Nester's Funky Bowling
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| Nester's Funky Bowling | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Developer | Saffire |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Platform | Virtual Boy |
| Device | Virtual Boy |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Sports |
| Play Area | Seated |
| Game Mode | Single-player, Multiplayer |
| Release Date | February 1996 (North America) |
Nester's Funky Bowling is a ten-pin bowling game for Nintendo's Virtual Boy, published by Nintendo in North America in February 1996.[1][2] It was developed by Saffire, a game studio founded in 1992, which listed the game among the titles it fully developed and named Nintendo as the publisher.[3][4] The player bowls as Nester, the former comic-strip character and mascot of Nintendo Power magazine, or as his twin sister Hester, in a standard game, a practice mode or a challenge mode for one or two players.[5][6]
The game was not released in Japan, where the Virtual Boy's bowling title was Athena's Virtual Bowling.[7] Contemporary reviews were mixed. Nintendo Power praised its realistic ball and pin physics, while Next Generation wrote that little in it showed off the console's 3D capability.[5][8]
Gameplay
Nester's Funky Bowling follows the standard rules of ten-pin bowling: ten frames, extra points for strikes and spares, and an extra ball when the player scores a strike or spare in the final frame. Scoring is automatic.[9][1] Before play begins, the player picks one of three music tracks or none, enters a name of up to four letters, chooses Nester or Hester, sets the bowler's handedness and selects a ball weight from 8 to 16 pounds.[9][2] The choice of character has no effect on play beyond the reaction animations.[9]
A throw has several steps. The player positions the bowler to the left or right on the lane, sets spin by stopping a horizontal meter that swings back and forth, and then sets the force of the throw with a vertical power meter.[2][9] Nintendo Power described four aspects of control: choosing where to stand, setting the spin and the speed of the ball with the two meters, and moving left or right while throwing.[6] The magazine's strategy feature noted that, as in real bowling, a throw can be "finessed" so that pins bounce, ricochet and roll into other pins.[6]
After the ball has traveled part way down the lane, the screen splits in two: the lower half shows a close-up of the pins and the upper half shows the bowler reacting to the result. The animations include Nester and Hester pulling at their hair, steam coming out of their ears and being crushed by a giant pin, plus gag scenes for strikes, spares, splits and misses.[9][2] The game also has a few speech samples that announce strikes, spares, splits and misses.[9]
Modes
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Bowling | A standard ten-frame game. Nintendo Power printed four score ranks for it: Beginner ("Gutter Putter", 0-90), Intermediate ("Pin Head", 90-200), Advanced ("Alley Cat", 200-270) and Pro ("Lane Brain", 270-300).[6] |
| Practice | The player can practice throws on set pin arrangements or place the pins in any arrangement.[9][2] |
| Challenge | The computer throws the first ball of each of ten frames and never scores a strike, so the player must pick up the spare; the pin formations are generated at random, and points are awarded for each one cleared.[6][9] |
All three modes support two players, who take alternating turns on the same Virtual Boy.[1][9] The game has no computer-controlled opponents, no tournament mode and no way to save scores, so the high-score table is lost when the system is switched off.[9][7]
Use of the 3D display
The game uses the Virtual Boy's stereoscopic display, with the lane stretching away from the player.[9] AllGame wrote that "the lane is shown with a good sense of depth", but that the pins are flat rather than 3D, which makes the pin physics "rather suspect at times".[2] Next Generation and Hardcore Gaming 101 both wrote that the game makes little use of the 3D effect; Hardcore Gaming 101 contrasted it with the polygon zoom used in Virtual Bowling.[8][7]
Two-player games run into a hardware limit. Every Virtual Boy game starts with an IPD and focus adjustment screen that sets the display for one user's eyes, and two players are unlikely to need the same setting. Nintendo Life noted that players will probably reopen that screen with the Select button between frames to readjust it for their turn.[9] Nintendo Power listed alternating play on the Virtual Boy as "awkward".[5]
Development
Saffire Corporation was founded in 1992 by Les Pardew as an art studio for computer and video games. According to the company's history page, it began building a full game development team after Hal Rushton joined in the summer of 1994. Its first two complete games, Hardball '95 for Accolade and a Wayne Gretzky hockey game for Time Warner, were finished in 1995. In 1996 it finished Nester's Funky Bowling for Nintendo and Virtual Comics for Byron Preiss.[3] Saffire's 1997 "full development" page lists Nester's Funky Bowling as "Published by Nintendo for the Virtual Boy".[10] Its catalog page called the game "the funkiest game of bowling you'll ever experience in 3-D" and described Hester, "the unknown twin sister", as making her debut appearance.[11]
Some published listings did not name Saffire: Next Generation credited Nintendo as both publisher and developer, and AllGame listed Nintendo Co. Ltd. as developer.[8][2] IGN's game database lists Saffire among the game's developers.[12]
Nester was the mascot of Nintendo Power in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He starred in the magazine's comic strip Howard & Nester alongside Howard Phillips, a former editor of the magazine. After Phillips left, the strip was retitled Nester's Adventures, and the magazine ended it in its 55th issue.[13] Nintendo Power introduced the game by reminding readers of "Nester and his ongoing quest to star in his own video game".[6] According to Nintendo Life, the instruction booklet says he spent the years in between as a struggling actor.[9] The cartridge holds 16 megabits.[1]
Release
Nintendo released the game in North America in February 1996.[1][2] IGN's and Nintendo Life's game databases give the date as 26 February 1996.[12][9] It carries an ESRB rating of K-A (Kids to Adults).[12][1] It was not released in Japan.[7]
