"Is that all the balls you got Santa?"

Introduction –

Elf Bowling was released back in 1999 for the PC. There was some humorous fear surrounding its release. Many People thought the file contained a virus. Since its release its become an Internet sensation. Many people have downloaded this game for free and enjoyed its crude humor during the holiday seasons and beyond. Currently the series is up to Elf Bowling 5. All of the games have been created by a company named NStorm. The company has changed over the years to meet the demand for its games. Elf Bowling t-Shirts, mugs, and thongs can be purchased from their website.

This copy of Elf Bowling is considered a budget game. It costs $20. Most importantly it comes with Elf Bowling 1 & 2. Two games for half the price! But are the games any good?

Gameplay –

Elf Bowling is a simple game. Its basically a timing game. There is a gage at the bottom and if you push the A button or tap the screen the ball will roll down the land at that specific location on the gage. There are two spots that get you an automatic strike. You play by yourself and the goal is to get the highest score.

Elf Bowling 2 changes bowling into shuffleboard. This time there are two gages. The bottom one explains where and how far your elf puck will go. The top gage shows the tilt of the boat making the elf slide left of right. Each player gets 4 elves and can knock the other elves off of the boat. This game feels very rough and is very hard to play due to poor graphics. It is not like the fluid original Elf Bowling 2 for the PC.

Story –

Its Christmas time and those Greedy Union Elves go on strike. Santa is going to show them what “strike” really means.

Graphics/Sound –

To me this is one of the biggest pitfalls of the game. They really messed up here

Elf Bowling 1 – They took out the sound of the ball hitting the lane and rolling. It feels like other sounds are missing. I played the original hundreds of times. Its incredibly different. The graphics feel downgraded. It just looks completely different and sounds different.

Elf Bowling 2 – They took out the coin toss at the beginning! The deck is terrible. You can't see anything down it. The elves shrink and enlarge at weird times and looks very awkward. Its hard to tell where the end of the deck is. The physics are all off! Not that elf bowling had an amazing physics engine but it plays so different now because of the poor graphics. The dual screen actually hinders you. I said before there were two gages. Well one gage is on the bottom and the other is on the top. Its impossible to see both at the same time. The bottom gage is changed and does not feel the same. Many sounds were removed.

Play Time/Replayability –

I am sure I will play this every Christmas, but its no where near as fun as the originals.

Final Recommendation –

I have to say stay away. This game was rushed and does not feel right. I loved the original games and these don't feel the same at all. Even as a budget I don't feel you are getting your moneys worth here.

If they were the same as the originals I would have given this game at least an 8 but with all the flaws it only gets a 3.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 12/15/05