The game is based on the game of bowling, playable by one player or two players alternating. In all six variations, games last for 10 frames, or turns. At the start of each frame, the current player is given two chances to roll a bowling ball down an alley in an attempt to knock down as many of the ten bowling pins as possible. The bowler (on the left side of the screen) may move up and down his end of the alley to aim before releasing the ball. In four of the game's six variations, the ball can be steered before it hits the pins. Knocking down every pin on the first shot is a strike, while knocking every pin down in both shots is a spare. The player's score is determined by the number of pins knocked down in all 10 frames, as well as the number of strikes and spares acquired.
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Listen, bowling is just mastering a repetitive motion, right? You pick a ball off the rack, put on some old-timey shoes that 100 people put their stinky feet in, cram down some cheap food, walk up to the dots, and do exactly the same thing you did last time. Do the exact same thing 12 times and you get a perfect game.
Atari's Bowling game captures this perfectly. Boil yourself a hot dog and cook up some grocery-store brand fries, put on that pair of bowling shoes you stole that one time, and the atmosphere is basically complete. Your computer image shimmies up to the line and you try to do exactly the same thing you did last time. Do it right and you get a pretty stellar success animation. What more do you need?
Mark it a 4, dude.
Review from thedonproject.com
Its actually the last game Larry Kaplan programmed for Atari before telling them to shove it. There are no real physics so its pretty easy to cheese your way to perfect games on the easier difficulties where you can move the ball anyway you want, but throwing a ball at some things you need to knock down is one of those basic concepts that at its core is really hard to fuck up and make not at least passably entertaining in video game form. It fits well in the “Atari games you could play with your friends while couch locked on edibles” category that I personally find to be very important. Also the ball is actually the closest to circular I’ve seen any balls be in an Atari game so far so 10/10 1979 game of the year.