Leader Board authors Bruce and Roger Carver tried their hand at tenpin bowling, in one of the game's earliest recreations. The process of bowling the ball involves timing a succession of clicks to set the right angle, speed and curve, similarly to Leaderboard's system. Three skill levels are provided - Kids level sets the speed and hook automatically, while Amateur has more margin for error with hook/slice than professional. The game is played from a plan view, with four other (empty) lanes visible. Single matches or a league structure can be played.
Similar to golf and dart games, computerized bowling never really captured the true charm of the game in real life. Still, it is always fun enough to play and hack of a lot easier than in real life.
There's no "feel" of the bowling ball, no Fred Flintstone tip-toeing before getting a strike, no need of special shoes... In fact you don't even need those few ounces of energy to lift the bowling ball. All you need to do is to choose the direction, the spin of the ball, the power needed to roll it down the lane and watch the pins fall.
Basically, all the game-play consists of selecting the direction of the ball and pressing fire when the correct value for power and spin appears. That's how you bowl on the computer. But to make this game a bit more interesting, they included different modes of play.
You get to build up a whole team of bowlers who can compete against a different team; you can bowl against a friend or the computer, or you can simply practice your bowling. Anyway you look at it, it's always the same old way of getting the ball to the pins, but competing against somebody always makes it a bit more interesting.
The graphics are nicely done, although they are only 4 color CGA graphics. The sounds are basic and will help just enough, so that you won't have to imagine the sound of falling pins yourself. All in all, it's a solid game, but nothing out of the average.
It's still easier playing this than having your very own bowling alley in your living room (just imagine the damage to the furniture!).
You can either play the Open Bowling or League Bowling. If you want to practice, you should play the Open Bowling. And if you want to play tournament, you have to play the League Bowling, where you can have multiple teams with 4 people on each one.
The game is in EGA-color only and the sound is quite bad as the game uses the pc speaker. The gameplay is good and the controls are easy to use: left and right to decide where the ball has to go and the spacebar to throw it away.
Probably the best bowling game of the 1980s, 10th Frame Bowling is a fun bowling game for up to 8 players. Two gameplay modes are available: Open Bowling (a single match) or League Bowling (the complete league). League Bowling is where you compete in teams, with 4 members each.
Although the game looks quite primitive in CGA color, the graphics are crisp and the animations believably smooth. The interface is intuitive: similar to the common "golf meter" in golf games, you use the left and right arrow keys to choose the direction for the ball, and press the spacebar at the right moment to throw it. Simple, but flawlessly executed. If you enjoy bowling games, 10th Frame Bowling is a true pioneer in the genre you must have in your collection. If you are not a bowling fan, this may very well be the game that sparks your interest in the sport. Timelessly enduring and playable - a must-have.
10th Frame Bowling is quite a good game. It has only EGA colour and uses the occasional pc speaker beep. You can play either League Bowling or Open Bowling. In League Bowling you can have 2 or more teams with 4 people on each team, this would be good if you want a bit of multiplayer action with your mates. Open Bowling is just for practice or when you want a friendly match with up to 10 people. The controls are quite simple using the left and right keys to move where you want the the ball to go and the space bar to increase power and hook.
How to run this game on modern Windows PC?
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