone is human) own level (e.g. the penguin's level is the icy pond). By defeating the opponents you open the ability to challenge new master bowlers in their respective courts. Once you open a new alley or opponent you can use them in single player practice, versus, or any other mode.

Each selectable character has his, her, or its own attributes. Everyone's abilities vary in the fields of throwing power, "turning effort", and release speed. "Turning effort" is the characters ability to put either a weak or strong spin on the ball. There is a good range of chracters -- eight to be exact -- and you will certainly have no trouble finding one that both suits and amuses you. All of them have short, but unique animations while bowling. Miko bows standing or on her knees, and the penguin will spin on his back.

Putting all this into execution isn't so tough either. The control system is pretty simple utilizing mainly the analog stick and the A-button. Before you do anything you can choose both your point of release (closest set of arrows) and target area (farthest set of arrows) with the analog stick. The analog stick is also used to pre-set the amount of spin you want to place on the bowling ball by pressing right or left, depending on whether the player is right or left-handed. Furthermore it is used to pre-set the amount of strength used to toss the ball down the alleyway by pressing up or down. Once you set all that up you simply need to press the A-button to trigger your swing meter. When the meter begins to come back down into a yellow "sweet spot" area you press the A-button once more. If you vary left or right of the yellow "sweet spot" into the orange or, even worse, blue areas the ball with is directed right or left with less accuracy. Interestingly, the rate at which the swing meter flows varies from player to player depending on their attributes. So it's best to find a character your like and stick with them. One more addition is the weight of the bowling ball. Each character is capable of handling and choosing a range of weights for their bowling balls, even during the middle of a round.

All of it lends itself to a pretty amusing bowling experience if you like bowling. You're not going to just pick it up and get sucked into it by its deep storyline and addictive modes. Its gameplay style is mainly geared toward those who get a kick out of bowling, and are looking to play on some weird, yet somewhat questionably possible turf. It's not out of this world like Milo's Astro Lanes and it's not super-simulation like Brunswick Pro Bowling. It falls in between those two and does a pretty good job at offering up a balance of fun while demanding some skill.

However, there are a few things that might bother the bowling enthusiast. Such as the pin physics. They're by no means bad or unrealistic (like Milo's Astro Lanes), but they are very flat. The pins usually fall over and barely slide given them a sort of dead weight. This is one of the few drawbacks that tends to take away from the game as it's hard to put a spin on your ball and hit that "pocket" like it is in real life. The pins just don't' fall like you think they would in real life. But, it's only slightly noticeable, and is definitely outmatched by Brunswick Pro Bowling's pin physics.

Lastly we must consider the multiplayer mode. You can play every mode available like golf, where you have a certain par to knock down a specified pin arrangement, but the most interesting addition is the actual versus mode. The developers have added a twist to the usual versus modes by implementing a fast-paced versus mode with a life meter. The object is to continue throwing great sets consecutively faster than your opponent. There is a transparent, flashing red "danger wall" that edges closer to you as time passes. The more sets you manage to strike or spare, the more chances you have to keep the wall at bay. You must knock down every pin in a set to have the chance to strike down another set. Meaning, if you get stuck on knocking a certain pin down, you're going to see that "danger wall" consumer you quickly, upon where the game will end and you'll be met with laughter from you nagging friend.

In sum, Super Bowling is a well-balanced attempt to offer a fresh take on the bowling sport without being outrageously weird or compulsively perfect to simulation. That said, though, it is still bowling, which is a sport best played in real life, not via a controller.

Graphics
The graphics are admittedly quite varied, but are overall horrendously blurry. Whatever filtering or lack thereof the developers implemented is not working. It looks like an odd mix of no anti-aliasing and a dithering filter. All of this is used on extremely flat, low-resolution textures placed on low-polygon models. Still, the pure diversity of each environment, and variety in color and texture usage works out alright. It's not near as ugly as Brunswick Pro Bowling was.

Sound
Overall the aural experience is relatively first-generation. However, there are a total of twenty songs and all of them have their own personality. Some are fast-paced with jazzy techno-beats, and others are calming and atmospheric. A few might somehow catch your ear, but will only do so when you get past the fact they are extremely digitized and relatively unreal. Fortunately, though, they are not overly repetitive, so you won't be forced to hear the same looping six second beat over and over.