High Velocity Bowling

As a avid bowler I've been somewhat saddened by the lack of top quality bowling games. If I had to pick two games that I think are the best, they'd be High Velocity Bowling and Wii Sports Bowling. Yes, I do think this is one of the better bowling games out there, but there is a bunch load of problems that make this title not reach the greatness I think it could have reached.  
 
High Velocity Bowling takes out everything you know about most bowling games. There isn't any power ups that make you throw a rocket ball or some crazy sim stuff like that. Instead it's a very laid back, throw back to traditional bowling. This will probably be off putting to most, I found it to be very refreshing. I liked how SCE Studios San Diego and Sony put a focus on how bowling really works, with oil conditions and better physics then you'd most likely see. 
But this

doesn't always work. Yes, there are lane conditions but they don't always work the same time. (WARNING! BOWLING LINGO!) Say you bowl up the 15th board, which would be the 3rd arrow, you throw it the same speed, same place, but it doesn't work like it used to. Unless there is some form of transition in the oil that I'm not aware of, it shouldn't do that. It's that, that makes me fall of the band wagon. Bowling in games should not be that random (for lack of a better term), it should be a nice constant feel like Wii Sports had.  
 

High Velocity Bowling gives you some modes to mess around in, this is mainly just to unlock new skins and players. This is cool, and probably the best part of the game. You can do one on one with a computer bowler to unlock that character, bowl in a tournament to unlock bowling balls and bowl in trick shot events to unlock new skins. Again, I liked this mode, but that lack of being able to bowl against a real person in those tournaments is a disappointment. Disappointment also is a good way to describe the games multiplayer. It feels thrown together and is basically looks like something you'd find on Pogo's. It's split up into beginner, novice, average and good into what the game calls "allies", it's just a waiting room. Online isn't much of a big deal, I've been on when there's been five people online or when there's been 90 people online. It still comes off as boring either way. 
 
Some of the humor in the game is really going to be missed by people who really don't bowl too much. I found myself

laughing a little too much at the pretty good writing in this game. Which is great, I love that it has a good sense of humor. But if a bowling game's, or any other sports game's, humor is the strongest part then that's a problem.  Character models are funny and the game has some slick graphics that really help out this game from being a total wash. 
 
I don't want to make High Velocity Bowling seem like a totally abysmal game, cause it's not. It's just too ambitions on what it wants to do. There is fun to be had in this game, but I think that Wii Sports is a all around better bowling game. For what High Velocity Bowling does, it's worth playing. Even if it doesn't do anything all too well.