Bowling seems like the perfect fit for the iPhone.  Simple game play, touch and accelerometer controls, and a game that everyone understands.  It worked incredibly well on the Wii, which quickly became my favorite out of the Wii Sports compilation.  I will cut right to the chase with AMF Bowling Pinbusters and say that this isn’t even close to replicating the fun experienced with other bowling games.  After just 10 frames of bowling, I wanted to throw my iPhone down a real bowling alley.  How could a game that seems pretty simple screw up so badly?  Read on to find out.

One would hope that a game title with AMF in it, would attempt to produce an exciting bowling app.  This is just not the case.  The moment you boot up the app and start navigating through the menu’s, you get the feeling you are in for an unpleasant experience.  The menu’s are wonky and tough to navigate via the touch screen.  Comparing it to the way you can flick through songs on your iPhone, it makes you wonder why it couldn’t be as seamless as that.  These control issues continue onto the lanes with the actual bowling mechanic.  You first choose your starting position by either clicking to the left or to the right.  This can also be controlled by tilting your iPhone to either side, which makes you have to hold the device straight up the entire time.  You will find yourself accidentally shifting to the left and right a lot.  I applaud the game for including some accelerometer controls, but it would have been nice to have the option to turn it off.  After selecting your position, you then tap the screen twice to get your power and throw the ball.  This process is also hindered by the difficult touch points of the app, sometimes activating your swing when you don’t mean too.

The only respectable aspect of AMF Bowling Pinbusters is the character art.  With 12 total characters to unlock, the characters were drawn pretty well.  But once you get in game, that all goes out the window as they turn into bland polygons of nothingness.  If you are looking for some multiplayer action, don’t look here.  The only mode is pass n’ play, with you taking turns with another opponent.  Speaking of opponents, another big issue I had with the game was the inability to skip watching your opponents turn.  While playing the computer you are forced to watch each throw during their turn.  This adds to the overall time needed to play 10 frames, and really makes the game drag much more than it needs to.

For $1.99, I can safely make the recommendation to stay far away from this app.  A note to brands out there.  If you are going to put your name on an app, think about how you are representing yourself.  In most cases you should be offering your apps for free.  You should be using the app to build brand awareness and give us consumers some value for free.  If you do decide to charge us, we better be getting something worth while.  In the case of AMF Bowling Pinbusters, we are only taking up space on our iPhone.  This one will be quickly deleted from my deck.  Stay tuned to Loot-Ninja as I will be reviewing another game, “Galaxy Bowling”, that from a quick run through earlier, seems to be leaps and bounds better than AMF’s attempt.