INTRODUCTION
Excuse the self-indulgence, but there is nothing I like more than a pint (or eight!) and a couple of rounds of pool. I don't know why booze and a game that's all about accuracy and angles go so well together.
I can safely say that I'm not the world's best Pool player, but I remember one fateful evening when (after a pint of three) I became the local Pool king. Oh yes, people tried to beat me, but god damn, I stayed on that table all night playing shots that you just would not believe to be humanly possible.
OK, so it has never happened again since that day and probably never will, but now, thanks to Team 17, I can at least work on my game on my angles via their brand new budget extra
Team 17 are now infamous for providing games with top-class quality software at a price that's right. F17 Challenge and Qwak were both original games that were worth at least three-
These two products were immensely popular with the games-
ADDITIONAL INFO
The game of Pool was derived from billiards and is played in many different forms. Originally popular in the USA, it is now also played in Europe. USA Pool is played on a blue baize table with balls of different colours, each of which is numbered. The neutral ball (black) is the number eight ball.
The most popular form of Pool is eight-ball Pool in which players have to sink all their own balls before his/her opponent, and then must sink the eighth ball to win the game. The UK game is very similar to the USA version, with the only differences being the colour of the table (green) and balls (red and yellow).
FLASHBACK
The only other Pool game worth mentioning in the same breath as Team 17's Arcade Pool is Archer Maclean's Pool. This more technical and involved piece of software featured some hyper-
Although not exactly pool, Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker takes a lot longer to play than Pool, but it is still one of the greatest sports games that you can get for the Amiga.
SOUND
When the production of Arcade Pool was started, Team 17 were pondering over the idea of sampling a real pub atmosphere which was a cool idea, but unfortunately it was unusable.
Despite the lack of this pub atmosphere, the samples of the balls clcking together are very clear and sound rather good. On the AGA chipset machine you can even hear the balls going into the pockets and then into the actual Pool table.
Apart from the samples, there isn't a lot more sound in Arcade Pool except the title music. This wonderful piece has obviously been played on a honky-tonk piano and could easily be mistaken for the theme-
GRAPHICS
Arcade Pool has been in development for well over two years and that's an incredibly long time for a budget game. The time was obviously spent on making sure the game was a realistic as possible and to achieve this the graphics had to be as close to the real thing as possible.
Unlike Archer's Pool, which can be viewed from a whole range of angles, the action in Team 17's pot-'em-up can only be observed from one position, which is directly above the table.
The balls are superb and skim across the table just like their real-life counterparts. The actual table is very basic, but exactly how hi-tech do you need it to be? The rest of the screen is made up of icons, a power indicator, a spin selector and a graphic that displays the number of the ball when you move your cursor over it.
Owners of either the A1200 or the A4000 will find that Arcade Pool auto-
OPINION80%
Arcade Pool can now be added to the list of Team 17 budget successes. The game may have very nice graphics, but it's in the playability department where it excels. The game controls are so easy to use that even the smallest child can quite happily pot his/her balls into the pockets.
There are so many different game styles that you'd be hard pressed to become bored with this piece of software. My personal favourite is Speed Pool where you have to put every single ball as fast as you can. This game style is also perfect for sharpening up your potting skills.
Arcade Pool, as with most Team 17 products, has that high addiction factor and I don't think a day has gone by since it came into the office that I haven't played it.
For just under a tenner it is an amazing bargain, especially when you consider than it has actually been in development longer than most full-price games.
It doesn't quite deserve the platinum award, but for snooker and pool fans this is a must. Purists will obviously still love Jimmy White's Whirldwind Snooker and Archer Maclean's Pool, but Arcade Pool is a perfect complement to both of those games.