Tekken Bowl on IOS Scores a Nostalgic Spare

Original fans of the Playstation 2 will remember that one of the three launch titles for Sony's "then-gen" system was Tekken Tag Tournament. Another throwback to that day and age was the lovable Tekken Bowling mini game that was also included with the title. It comes as a nice surprise to find that over the weekend Namco Bandai pulled on our nostalgic heartstrings by releasing Tekken Bowl on the Apple IOS marketplace. Keep reading to find out if Tekken Bowl scores a turkey or ends up destined for the mobile gaming gutter.

Like many fans of the Tekken series I spent a lot of time messing around with all of the oddities in the Tekken universe. Unlocking the ridiculous endings, playing vs. volleyball, but most often challenging a buddy to the bowling mini game as a nice break from all the face pummeling. Knowing this, you can imagine the excitement I felt today when I got my chance to download it from the apple marketplace. Immediately I felt a smile come across my face as the game loaded up and all those familiar sounds came buzzing at me. After a quick tutorial I was ready to jump in and wreck some shop.

However after the initial glee wore off, I had to admit I felt a bit beside myself when I realized I only had three characters to choose from. Where was Bryan Fury with his cheating, lock on, and android mechanics? He's nowhere to be found, that's where. Instead, you get treated to Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu, and Panda? Ok, whatever. Visually the game is pretty nice since its visuals have been updated. The music is also great even if you only get a couple of tracks to listen to. Sadly though, the gameplay itself suffers from mediocrity at best. While the swipe and press mechanics make the game easily accessible to anyone the inability to accurately gauge where your actually aiming makes it a pain for everybody. There is an option for a more "puzzle approached" control scheme but that's even wonkier.

Or not?

Another shortcoming for this game is fact that it only has one bowling alley to participate in. This may not seem like such a big deal but after a full round it would be nice to see a change of scenery, especially when you still playing with the same three characters. The game does offer a versus option, but only from the same device while taking turns. In the days of Wi-Fi and multiplayer it seems silly to have left this function out.

Even after all I've mentioned I have to give Tekken Bowl the green light because every "ok" game is a great free game. That's right, Tekken Bowl is free to download. So even though it falls short in depth, it more than makes up for it in price. Couple this with the fact that it looks good, sounds good and is great in short sittings (think office waiting rooms, bank lobbies and movie theaters) it makes picking up this title a no brainer. Hopefully this will be the first in a long line of Namco Bandai remakes, just don't expect to win any IPhone vs. DS/PSP contests with this game and you'll be ok.