Ironically (or maybe not), both of the other platforms already have a bowling game. But where the Wii and PS3 use motion controls to differentiate their bowling games from ones on past consoles, the 360 doesn't have waggle controls that can be taken advantage of (yet). So in order to make the gameplay fresh, Rocket Bowl has taken traditional ten-pin bowling, combined it with Mini-Golf, and added controllable rocket-powered balls…and who doesn't want rocket-powered balls? Needless to say Rocket Bowl's uniqueness comes directly from it outlandishness, arcade-style gameplay.

If I had to guess, I'd probably say that bowling's popularity was at its peak during the 50s. Rocket Bowl's visual design, which is completely influenced by that era, is one of the game's coolest aspects. Come to think of it, the games graphics as a whole are pretty fantastic; the courses (they're not so much lanes, as they are mini-golf courses with "lanes" instead of holes) are well designed. The challenge isn't so much in getting strikes, but using power-ups and various ball upgrades in order to maximize the score of each frame (which are three balls instead of regular bowling's two).

At the risk of making it sound more complex than it is, you can actually bowl across multiple "lanes" (which, again, are more like mini-golf holes) to knock down more pins per ball. Say for example, player 1 knocks over 8 pins out of 10; rather than bowl for the remaining 2 pins in that lane, you can toss your ball across the course and knock over a fresh set of pins in one of the other lanes… Know what I mean? Of course if all that seems too crazy for you, you can always resort to a regular game of bowling, but it's a lot less fun.

Along with having zany bowling courses, the balls themselves are actually controllable and the better ball you use/unlock the more features it may have. Ultimately you end up with a ball that has multiple, direction-influencing rocket boosts that you can be effectively used to knock over more pins. So not only can the ball be curved left or right after the toss, but with rockets you can send the ball flailing in either direction or even to jump over obstacles in your path.

Objectively there is nothing wrong with Rocket Bowl; its graphics, control, audio, unique take on bowling, and retro-tastic art direction, all work well within the "bowling" context, but that doesn't make the game subjectively amazing. Unfortunately (for me), after playing Wii Sports and High Velocity Bowling, I've grown accustomed to motion controls with this type of game… apparently so much so that I kind of expect waggle with my bowling games. Even with all its wackiness and party-centric fun, Rocket Bowl just doesn't compare to getting off the couch to "faux-bowl" like you do to with the competitions' offerings.

In that respect there aren't really any constructive criticisms I could suggest for this game. Admittedly it's not inherently bad or broken, but your mileage will depend almost entirely on how much you like bowling, mini-golf and/or if you have either of the other two systems' bowling games. Making the game even harder to recommend is the aforementioned cornucopia of awesome digitally distributed games being released at the moment. Sure, Rocket Bowl is only 800 MS points ($10), but so is Duke 3D and Mega Man 9 as well… Of course different strikes --err, strokes-- for different folks, but in my opinion your MS points are better spent elsewhere.

Click Here to purchase a Xbox Live Arcade card from Amazon.com