PSP minis were supposed to be Sony’s option of giving young developers a way to get their games to the masses. It’s worked on the Indie Games section of the 360. Nintendo’s e-store has a nice collection of games as well. The Playstation Network however, leaves gamers with titles the likes of Arcade Air Hockey and Bowling, a disaster of a title not even worth a buck.
There are better bowling and air hockey games on cell phones.
In the end, that’s what this title feels like, a poorly made mobile game. While air hockey works fine, it’s bland in presentation and gets derivative in minutes. Simply put, there’s no reason to play the game longer than that anyway. The fact that it feels like the computer is wasted, allowing the same goals, over and over, doesn’t help either.
Bowling is a joke. The controls take the fun out of the game entirely and are far from consistent. Getting the ball to go where you want it to is not only hard, but it’s confusing as well. At times, it feels like the ball just goes wherever it wants.
There are a few different gameplay modes and characters to choose from in this title, but they don’t spice up the experience at all. Season mode in air hockey and bowling? Get real.
Graphically, the games go for that mid-90s Mortal Kombat-inspired photo realistic look. Not bad looking, they get you excited at the potential of playing these two table top favorites whenever you want. But once the action gets going and the frame rate jumps around like a child after a few Milkyways, you realize this game is an evil little bugger. It simply has no happiness to give. Its job to simply aggravate.
Luckily, the game isn’t a waste of cash, priced at only a buck. But during the dog days of summer, you’re probably better off getting a big can of Arizona Iced Tea instead.
Leave a Reply