Arcade Snooker

Arcade Snooker is a billiards (more precisely, snooker) game developed by Team 17 for Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000. The full game was released as the CU Amiga magazine cover disk in July 1995.

The title is the Snooker version of Arcade Pool, created one year ago by the same English company known for the successful Worms saga. In 1999, Microprose launched a sequel called Arcade Pool 2, very similar to its predecessor but with better graphics and an online option.

For the ones that are not experts, snooker and pool are two different games, despite being played with similar types of equipment. Snooker uses larger tables (but with smaller pockets), and it's played with 22 balls: 15 numberless pink/red balls, 6 numbered object balls, and 1 cue ball.

Arcade Snooker may look like a simple pool game, but it hides several very interesting easter-eggs. First of all, the team that created the title appears as the opponents to beat in it, being the most difficult one Martyn Brown, its creative director. There are also different members of the company Future Publishing, characterized by having the least difficulty in the installment (the two companies were declared rivals, so these small references were not unusual in their releases).

This simulator has all the features of a regular snooker game, where even a message can appear scolding the player for pocketing an opponents' ball. The physics of the spheres on impact and the movements they make as a result are very well achieved, so those who enjoy playing snooker may be at ease. Also, the title offers an English and an American version, where the balls will change color to suit the choice.

The title was well-received by the critics, highlighting features previously mentioned, such as the proper use of the physics of the balls. Of course, you should not consider this a real simulation, as the same says, it's more an arcade game. If you like to play this fun but competitive game, or even if you never did and don't want to make a fool of yourself with other players, this is your chance to practice while having fun!