Championship Bowling

n/a

NTSC-U NTSC-J
Boogie Woogie Bowling/Championship Bowling
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Visco (Japan), Mentrix Software (US)
Developer: Soft Machine
Genre: Sports (bowling)
Number of players: 1-4
Release Date RRP Code JP 1993-12-17 ¥6,8006,800 T-58033 US 1993-06 T-58056

Championship Bowling, known as Boogie Woogie Bowling (ブギウギ・ボーリング) in Japan, is a 1993 bowling game for the Sega Mega Drive by Visco.

Visco handed overseas distribution of the game to Mentrix Software, who removed the "boogie woogie" theme by redrawing graphics and changing the playlist (though the original songs remain in the sound test).

Gameplay

Spin gauge

Power gauge

The game is a bowling game, with the object being to throw a bowling ball down a lane in order to knock down all the pins in a frame. It can be played by up to four players (taking turns, sharing one or two control pads).

There are four bowlers to choose from, each having a different bowling style: Finesse (Balance in the Japanese version), Power, or Smart (Technique in the Japanese version). The Power bowler has the strongest throws, while the Smart bowler is best at curving the ball, and the Finesse bowlers strike a balance in between. Players choose a ball, from 8 to 16 pounds in weight (in one-pound increments). The Power bowler performs better with heavier balls, while the Finesse bowlers do better with lighter balls and the Smart bowler can be effective with all but the heaviest balls.

After choosing a bowler and a ball, players can choose from four alleys with different lane conditions: Fast (Wet in the Japanese version), Slow (Dry in the Japanese version), Special, or Change.

• Fast lanes are especially oily, so balls roll very quickly down them but spin less.
• Slow lanes are drier, so balls spin more and thus hook more than usual.
• Special lanes let the player choose the conditions of the lane by pressing at the start of each frame. The lane is separated into three segments, any of which can be set to Fast or Slow.
• Change lanes have conditions that change randomly on every frame.

At the start of each frame, the bowler can move within the lane with or (with a triangle on the bottom of the lane indicating the position). The player confirms selections with .

Then the spin gauge appears with a ball moving from left to right and back again along the gauge (in the Japanese version, the ball only sweeps the gauge once before selecting the leftmost spin, but the Western release sweeps repeatedly). The amount of spin put on the ball depends on where the player stops the ball on the gauge: closer to the center of the gauge has minimal spin, while closer to the one of the ends of the gauge has more spin in that direction. Spin is also affect by the weight of the ball and the lane conditions. The bowler then aims the ball with or (with an arrow under the pins indicating the position).

Finally, the player determines the strength of the throw using the power gauge. The power gauge is semicircular and divided into segments, with the marker sweeping up and down the gauge one time. The amount of power depends on when the player stops the gauge. If the marker makes it all the way back down, the ball is thrown with the weakest power. More powerful throws are better at knocking pins over, while weaker throws have more spin and hook more.

Modes

Bonus Game

The game has the following modes, each consisting of ten frames:

• Normal Game: A standard game. It can be played with no opponent (practice), against up to three other human opponents, or against the computer. Each bowler gets two rolls per frame to try to knock down all ten pins. Bowlers receive one point per pin for an open frame (when there are still pins standing after both rolls), 10 points plus the total pins knocked down by the next roll for a spare (when all pins are knocked down after the second roll), and 10 points plus the total of the next two rolls for a strike (when all pins are knocked down on the first roll). The highest score possible is 300 points if the bowler manages to earn a strike on every frame. When playing against the computer, the player plays a tournament of twelve games, against every bowler on every alley.
• Spare Game: A challenge mode. It be played with no opponent (practice) or against up to three other human opponents. Each frame is a setup of fewer than ten pins that the bowler must try to knock down in one roll (achieving a spare). Bowlers receive 30 points for a spare and no points for an open frame, for a maximum possible score of 300 points.
• Bonus Game: A variant of the Normal Game mode with bonus scoring. It be played with no opponent (practice) or against up to three other human opponents. As in a standard game, each bowler gets two rolls per frame to try to knock down all ten pins. However, instead of every pin being worth a single point, some pins are worth 2, 5, or 10 points (up to a maximum of 30 points per frame). Strikes are worth an extra 10 points, so the highest score possible is 400 points.

Bowlers

Japanese version

	カズ
	Style: Balance
	アン
	Style: Balance
	ケン
	Style: Power
	エリーナ
	Style: Technique

Overseas version

	Mark "The Marker" Thomas
	Style: Finesse
	Linda "Striker" Tyler
	Style: Finesse
	Leroy "Pin-Action" Jackson
	Style: Power
	Dana "Smarts" Kaplan
	Style: Smart

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English (US)	Championship Bowling	Championship Bowling
Japanese	ブギウギ・ボーリング	Boogie Woogie Bowling

Production credits

• Producer: Tetsuo Akiyama
• Director: Yasuhisa Itoi
• Assistant Director: Don Gabaceo, Ann Hirakawa
• System Programming: Ken Fujiwara
• Game Programming: Santa
• Charactor Design: Norikochan, Noriaki Nakamura, Osamu Kobayashi
• Music Compose: Nakamichi
• Special Thanks: Darryl Williams, Rene Lopez, Keisuke Usami, Akra Nakakuma, Kashiwvagi, Shinichi Iwasaki, Kentaro Masakane, Higurinrinrin
• Proudly Presented By: Mentrix Software, Inc.

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Championship Bowling/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 40 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 55 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 55 Game Power (IT) NTSC 72 GamesMaster (UK) NTSC-U 15 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 40 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-U 5 Mega (UK) NTSC-U 25 Mega Power (UK) NTSC-U 40 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U 36 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 69 Sega Zone (UK) NTSC-U 52 Sega Force Mega (UK) NTSC-U 28 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 52 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 61 Video Games (DE) PAL 42

	43
Based on 16 reviews

Championship Bowling

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

Main article: Championship Bowling/Technical information.