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> Results: Strike Force Bowling
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A 7-10 Split 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 ﾓyouﾒll have to learn to play them all if you want to unlock ﾓthose secret lane variations.ﾔ Goodness gracious, youﾒll have to have the patience of Jobe to reach ﾓthose secret lane variations.ﾔ The ﾑOpen Playﾒ mode letﾒs you play alone or against other humans or CPU-controlled characters. Okay, itﾒs a standard 10-pin bowling match. The ﾑTournamentﾒ mode pits you up against other humans or computer characters in a 32-person single-elimination tournament. The competition can be tough or a push-over. It appears that there is no rhyme or reason to the scoring madness. The best I ever finished was 4th and that was when I ﾑhad it downﾒ and was bowling my rear end off.  A ﾑSkinsﾒ contest is included, as well. Bowlers compete for cash while trying to best one another frame by frame. There is nothing to spend your skins money on, but I guess itﾒs the thought that counts. The most innovative mode is ﾑGolfﾒ bowling. Pins are setup in various designs and difficulties. A ﾑparﾒ is assigned to each frame with the goal being to meet or beat the par score. This is similar in design to the ﾑChallengeﾒ mode. This difference being in ﾑChallengeﾒ there is no par assigned and the bowler gets only 3 chances at the frame. The final mode is a ﾑPractice.ﾒ It is what it is. Practice, practice, practice. Anyone whoﾒs ever played bowling games may remember Tin Pin Alley for the PS1. Tin Pin had flair, style, and an extensive tournament mode. Strike Force Bowling has none of those qualities. The mechanics are easy to pick up. Itﾒs your standard 3-click (start, set power, set aim) interface after you decide where to stand and how much spin is on the ball. The selling point seems to be the ability to bowl in various, off-the-wall locations like: a rocking pirate ship, a pier on the beach, an Egyptian pyramid, or an old west town. The pins and lanes change according to your location, i.e. whiskey bottles and dust at the old west town. The bowling physics appear to be right on, but the presentation is lacking. Hereﾒs an example: bowling in 32 player tournament should be fun, full of tension and a place where you begin to develop rivalries with the computer players. Instead, the developers didnﾒt even give the computer players a name. Each CPU bowler is known as Player 23 or Player 12, etc. This omission may have been because of time and funding issues, but adding player bios and giving them a name would have gone a long way to increase the fun of the game. Speaking of ﾑfun,ﾒ Strike Force Bowling is one of the most boring games I ever had a chance to play. Youﾒd think the $14.99 bargain bin price would be a steal for a brand new game (released last May). The only theft going on is your life being slowly sucked from your eyes as you bowl frame after frame. The gameplay is tedious and uninspired. Itﾒs too bad. Additions like season play and bios for the CPU players couldﾒve added so much to the game. Kid Factor: There is some possible fun to be had with parent vs. kid matches, but your average youth will trade this game for a pack of Pokemon cards within a few days. Boredom, the enemy of all parents, will set in quickly. It could be a good tool to teach kids how to keep score. Reviewer Recommended Ages: 5+ Genre: ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Producer: Crave Entertainment Developer: Lab Rats Games, Inc. 
There is some possible fun to be had with parent vs. kid matches, but your average youth will trade this game for a pack of Pokemon cards within a few days. Boredom, the enemy of all parents, will set in quickly. It could be a good tool to teach kids how to keep score.
Kid Factor by Doug Hanna
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