Elf Bowling 7 1/7: The Last Insult

Christmas puts a grin on everyone's face, and Elf Bowling 7 1/7: The Last Insult brings us the holiday spirit and Christmas cheer through bowling. The story starts out with the elves attacking Santa, but have no fear, help will soon arrive. Even if the game never wins an award, they earn a flawless score in the originality portion. You play as Santa who must now knock out the pins, and as you might guess, they're elves. Sounds easy enough, but these annoying little goblins toss up the occasional obstacle. Obstacles range from oil to a narrowed bowling lane. Sometimes, they will even throw out a giant shield.

The game entertains you at first, but after playing for a while, the game loses its fizz. Still, the graphics keep you enthused especially when you knock down the elves. In terms of music, you may want to shut the sound off because the music could not be called a strong point. You have about several hours of gameplay involved before the game's charm starts to wear thin. You want to bowl down as many trash-talking elves as your bowling ball can muster. The game gives you two options—either bowl against the computer or take on a friend in a head-to-head match where you have score-driven challenges.

The story mode includes some wacky cut scenes. In truth, story mode only shows you pictures, but the animated camera effects and dialogue brings the story to life as Santa battles it out against the little people he once called his helpers. You have four modes to tackle, and each of the modes has its own originality. Collect trophies and perform a number of strikes to unlock additional skins to dress the ball up.

On one end of the bowling alley, you have a furious Santa and a raging bowling bowl. At the other end of the lane, you have jabbering elves who will grate on your last nerve with their trash talk. A longer session in particular starts to wear your patience thin, but the annoyance serves as incentive to knock them down without mercy.

Granted, we have a somewhat gimmicky game made in the spirit of Christmas, and while the gameplay reels you in at the beginning, some of the odd personality quirks leave you searching for another game. The overly jaunty soundtrack, mega-chatty elves and constant waiting for your opponent to bowl becomes more pain than you can handle. As much as you'd hate to admit it in public, however, Elf Bowling 7 1/7: The Last Insult does turn into somewhat of a guilty pleasure. The whole family can enjoy the game over the holiday season. For a few hours, you will delight in and absorb the Christmas spirit.

Pros

• A game with an original story
• Good graphics
• Passes time for a couple hours

Cons

• The music grows repetitive
• Trash talking elves sour the gameplay as time goes on