Just when you thought EA Sports had a Microsoft-like grip on sports gaming, along comes THQ with their follow-up to Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling. It’s a good looking and sounding effort, but the sound really stands out. From FMV intros to in-game sounds, Brunswick 2 has surprisingly good music. If this is what they’re listening to in bowling joints these days, I’m there! There isn’t music while you bowl, but there are all kinds of background conversation, squeaking sounds of rented bowling shoes... basically, just like being there.

The graphics aren’t anything to write home about, but neither are most bowling parlors. One area that looks great is the lane. As the camera follows the ball and zooms in for a strike, the reflection against the oiled lane is beautiful. THQ was smart to focus on this element, because after all, most of bowling is watching the ball roll and the pins fall down.

In a word: bowling. Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2 improves on the first game by adding some features and some extra bowlers, but it’s still about how many pins you can knock down. It’s more of a simulation than a game, and this makes it something I would not recommend to anyone but a hardcore bowling fan. There is a Skills Challenge Mode, which pits you against a pro bowler to take on some especially tricky frames. This is a fun mode, but it’s really an afterthought to the main Career Mode.

When you actually hit the lanes, the idea is to choose your stance, adjust the angle of your throw, and find the right combo between power and accuracy. It’s all intuitive, and the power/accuracy meter lets you haul-off for the first throw, and toss more gently on those tricky splits. Beyond the Amateur and Pro Career Mode, the psychedelic Cosmic Bowl is back, and the Skills Challenge Mode and Skins Mode make for good variety. The Skins Mode is a competition for strikes in each frame, and instead of scoring points on pins, whoever nails the strike wins a ‘skin’ worth 20 points. If nobody gets the strike, the skin carries over into the next frame. For bowlers, this would qualify as the ‘party’ mode.

Bowling isn’t brain surgery, and for all its simulation qualities, Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2 is a little easier than I expected. There weren’t too many times that I shook the controller and screamed in frustration. One thing the booklet mentions is how important it is to vary your throwing angle to account for the way the oil pattern changes, and even though each lane shows the starting oil pattern, I couldn’t for the life of me see a huge difference. If you never change your stance, the ball doesn’t always go to the same place, so it’s important to adjust the way you throw, but... It’s probably just a bowling thing, and I wouldn’t understand. A simulation is really only as hard as you make it, right?

The menu setup for Brunswick 2 is very nice, even though it could be very confusing. There are a ton of options, especially in the ‘Create a Bowler’ Mode. Basically, you either select a Brunswick Pro for each game or play with a custom bowler. There are more Brunswick Pro players to select from, including some women, and the ‘Create a Bowler’ option is even better in Brunswick 2. I spent most of my time on the lanes with a custom bowler I affectionately named ‘Big Butt Freak.’ A lefty like me, Big Butt rolled strike after strike, and took most of the Pros to school with his killer spare. Customization options on everything from glasses to hair, shirt, and body-type make it possible to spend most of the game creating funny bowlers. Part of making a bowler includes setting handedness (left or right...) and getting some balls (no jokes, please). Circuit Pro Bowling 2 gives you the option to select different ball styles, either as a strike or spare, based on weight, size, and flare. For the bowling novice, ‘flare’ dictates what kind of impact a ball will have on the lane’s oil pattern. Some of us didn’t even know the lanes were oiled, right? That’s why it’s a simulation.

On the lane, L1 and R1 are set up to move your bowler from side to side, while the D-Pad is used to adjust the angle you’ll roll and put spin on the ball. For Amateur Mode, an angle of approach is clearly marked, but Pro Mode takes away some of the guides. Each world location has different lane styles, with that elusive oil pattern. Frames play much as they do in the real world, and the scoring system for regular games is based on traditional rules.

So, it’s hard to say there’s anything wrong with Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2, but there’s not a lot of breadth here. For the avid bowler who can’t afford shoe rentals, Brunswick 2 could provide a fun distraction. I suspect, from my brief interactions with the bowling crowd, that most would rather hit the lanes in person than sit around the PlayStation. For the sake of completeness, THQ has done a great job recreating the bowling experience.