Difficulty:

Very Hard

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Waste of time"

Leave it to them to screw the pooch on this one! They make crap bowling balls that roll out at the arrows in real life so why would I expect a game made by them to be any different?!

There is a very easy bug to exploit in career mode: bowl with your opposite hand. If your character is left-handed, swing the Wii remote with your right hand and vice versa. Then the ball will go dead straight with almost no hook. In the beginning, with low ball speed the ball reads well and hits. Just aim up the 16-17 board and the ball floats in the pocket. I averaged 230 for the first league season and didn't lose a game.

Here is the problem: as you win more and post higher scores, your ball speed begins to increase and that makes your ball skate longer before rolling and that will lead to FLAT AS HELL hits and pocket splits. 5-7s, 5-10s; it gets really ugly.

Once your ball speed reaches around 50, that's when you can throw with your normal hand and I'd recommend the house ball right up 2nd arrow at that point. You won't post as high scores but you'll be around the pocket.

Here's where this game goes to hell: the whole time you have to endure the most HORRIFIC DOG CRAP LUCKY strikes ever witnessed on any bowling lane EVER!!! Tonight finally did it! The CPU just shot 258 on me without EVEN PRETENDING to aim for the pocket!!! I took the disc out of the Wii and flew across the room like a frisbee! I'm done with this thing!!!

I bowled in real life. I have sanctioned 300 games and 800 series and even held a PBA card for a couple years before giving up competitive bowling. I'm a pitch-and-roll guy that learned during the urethane era of the 80s; the modern balls are too much for me. In my opinion, the strikes that the computer throws are APPALLING!!! If I carried that way against a real person, I'd scratch out and let them move on in the tournament.

Brunswick should actually be commended here. They made a game that will agitate all non-bowlers because of the boring simulation-style gameplay. And at the same time they made a game that will agitate all bowlers because of the unrealistic, abysmmal carry. I didn't think it was possible to make a thing that EVERYONE hated.