Starting from scratch with two bowlers and lanes, Acquisition will
likely be the first mode player’s will tackle. Hidden bowlers are unlocked by
defeating them on their home turf in rounds best out of three. Achieving the highest score
in vs. matches is bowled straight out the door and the new intense objective becomes
keeping your timer from reaching zero before your opponents. Bowling over a complete set
of pins rewards time while any gutter withdraws time. Golf is a marvelous union of two
sports, in which the task is to bowl over a given number of pins under a par limit.
Challenge also plays on similar terms, where you clear as many frames possible in under
five attempts. It is no deeper than any other bowler or sports title and all characters
have special groove areas so bowling a perfect game can be easily accomplished.
Imprisoned in static, low-res polygons, fluent bowling animations are never given the
chance to shine. Alleys do compensate for this unpleasantness. They are definitive in
their character’s background, and all the neat graphic touches give something to look
at during moments of non-action. Some terrain’s apply real physics to the motion of
the ball. The Ice Lane causes the ball to glide while the Garage Lane slows it down from
building friction.
Twenty songs make the soundtrack and none of them are gutters. The finger snapping jazz
and head nodding piano are a refreshing throwback to the 16-bit era, also meaning that
looping is a major reoccurrence. This time around a female announcer takes on the
microphone and digs right into the action when a strike is made.
Out of the three bowling titles in the N64’s canon (the others being Milo’s
Astro Lanes and Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling) Super Bowling is the
best bet. The challenge could be raised a few more notches but the style direction is
highly commendable, and may be the sole reason that will keep the player coming back after
everything is unlocked.
