Baseball is more than just a sport. It's a way of thinking. It's a metaphor. There's a reason baseball is as much an American institution as hot dogs and apple pie: instead of a set of rules, it's a collection of concepts.

The basics of baseball can be (and have been) adapted to contless forms: video games, darts, board games, and more. Milton Bradley's Bulls-Eye Baseball presents baseball as skeeball with a trampoline.

This tabletop game includes a handful of metal balls, a trampoline-like base (feels like nylon tights), and a backboard with 7 holes, layed out like a baseball field with single through home run, strike, and out. Bounce balls off the trampoline, and get them into the good holes to accrue points. It's a simple concept, but by adding in an electronic component, the game offers all kinds of options.

The game offers 4 modes of play. The first three are single player modes, trying to rack up the most points in 30 seconds or before three outs or the most home runs before 10 outs (for multiplayer, take turns and try to beat each others' scores). The fourth mode, Nine-Inning Match-up runs two players through an actual 9 inning game, complete with possible extra innings in case of a tie score. LED's by the bases show where runners wait to be "batted" (or bounced, as the case may be) in.

The game plays a collection of sounds to add to the feel of the baseball spirit, including an announcer, and the volume is adjustable, but when turned on, the volume is REALLY LOUD and needs to be turned down. Defaulting to a lower volume would have been preferable.

The games says it's intended for age 7+, but my 6-year-old daughter held the high score in our home for quite a while until my wife finally beat it, so I'd suggest a 5 or 6-year-old with decent hand coordination would likely enjoy this game.

On important suggestion for playing: sit down. We had the game on a table, and the kids played while standing, and the balls bounced all over the room. Just because of the extra energy exerted by their standing, they consistently threw the balls too hard. Once they sat at the table or on the floor, they had much better control, possibly just by nature of being closer, because the ball needs to be dropped more than thrown.

In form, this game is fairly compact. A compartment in the bottom stores all the balls, keeping the parts together and decreasing the chance of losing parts, but the angled case doesn't store well. If it could fold shut, it would be significantly more portable and stackable on your games shelf.

This is a simple game that's easy to pick up and play, but consequently a bit shallow, so it's the kind of game you and your kids will play for a little while, set aside for a few days, then come back to periodically. They won't likely play for hours on end, but it's something different and a family game that can be played either with the family or even when the rest of the family can't play. If you enjoy games like bowling and Skee-ball, you'll enjoy this one.