155: Arcade Pool

Number 155
(20 points)
Arcade Pool
1996: 81

An amusing story behind this game's appearance in the list: when reviewed initially in 1994 it garnered only 60%, but in the news section the next month came the revelation that the version that they had was actually an unfinished version with incorrect physics amongst other bugs, so they insisted it should've received a much better score. At least they eventually rectified the situation by adding it to their final list in 1996.

Viewed from a top-down perspective, Arcade Pool allows you to play several variations of pool, either US or UK, with different amounts of balls, and a selection of different rules so that you can tailor the game to your own preferences. You control the placement and power of shots before taking them, and the balls move smoothly and accurately. It has a simple job to do, and it does it very well.

A curious thing about this is that it supports both OCS/ECS and AGA chipsets, but apparently features enhanced graphics when used in an AGA machine - frankly I can't tell any difference at all. It is worth mentioning the CD32 version, though: it plays just like the AGA version (although using a joypad instead of a mouse isn't as big a handicap as you'd expect) but features the sound of a noisy pub as a CD audio background. I had it on PC and found this feature to be rather interesting. But what about the game? Well, it's not exactly Archer Maclean's Pool, being from a top-down perspective like some arcade pool games, but it's very accessible and fun, and there are a good variety of games and options, so it's still worth a look - if pool is your thing, that is.

Recommended TOSEC disk(s):
Arcade Pool (1994)(Team 17)(OCS-AGA)[cr DLM]