Crazy Strike Bowling EX is the next attempt at the Bowling genre on the Nintendo Switch. The game is what disco bowling is to real bowling. Totally unnecessarily flashy but full on guilty-pleasure-like fun! Corecell tried their best to stand out from the other bowling games by adding all the radiant colors in excess to Crazy Strike Bowling EX.
Arcade bowling
If you’re looking for the ultimate bowling simulator to hone your skills away from the bowling alley, Crazy Strike Bowling EX might not be for you. The core game mechanic limits itself to a few simple actions. Starting position, angle, spin and power are all applied with the press of a button. You control the speed with a press of a button. The spinning of the ball limits to three options: none, left or right. The amount of spin is always defaulted by your character’s stats. This looks bad and I wouldn’t recommend it to bowling purists, but for all the rest this is more than fine enough. The motion controls could also be used but the amount of control is equally as much limited.
Anime inspired characters
You can choose from a small amount of very colorful looking characters. The anime characters make it clear that Crazy Strike Bowling EX is intended to have fun and not to be taken very seriously. Each character has its own strengths and weaknesses. On the surface, this might not matter much but after playing with each of them I could really feel the difference it made.
Not just plain old bowling
A standard bowling game might get boring after a few frames. To counter this, CoreCell tried to mix things up with the addition of a few different takes on the game. Crazy Exhibition lets you play a single game with the addition of “crazy” power-ups. Bowling good, fills up a special meter which can be used to “blow up” your ball to a bigger size. Whirlwinds and moving object on the lane make this the craziest bowling experience I ever had.
The challenge mode offers a whole array of short bowling missions divided into different categories. These all test your skills in different ways. Hitting 3 strikes in a row or scoring a certain number of points in a given time had me hooked for a while. Each completed challenge unlocks newer challenges and previously locked categories. The characters are fixed to a certain challenge, so this is a great way to get a feel for each of them.
The last addition to the strange world of digital bowling is a battle mode. In this mode, you are matched up with another character to “battle”. You stand on the opposite side of each other on a platform from which you try to bowl the opponents’ pins. The twist comes in the fact that this is done on the same lane beer-pong-style and at the same time so your ball could also be used to block your opponent. This adds a whole new tactical element to the game.
Locker room
Playing frames earns you experience and unlocks a whole array of stuff. The locker room lets you personalize the appearance of each character with outfits you gathered. Each element of clothing/used balls actually alters a certain stat. If you happen to like a certain character’s appearance but hate the way he or she spins the ball, you can compensate this by selecting the appropriate clothing/ball. Different bowling alleys can also be unlocked. Playing a game of bowling in the middle of the Grand Canyon or in China becomes an option.
Conclusion
Crazy Strike Bowling EX really puts the “crazy” in bowling. I’m not sure if bowling needed crazy to begin with… Nevertheless, Crazy Strike Bowling EX if a fun arcade bowling game which should give you a fun experience if you’re willing to not take it seriously. Think fun with your kids, fun as a Friday night party game.