| Region | Release date | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| North America | February 1996[1] | Nintendo |
In its February 1996 issue, Nintendo Power gave the game a strategy feature of several pages and listed it as a new entry at number four on its Virtual Boy Top 5 chart.[14]
Reception
| Publication | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Power | 3.3 / 3.3 / 3.3 / 3.5 | Power Meter out of 5 for graphics and sound, play control, challenge, and theme and fun[1] |
| Next Generation | 2 of 5 stars | July 1996 review[8] |
| AllGame | 3.5 of 5 stars | Review by Scott Alan Marriott[2][15] |
| Nintendo Life | 7/10 | Retrospective review, 2009[9] |
Nintendo Power listed "very solid bowling action" and "fun challenge and practice modes" as strengths, and in its March 1996 recap of the Virtual Boy library wrote that "the bowling mechanics work like a dream".[5][1] GamePro called the game "challenging and fun at first", but wrote that the strikes come more easily after a few games because the difficulty never increases, and that the animation and music become repetitive after a couple of frames. Its verdict was "Although it's spare, it doesn't strike out."[16] Next Generation called it "one of Virtual Boy's more enjoyable games" with "a simple but effective control interface" for the ball's speed and spin, and wrote that for once the console's limited graphics did not hold back the gameplay; it questioned how many people wanted a virtual bowling game.[8]
AllGame's Scott Alan Marriott recommended it to Virtual Boy owners and praised the detailed characters, but wanted a battery save for high scores, a tournament and a create-a-bowler option.[2] Dave Frear of Nintendo Life called it "a decent bowling game with amusing animations", faulting the small number of modes and the lack of a save function while welcoming the two-player mode.[9] Neil Foster of Hardcore Gaming 101 called it "a tame, basic bowling affair" and "fairly average for its day".[7] In a 2010 GameSpy humor column, Luke McKinney joked that, with Nester's Funky Bowling among the Virtual Boy's 22 games, almost five percent of the console's catalog consisted of bowling titles.[17]
Legacy
Joystiq's Eric Caoili described the game's sales as disappointing. The 20th anniversary issue of Nintendo Power (no. 231, 2008) brought Nester back in a two-page comic that shows his Virtual Boy on display beside boxes of unopened copies of Nester's Funky Bowling.[13][7] Chris Kohler wrote in Wired in 2010 that Nester's Funky Bowling was one of the late-release Virtual Boy games whose prices had been rising on the collector market.[18]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Now Playing: Virtual Boy recap, Nester's Funky Bowling". Nintendo Power, vol. 82. Nintendo of America. 1996-03. https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-082-march-1996. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Scott Alan Marriott. "Nester's Funky Bowling - Review". AllGame. https://web.archive.org/web/20100216014824/http://allgame.com/game.php?id=8109&tab=review. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Where We Came From". Saffire Corporation. 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/19970707155125/http://www.saffire.com:80/html/where_we_came_from.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Full Development". Saffire Corporation. 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19980624032404/http://www.saffire.com:80/fulldev.htm. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Now Playing: Nester's Funky Bowling". Nintendo Power, vol. 81, p. 92. Nintendo of America. 1996-02. https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-081-february-1996. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Nester's Funky Bowling". Nintendo Power, vol. 81, p. 74. Nintendo of America. 1996-02. https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-081-february-1996. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Neil Foster (2014-01-11). "Nester's Funky Bowling". Hardcore Gaming 101. https://www.hardcoregaming101.net/nesters-funky-bowling/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Finals: Nester's Funky Bowling". Next Generation, no. 19. Imagine Publishing. 1996-07. https://archive.org/details/Next-Generation-1996-07. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 Dave Frear (2009-04-14). "Nester's Funky Bowling Review (Virtual Boy)". Nintendo Life. https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/2009/04/nesters_funky_bowling_retro. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Saffire Full Development". Saffire Corporation. 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/19980128114844/http://www.saffire.com:80/html/products/full_dev.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "The Games We've Made". Saffire Corporation. 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/19970707155202/http://www.saffire.com:80/html/the_programming.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Nester's Funky Bowling". IGN. https://www.ign.com/games/nesters-funky-bowling. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Eric Caoili (2008-06-29). "Promotional Consideration: Nester's return". Joystiq. https://web.archive.org/web/20121018105857/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/29/promotional-consideration-nesters-return/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Virtual Boy Top 5". Nintendo Power, vol. 81. Nintendo of America. 1996-02. https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-081-february-1996. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Rating Scale". AllGame. https://web.archive.org/web/20100102023417/http://allgame.com/pages/a_ratings.php. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Quick Hits: Nester's Funky Bowling". GamePro, no. 92, p. 72. Infotainment World. 1996-05. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_092_Volume_08_Number_05_1996-05_IDG_Publishing_US. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Luke McKinney (2010-02-02). "Videogame System Swansongs". GameSpy. https://web.archive.org/web/20100525162734/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/106/1065767p1.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Chris Kohler (2010-08-13). "Virtual Boy, Nintendo's Big 3-D Flop, Turns 15". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2010/08/virtual-boy/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.