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Championship 3D Snooker |
Copyright/Publisher: Zeppelin Games, Created By: Steven Walters,
Music By: Sonic Graffiti, Release Year: 1992, Genre: Snooker/Pool,
Number Of Players: 1 or 2
Snooker...it's a load of balls, isn't it? It must rate as the second most boring
TV sport ever (after golf - hour after hour of televised sky), and whichever channel
you try, it's always flippin' there! Fortunately, computer snooker sims are nowhere
near as yawny. Cue IAN OSBORNE...
You shoot using an overhead view, which revents to a 3-D perspective when played.
The ball aim's cursor-controlled, and power's increased according to how long you
hold the fire button - note the power bar in the corner of the screen. After flipping
to 3-D, put spin on the ball using the joystick, press the fire button and awaaaaaaaay!
If playing by yourself (shut up Lucy - I said BY yourself!), you get five balls to
play with (I said SHUT UP), each of which is three shots. Fail to pot or commit a
foul and you lose a shot.
Alternatively, select tournament play where up to eight players play a league
or knockout game (no, not a cue straight over the boone, silly). A save game option's
available, as are slow-motion and full-speed action replays.
Championship 3D Snooker is a damned good game. The controls are brilliantly set out,
with a joystick option that's as easy as falling over when drunk (which Lucy tells me
is very easy). The options menu's clear and concise, and the one-player game system's
excellent a - real improvement on earlier games where you just potted away until the
table's cleared.
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Kissing colours |
The graphics are brill - their strength lying more in what was left out than put in.
On the negative side, the pink ball's a shade too dark, making it difficult to
distinguish from the reds (for those of you watching in black and white the pink
ball is behind the blue - Man Ed) and all the balls are a little ovoid in appearance.
Still, they move about the table realistically, so who cares?
A couple of niggles (oh quelle surpirse - Man. Ed). While the 3-D perspective
makes great viewing the game would benefit from an option to turn it off, giving
the player the choice of views to watch, and when the shot is played the game runs
a mite slowly.
Nevertheless, these are minor gripes, and certainly don't prevent 3D Snooker
from being one of the best snooker sims ever on the C64.
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PHIL! |
Snooker might not be the world's most exciting spectator sport - it's a brilliant
cure for insomnia. But that doesn't mean it's not great fun to play. It's a much
morr tactical, sophisticated game than pool with more safety shots and snookers
(of course!) played.
It's not all pot, pot, pot (not when I'm playing anyway!) and neither is this
excellent conversion. Remember American 3D Pool (also from Zeppelin)? Well 3D
Snooker uses a similar 2-D aiming system and 3-D view of the shot - it works really
well.
And the presentation's just as good with a full tournament, knockout and league,
plus great action replays and three camera angles. It certainly beats watching snooker
on the telly - the only thing missing is the coughing audience!
Rating: 88%
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