International Snooker brings the British classic to the world in full 3-D magnificence. The pool table looks great, the balls are nice and shiny and there’s a variety of pool cues to start with, as well as to unlock later. In addition to Snooker, there are other forms of pool offered in the game: British 8-ball, American 8-ball, and my personal favorite, 9-ball.
The game of Snooker is quite daunting. The table is both longer and wider than in other pool variants. To make matters worse, the pocket openings are smaller and have rounded edges, rather than the squared edges found on standard pool tables. This means that unless your shot is perfectly straight, the ball will likely just bounce away.
Snooker starts off with many balls…most of which are a plain red color, as well as a few other colors. The object is to pocket (or “pot”, as it’s known to the purists) the balls that are NOT red. Unfortunately, you cannot simply go for the non-red balls. Rather you must alternate between a red ball and a non-red ball. So the game generously gives you two chances to miss your shot, rather than one. We get the point…Snooker is not for wimps. Whoever pots the most non-red balls on the table is the winner.
All in all, this is a good game, but there are a few issues. The one graphic element sorely missing is player avatars. The pool cues look like haunted sticks floating in mid-air. The announcer’s commentary is also missing. Other sports games have made a mint with this “colorful” addition. The final component I would suggest being added to the game is the pool variant: Billiards. This game is played on a table with no pockets at all; the object is simply to get the cue ball to make contact with the other two balls on the table…a fun geometric challenge.
If you’d like to experience the thrill of Snooker, and your building’s recreation room is big, but not THAT big to fit an actual table, go ahead and give International Snooker a try. Cheers!
-Chris Roberts-
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!