Worthy arcade bowler with classic mechanics
Before the Wii taught us all that bowling was controlled via hand swipes, simulation the real life interaction with the bowling ball, games had to rely on artifices and their own unique mechanics to simulate these experiences. In this realm King Pin Arcade Sports Bowling is a really good puzzly, reflexes testing thing, which works because it's pretty well polished. I remember playing this dumb phone bowling game back in the day that had just as similar a control scheme and a game mechanic, which consists of pressing a button right when an indicator shows you where you want the ball to go and then another that sets the speed of the shot for you. Match these two coordinates as needed, have a bit of luck and it's all smooth sailing from there on! Anyway, what King Pin Arcade Sports Bowling does well is have all these elements very tightly knit together, thus allowing the game to capture you and to keep you interested. I personally find it flawless, and, for a 1995 released game it sure looks pretty clean. Alternatively, I'd recommend Bowling Evolution, released 10 years later, but sporting very similar mechanics, which goes to show that the recipe stuck quite a long time!
