The Flintstones: Bedrock Bowling

by Bryony Harrison (follow)

2 players (71)      4 players (37)      3 players (34)      1 player (236)      Playstation (40)      PS1 (37)      Multiplayer (16)      Family (9)      Sports (8)      Bowling (2)     

Summary


Take bowling to a whole new level as you join Fred and Barney on wacky bowling lanes.

Description
Type: Sports
Platform: Playstation One
Players: 1 - 4 players
Age: 3 plus
Game Time: 30 minutes - 2 hours
Developer or Designer: Adrenaline Interactive
Publisher: Ubisoft

Pros

Cons

Review


Fred is just about to leave work and join Barney at the bowling alley to practice for the big tournament. His boss, Mr. Slate, has other ideas. If Fred doesn't finish digging the trench in the quarry before morning, he's fired.



Fred wishes he could finish the trench and practice at the same time, and thanks to the Great Gazoo, he can. Gazoo turns the quarry into a giant bowling alley, but this is no ordinary bowling alley - all the pins are metres apart from one another!



So just how do you knock them all down? With giant bowling shells of course. Jump inside and navigate your way through over a dozen levels.



Pins are not the only thing you're after. Along the course there will be gems to collect, and other items to increase your score. Amongst these are dodo birds, and you need to collect all three in order to make it to the finish line.



If you collect all the dodos four lanes in a row, then you open up a bonus level. These are circular arenas (Fred's swimming pool, and the Water Buffalo Lodge), in which you have to collect all the pins and gems within the time limit. Not easy when being chased by a bull.




The Flintstones: Bedrock Bowling has a strong re-playability factor for several reasons. First, there are three difficulty levels, that resemble the difficulty levels of a real game. For example, a bowling novice might put up barriers to prevent the ball going down the gutter, while as an expert will play without the barriers. Similar can be said for the PS1 version, as invisible barriers prevent you from falling into ponds, lava, tar pits, holes, etc. In Hard mode, these barriers are removed.



You are rewarded for tackling Medium/Hard mode with one/two extra lanes that spirit you away from the Quarry to Gazoo's home planet. Despite most of the lanes being set at the quarry, there is great variation in the environments you get, including a freeway, crystal mine, tar pit, drive-in theatre, and more.



You can play by yourself or with up to three other opponents, which also means that you have multiple choices over which character to play: Fred, Barney, Pebbles, Bam Bam, and even Dino. Wilma and Betty don't make any appearance, which does beg the question why they are featured on the cover of the game. It would have been fun to have them included, and it could easily have been woven into the storyline for them to begrudgingly take part.



Despite poor reviews by the critics upon release, I think The Flintstones: Bedrock Bowling is an excellent game, particularly for fans of the cartoon.

Categories
#Bowling
#Sports
#Family
#Multiplayer
#1 player
#2 players
#3 players
#4 players
#Playstation
#PS1

I like this Article - 5

ID: 34284