CTIA 2005 Rocket Bowl Hands-On

SAN FRANCISCO--Rocket Bowl is the mobile version of the eponymous shareware PC game. If you've been searching for a way to safely combine rocketry, golf, and bowling, look no further. Rocket Bowl places bowling alleys on a grassy field. You'll have to brave the topography of each "hole" to put big numbers up on the scorecard.

You start Rocket Bowl with a standard bowling ball. This might seem anticlimactic to starting players, having been promised rockets. Fortunately, compelling financing options are available, and--with the right credit--you can take home a rocket-powered bowling ball very quickly. Eventually, you can purchase a ball equipped with multi-directional retro rockets that can be fired a total of seven times. This allows for a lot of steering after the initial roll.

The holes are arranged on a contiguous course, and you can actually knock over pins from any hole at any time. With the use of rockets, it's theoretically possible to score strikes on multiple frames on the same roll. That's one convincing reason to build bowling alleys over golf links. Plus, circumnavigating hills and trenches adds quite a bit of challenge.

Rocket Bowl is a casual game that could potentially appeal to a wide audience--one that includes id programmer and armchair rocket scientist John Carmack. A good mobile game is easy to pick up and play, and Rocket Bowl certainly fits that description.