Well I for one am all for Multplayer games. I think they really add 
excitement when playing with a lot of your friends. Needless to say I 
was happy to see on Playstation Galleria that Ten Pin Alley was released 
on  Vid. Finally something different. I ran down to my local Toy-R-Us 
and bought the game. First off the learning curve is very fast, I was 
able to throw the ball in just 3 tries, They did a very good job with 
different effects (falling down, throwing the ball behind you and even 
into the ceiling.) After 1 or 2 games I got the curve down and am 
throwing a 45% strike rate. That is another nice feature the game will 
save your character which you can chose from many (each having it’s own 
Power, Accuracy and Spin levels) There are also both left and right 
handed players. You then can change the clothes, ball weight (8-16 lbs) 
and type (Plastic, Urethane, Resin) and change the name and of course 
the skill level of your player. All of this can be saved into your own 
player. 

To actually throw the ball you first setup the lane position and 
then the bowlers position on the lane. You then get a side view with 
some meters, A Spin meter to put spin on the ball (A left handed player 
can only spin the ball Right and Right hander spins the ball left, very 
true to life). There is a Power meter (Much like the golf type games) 
and a release meter. The secret is making all of these work for you each 
time and everytime is the key. The game is very REAL in feel and play. 
If you release to early you will bounce the ball near your feet and too 
late will bounce it down the lane.  This game supports 6 players and the 
MultiTap although just 1 player bowls at a time so it isn’t nessasary. 

The lanes are oiled after each game so you never have the same lane 
conditions. In a Tournament however they are done only at the starting. 
Scoring can be toggled between Standard and No Tap. There are 3 
different Alleys available, each having their own look. And there are 3 
styles of play, Open Play, Team Play and Tournament where bowl against 
other players in a single elimination style. There are 64 total players 
but you only see the "T.V. Match’s" which are ones that have human 
players in them. You play for status and money which is all recorded to 
your saved player (The machine does a autosave if you have created a 
player and are save it). All of very nice features are in this game. 

Graphics    I RATE  7
The character could be a little smoother in look, the alley looks great 
and the animation’s of the bowlers is very well done.

Music/SFX   I RATE 9
The sound effects for the ball and pins is like being there. There is 
also Lounge music or Rock which is like you are at the alley. My only 
gripe here is the music could be a little longer. You start feeling like 
you have heard the same songs over and over again.

Control     I RATE 10
With the meters they have the control of this game perfect. Nothing 
could be added to make it any better. Very well done. 

Overall I think this game should be added to anyone’s collection that 
likes to play easy paced games with your friends.  I just bought JetMoto 
and Dderby2 which I find myself playing Ten Pin the most... I like 
JetMoto and DD2 (but where’s the link?)    (DAC@AKAMAIL.COM)