Gutterball - TV Tropes
- ️Mon Jan 27 2025
Are you set to play?
Better check your aim
Strike in every frame
Watch that Gutterball!
Gutterball is a bowling game series by Skunk Studios that started in 2002. The games offer multiple uniquely themed lanes as well as multiple balls differing in weight and speed. Players choose where on the lane to throw the ball, then control the ball's direction with the mouse to knock down the pins. Scoring is as per bowling standards, with 10 frames and 2 throws each, except for the last frame which allows up to 3 throws. Gutterball is also known for its plethora of commentators differing in accents and quotes that comment on your bowling performance.
A sequel, Gutterball 2, was released in 2004 and added unlockable content and the ability to play against the CPU. Another sequel, Gutterball: Golden Pin Bowling was released in 2011, which added the Golden Pins as the game's source of in-game currency and powerups.
Games in the series:
- Gutterball (2002)
- Gutterball 2 (2004)
- Gutterball: Golden Pin Bowling (2011)
This game provides examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: The CPU players in the second game includes names such as Ron CPU, Tommy CPU, and Badfella CPU.
- Character Customization: You can make a custom bowling ball using an image from your computer and set its stats (weight, speed, and spin) using power points.
- Company Cameo: Each of the games have a ball with the Skunk Studios logo on it.
- Company Cross-References: Golden Pin Bowling's Retro Alley has a poster for Qbeez, another game by Skunk Studios.
- The Computer Shall Taunt You: If you fail to hit a pin or get the ball in the gutter, then the commentators will make fun of your bowling performance and a laughing crowd can be heard to mock you even further.
- Defeat Means Playable: In 2, beating certain CPU opponents would unlock the ball associated with that opponent for you to play with.
- Gimmick Level: In the second game, the Iceberg alley features an unstable lane broken into three slope-styled segments with one edge being taller than the other edge, and the Wacky alley features three slide-styled lanes with two of the lanes starting from one of the edges crossing over to end at the other edge of the lane.
- Jungle Japes: 2 has a lane set in the jungle. Features a monkey-shaped temple in the background as well as actual monkeys, a native shaman, and Tarzan.
- Non Sequitur: Jensen would sometimes quip random phrases completely unrelated to your bowling performance.
- Quintessential British Gentleman: The commentator Jensen speaks in a upper-class British accent and sometimes refer to the players as "chap".
- Shout-Out: One of 2's sound effects is a lion's roar that is taken straight from one of MGM's intros.
- Third-Person Person: The commentator Natasha often addresses herself as "Natasha".
- Unlockable Content: The second game features two unlockable lanes that are obtained by scoring 200 in specific lanes, and several unlockable balls obtained by beating CPU opponents or reaching a certain amount of money.
- Valley Girl: The commentator Poogie talks with an accent that resembles one.
- Viva Las Vegas!: One of the lanes in Golden Pin Bowling, which features a slot machine and playing card theming.
- Wackyland:
- The first game has a Wacky alley, and has a colorful and cartoony feel surrounding it including imagery of live bowling pins with eyes and mouths.
- The second game's Wacky Alley is even wackier, as it contains three different slide-styled paths for the ball to go to, has a giant live bowling pin with the mouth acting as the location for the pins in the background and also contains live versions of bowling balls and pins as the characters.
- Wutai: Lotus Lanes in 2 and Golden Pin Bowling is an East Asian-styled temple, and ninjas and a person wearing a conical straw hat will appear when you score a spare or strike in the former.
- You Fight Like a Cow: When you miss, many of the commentators will quip a phrase like "you bowl like my mother" or something similar.