Bowling is often seen as a pastime for the laid back suburban folks; a sport that is more recreational and an excuse for the locals to meet up. In some ways, JAMDAT Bowling 2 is reflective of all these traditions. It is a passive laid back game. No extreme rules or outrageous special effects have been put in. But it’s also an excuse to play with other people – either by uploading your top scores or playing ten frames with someone else on your cell phone.

JAMDAT Bowling 2 takes a no frills approach to bowling. You can adjust with various moving meters the direction, power and spin on the ball. The more power you select, the faster the slider goes for direction. So for finishing the lone pin, you might not want to use full power so as to get a better chance at being more accurate. Accuracy comes at a price though. Pins will less likely ricochet and hit surrounding pins if you don’t use enough power.

The mechanics of the game are simple enough to grasp for all levels of gamers out there. JAMDAT Bowling 2 features a full ten frame run and lets you configure games so they are won by a best of series. Once you get used to posting strikes and spares, you can choose to upload your high score.

Most wireless titles stop at that and call it multiplayer connectivity. JAMDAT Bowling 2 lets you play live with other players. And if you think about it, the game of bowling is perfect for some wireless games. You don’t have to wait for the other person to respond quickly. There’s no dependency on latency or reaction time. So you and your opponent will go through the frames one by one (albeit some players may be faster than others). Between frames, you’ll see you and your opponent’s score and progress.

In order to enter multiplayer, you have to set up a profile name and password. This was a pretty easy process that didn’t’ take more than a few minutes. Once you log in, you will be matched up with someone to play. Before the game begins, you can look at the wins and losses of your competitor. You can also see how many matches they’ve dropped connection on.

Overall, the multiplayer system is pretty slick. Because a full ten frames may only take a few minutes to finish, this is a convenient game to have on your cell phone. Even multiplayer matches are brief enough that you don’t’ have to invest a significant amount of time in it. If you’re working to achieve high scores, you’ll find yourself playing another ten frames a lot. JAMDAT Bowling 2 really strikes a good balance between giving people some challenge without being too tedious in the process.