Thanks to the era we live in, you can almost enjoy anything and everything, right there at home. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not, but I know many kids would prefer playing inside, at home, surrounded by electronic gadgets. Heck even I’m sure adults (us included) would prefer that too. And this somehow created a whole new market for virtual-realism fun. For instance, you can play a basketball video game; you know it’s not real basketball, and there’s no sweating or an adrenaline rush, but basketball video game has its own fun. Or sometimes, games have such realism that players can actually experience the same level of fun. Many sports games have been released, and today, we’ll be reviewing a pool game for the Nintendo Wii. Does it stand a chance against real world pool? Or will it provide the virtual fun that will keep you at home?
The graphics are somewhat as expected. The ball looks great, considering the hardware power that developers had to optimize for. Background objects are well placed and in nice lighting, again, considering the hardware limitations. It’s not the best looking game for the Wii, but with its 20+ array of stages to choose from, each with its own atmosphere, you’re not stuck recycling the same three bars over and over. And this goes same for your Crib; you can earn cash to accessorize your own Crib. Not bad, huh? But as soon as you enter the character customization, with its low-res textured character models and limited customization options, your good impression of the game might die just a little. And if you’re expecting a hot, sexy female character, you’re out of luck. In fact, there are no female models. It’s nothing but macho fun here.
Who needs girls when we can look this sexy, yeah?
The audio in this game is actually worth lending an ear to. All the sounds are there, and the background music blends perfectly into the game. In fact, most of the time you won’t even notice the music looping or throwing you off. It sounds strange, but it really works here, especially with the amount of concentration you have to put in. You definitely do not want to get distracted. And yet it’s not to the point where it’s non-existent. It’s just right.
Now this is where the game gets a bit funky. But before we get into that, there are many different games of pool that fans can enjoy; US and UK rules 8-ball, 6, 9, 10, 15-ball, Pub Pool, Basic Pocket Billiards, and 5 and 10-ball Snooker. The main issues are in the controls and we had some mixed feelings about them. It felt as if the controls were switched around, and here’s what we mean. It feels like where the game would have benefited from utilizing the Wii remote function, it uses the tiny D-pad, and vice-versa. For example, looking around and adjusting the direction of the cue stick is done with the D-pad, and the actual aiming of the point of contact of the cue stick with the cue ball is done with the wii remote. It seems like precise aiming would be best left for the D-pad, and the more free aiming, such as looking around the cue ball, could be left to the Wii remote. I suppose the default controls make sense, but the Wii motion sensor can be a bit too sensitive compared to good analog controls. We also ran into a few other issues. Though the efforts to create the realism of a ball were definitely visible, we thought the physics weren’t quite up to par. We experienced a glitch once where a ball went into a tight spot between another ball and the cushion, and seemed to bounce back and forth infinitely for a few seconds. We also noticed that if the player zooms out and turns the camera around, the object that gets in between the pool table and the camera does not turn transparent; it’ll literally block the player’s view. You can argue that it adds realism, but not doubt it’ll kill the fun.
In conclusion, I think this could be the game pool fans have been waiting for, especially if you have a Wii console as your only gaming system. With a variety of different game styles and a slew of well-crafted stages, it can keep you busy for awhile. The price seems to be right as well; you can pick this one up by under $30. But unless you’re willing to get used to the controls, you won’t make it too far, and some of you might even give up before you find the real fun this game has to offer. It’s not the best pool video game I’ve played, and probably won’t stop me from going to the local bar for a game of pool, it’s a fun arcade style of party game that fans can enjoy.
Our Score: 7 /10
Price seems right, and pool fans with Wii might enjoy it.
