Tekken Bowl

Tekken Bowl App for iPhone
     If you're a fan of bowling and the Tekken fighting game series, this is a great application choice for you.  Especially since this application is completely free!  It's actually pretty unbelievable, in my personal view.
     This is a 3D animated video game featuring 3 of the characters from the popular Tekken series.  Ling Xiaoyu, Panda & Jin Kazuma.
     There are 3 game modes available.  As well as a Tekken Community button.
     In the upper left corner is a cog icon.  Pressing this can allow you to toggle the music and sound effects.  As well as reading the info on how to play.
     The Pac-Man image in the center takes you to the Bandai/Namco website.
     The top two game modes are one player and two player mode.
     In one player mode you choose a character.  The high scores for that character are listed below their stats.  Choose your character based on their stats.  Their power and lean are listed to the left of their profile image.
     Once the game loads you can move your character left or right by pressing and dragging on him/her.  When you're positioned correctly, tap the screen.  You'll get two bars that you'll have to tap.  One for lean and one for power.  This will define the spin on the ball as well as the force of which you throw it at.
     You are playing on your own, not against a computer.  Just keep bowling to get the best score you can.  At the end, if you did well enough, you'll get a trophy and a ranking.  Also, remember... You are being timed per turn.  Don't let the game sit or you'll get a "fail".
     If you get a strike you'll get a fun character animation sequence.  There is no animation for "Spare" though.
     For two player mode, each player chooses their character.  There are no alternate costumes here.  One player, per character.  When the game starts, it will say "Player One" on the screen.  That person taps the "Player One" button and plays their turn.  After their turn they will pass the device to player two.  The screen says "Player Two".  They click the button and begin their turn.
     You'll play your turns each round until a victor is decided at the end of the game.
     The next mode is the one with the Jigsaw Puzzle piece.  This is Puzzle Mode.
     Again you will choose your character.  If you ever leave the puzzle game and come back later, you can choose a different character and start off from where you left off.  The puzzles are not "character specific".
     You will start one stage one and work your way up.  If you aren't happy with your score at the end of any level, you can always go back and replay it.

     Each level is scored with a medal.  Gold, Silver or bronze.  Try to get all gold medals, if you can!
     You'll notice that the stages are different looking in puzzle mode than they are in one and two player mode.  There are now obstacles to deal with.  Lava pits, barrels, holes in the ground, etc.  That's what the puzzle is.  Using your limited amount of balls to knock over all of the pins, while avoiding the obstacles.  The less balls used to finish the stage, the better your score.
     When you finish a stage you'll get an animation for your character.  You can see the Xiaoyu animation still to the left.
     There are 30 stages for puzzle mode.  Each stage will be a bit more difficult than the last stage.  I remember it took me quite some time to get passed stage 10.  I only played through to stage 13 before stopping.
     Here's a bit about the characters and how they play...
     Xiaoyu is my favourite, and likely the easiest character to use.  Her meter bars go very slow, which allows for better control.  Panda's bars go the fastest.  So it's a bit difficult to have control over the spin and power of his toss.  But when you do it right, it's worth it.  It's easiest to get strikes with panda because his throw is very powerful.

     Sometimes it is difficult to tell if you're lined up with the pins.  I use the lines on the wood floor to line up my character with the pins.  i find that it works very well.  In puzzle mode it can be more difficult because the floors have less lines.  It can still be done though.
     I really enjoyed this game.  I am still amazed that they released such a high quality game for free!  I have heard that some people get crashes.  But I played several times, and for several hours.  I never once got a crash or a glitch in the game.  I have iOS6 (And played this in iOS5) and an iPhone 4.  Hopefully that will help.  Because of the high quality graphics, I don't think you should play this on an older generation iPod Touch.
Rating: 5/5

• Free
• Category: Games
• Updated: Sep 08, 2011
• Version: 1.0.2
• Size: 55.0 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: NamcoBandai Games Inc.
• Tekken™ & © 2011 NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.

Rated 4+