Alley 19 Bowling (PC)

...- We are talking about Alley 19 are we not?

Installation and opening screens.

The game installs very easily without problems and is one of few Glitch free games that I've come across. Most have annoying little graphics or gameplay problems, or are prone to freezing or crashing but not this. It will run sweetly on a very low end pentium say P75 or 90, and looks good. The CD is not needed at all to run the game, but a ...
...photo of a 1950's bowling alley blown up to fill your monitor screen. Its not a 3d game as such so you don't move down the lane behind the ball as you do in some bowling games. As regards today's top 3d games then it doesn't look anywhere near as good but the great gameplay more than makes up for it.

Overall.

This game is still on sale today in Lecky B's (Now come on! You can't've forgotten what that is already can ... more

can any 10 pin game be just like the real thing? Well in all honesty a mouse is nothing like a heavy bowling ball, so loving 10 Pin but recovering from a hernia operation meant I had to make do with this game instead. Well actually I'd had my eye on it for a while but it was a Tenner in 'Lecky B's' (Electronics Boutique) at the time and I was at this computer fair where one stall was selling any four games for a 'Dirty Den' (Tenner to you mate) and though I only wanted two, he let me have both for a Skin Diver. (Come on - surely you can work that one out for yourselves). However the CD wouldn't load, and a call to Guildhall Leisure sorted out the problem with a a new CD being sent out quickly, but it didn't stop my bowling, er sorry mouse arm from becoming very itchy waiting for it arrive. The graphics in the game looked superb just like a real 50's bowling alley. If I hadn't been such a scrooge (sorry I mean wasn't) then I'd've bought this game a lot sooner, but then Again I never pay top whack for my games. Sale offers, Booties, Chazzers (oh well that one is a little tough - Charity shops to the uninitiated) Cashie G's (they're cheaper than C's where I live) in fact anywhere I can get games for under a Skin Diver (note the plural as I like to get more than one game for my money if I'm paying a fiver), I scour them all! And I get results. But let us not digress - We are talking about Alley 19 are we not?

Installation and opening screens.

The game installs very easily without problems and is one of few Glitch free games that I've come across. Most have annoying little graphics or gameplay problems, or are prone to freezing or crashing but not this. It will run sweetly on a very low end pentium say P75 or 90, and looks good. The CD is not needed at all to run the game, but a message telling you to insert the CD if you wish to hear music pops up. If you want to hear the games 4 authentic rock'n'roll instrumentals you can insert it if you wish, but if you have an audio CD in the drive then if you press yes it will use that CD for the music, but will only play the first 4 tracks in a repetitive cycle. The opening screenshot is of a Drive in bowling alley. Drive in? I'm not joking as a Cadillac (well I think it's a 'Caddy') pulls up outside. Well that's what the building looks like, one of those drive in burger joints where cute poni-tailed blonde waitresses on roller skates dressed in all white drop the food all over your lap. The next screen is where you select your bowler. There's two male and two female bowlers to choose from (a bit awkward if four lads are having a Saturday night session on the P.C. Instead of hoofing it down 't' pub), one of which looks exactly like Bilko (though in the game he's not wearing his glasses like he is on this screen. If you click your mouse at the objects in the main picture of the check in desk on the screen anything from fly squatting to giggly girls can happen. Just experiment and have a little fun here before the main game. You can choose between a right handed or a left handed bowler here as well, but in practice this made little difference to the game. An options screen is also accessible from here, where you choose the game speed and other options , as well as normal or 'rock'n'bowl' (what an awful pun - mine are much better) modes. In truth Rock'n'bowl is just normal mode with flashing lights every time you get a strike (it took me ages to realise this was how the game was meant to be and not a graphical glitch).

Playing the game.

Well as you probably know, you play 10 pin by throwing the bowling ball down the alley, or on the PC by pressing the mouse button and pushing the little rodent forwards. In the aforementioned options screen there's a handy little ball guide you can turn off and on which helps your aiming no end. I've not tried it without the guide on, but I reckon I'd be scoring zero every throw without it. You can access a mini set of options at any time by clicking the space bar which is a nice touch. You get two bowls per turn. As for scoring you score the same number of pints (sorry lads I mean points - this game doesn't give you free drinks) as the number of balls you knock down - unless you get all the pins down with one bowl (a strike) or with two (called a spare for those that didn't know). That's where it becomes complicated as if you achieve either of those then you are awarded extra points. Exactly as to how those extra points are calculated, even your maths teacher wouldn't be able to work it out. The annoying thing is that the scoreboard shows them as either X (strike) or / (spare) until you next score less than a perfect 10, so if you're really good at it then you could go nearly the whole game before you know exactly what your score is. Playability wise, it takes a couple of goes to get the hang of the mouse action, but when you do it's a doddle to play. However those of you who are good at snooker or pool may have the advantage, as if you get a 'Tough split' where the pins are spaced apart after the first bowl, then knowing how to play the angles could help. Then again a lucky pin careering across the lane will probably do the business for you.

There's plenty of comments from your 'Audience' some good, others downright annoying. Send your ball spinning into the gully at the side of the lane and you're likely to hear the shout 'Gutter ball' whilst get a bad score (or get 9 down on the first ball) and a woman will whisper 'Shh! Concentrate!' All this, coupled with great gameplay makes for a great game, right? Well sadly not. Whilst it is a great game, and loads of fun to play, it only if so if you're playing against a human opponent, where you can have a good giggle at their 'Gutter balls' or jaw droppingly moan 'How did you do that?' when they manage to bag a spare after a seemingly impossible tough split. Playing against the computer although engrossing at first does loose it's sparkle, and no matter how well you seem to do, the computer often seems to go one better, pulling off endless strikes and spares - even the women opponents. So the best way to play this is with a gang of mates. The Bro in law goes mad at the endless strikes and spares I achieve (nothing like a good brag is there?). And the more of you there are playing the merrier. Although only 4 can play at a time, if there's eight of you, you can play in teams and take a shot each. At least that way there's always someone else to blame for your failure to visit the opticians.

Graphics.

Well when it first came out it looked superb, but what with increasing monitor sizes, it does suffer from what digital photographers call noise on 17 inch screens, if only a little, but it is apparent. The best way of describing how the game looks on a 17 inch monitor is to say that it looks like a photo of a 1950's bowling alley blown up to fill your monitor screen. Its not a 3d game as such so you don't move down the lane behind the ball as you do in some bowling games. As regards today's top 3d games then it doesn't look anywhere near as good but the great gameplay more than makes up for it.

Overall.

This game is still on sale today in Lecky B's (Now come on! You can't've forgotten what that is already can you?) And at only a Skin Diver then it's got my recommendation straight off. True, it's best suited to a gang of you playing on the one computer as opposed to solo play against the AI, but it's still a great game and easy to get the hang of. It's also a game you'll have no problem in buying for the kids as there's no violence, bloodshed or bad language in it ('Gutter ball' is a bad as its gets) which for a game is rare thing nowadays. And if there's a gang of you playing this at 4 in the morning just be careful where you're aiming that mouse lads - I've a load of expensive crockery in here.  

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