Family Bowling 3D

Genre: Sports (Bowling)

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Alternating)

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Review:

Family Bowling 3D, released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2013, is a cartoony, family-friendly Bowling game where the four playable characters are the two parents and two kids in a family, thus the title.

The visuals in this game are decent enough, using colorful 3D visuals for the characters and the lanes they bowl on. It’s nothing impressive, but it works well enough. Unfortunately, the game’s soundtrack is absolutely terrible, featuring repetitive, ear-piercing music that you will quickly want to shut off.

The gameplay here isn’t great either. I feel like the point of view is too low to the ground or something, because I don’t feel like I have a good perception of just how far the pins are from where I’m standing. I suppose I should mention that this game optionally lets players play on a small handful of wacky courses with obstacles, different surfaces, ramps, and so on. Unfortunately, the same problem persists there – I just do not feel like I am getting a good indication where my ball is aiming when I’m getting ready to let it loose.

While still technically playable, I cannot recommend Family Bowling 3D – I think the viewpoint of the camera does a poor job indicating where your ball will go when it gets let loose, and the terrible soundtrack made me want to shut the game off before long. If you absolutely need a Bowling game on your Nintendo 3DS, I suppose this will have to suffice, but I honestly think you’re better off just getting a game on a different platform altogether.

tl;dr – Family Bowling 3D is a colorful, family-friendly take on the sport of Bowling that’s unfortunately just not very easy to play thanks to the camera angle making it hard to line up your shots. Plus, the game’s soundtrack is absolutely repulsive. I don’t recommend this one.

Grade: D+

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