Brunswick
Pro Bowling for the PS2 and
Wii are pretty good. I have both versions, and I've played the PS2 version much more. They don't have enough to make them really stand out, though. You create a character, join a league, throw a house ball, and try to earn enough to buy a new ball. As you improve, your attributes improve as well. You need to bowl 6 matches (3 games each) before bowling a tournament. You need to win 5 1-game matches to win the tournament. Most, if not all, of your opponents in your league matches are pathetic. As you move up from the beginner's league to intermediate and advanced, your opponents don't really get much better. I'm currently in an advanced league (I think there's one more after this one), averaging 271 after about 27 games, and I'm still bowling people who can't hit the pocket. They normally shoot about 180-200 against me, but the averages of the bowlers in the top 8-10 are all about 230-250. No one ever shoots that well when I bowl them, though.
Here's what it doesn't do for you-
You can't take your "career" bowler and use him in the quick play part.
The
computer doesn't tell you your 3 game series, even though you just bowled a 3 game match.
You can't bring the score sheet up on screen, and you can't normally see further back than 1 or 2 frames.
You can't just jump to a tournament. You can forfeit league matches to get to the next tournament, but the idea is to win the leagues as well, so you have to bowl 18 games between each tournament.
The key to really high scores- move your foul line target to 18 (on either side of the headpin), don't touch your arrow target, and throw the ball dead straight at the pocket. Fine tune if necessary, but once you're lined up, strike away.
EA Sports needs to get involved in making a really good, Tiger Woods-style bowling game. They make soccer, rugby, and other semi-obscure games, why not bowling?