Arcade Pool

For anyone who enjoys a game of pool then this game is definitely good enough to take a closer look at.

Arcade Pool is a very simplistic top down style pool game where it’s very quick and easy to get to grips with. Rather than fussing over the finesse of the game such as using spin on the cue ball, you simply have to rotate the direction of your shot in a simple 360 degree clockwise/anticlockwise movement. With the line of the cue ball and trajectory of both cue ball and target ball been given as a guide to help you pot the ball and indeed gauge where the white ball will end up afterwards.

You get to play as either a guy or girl in single player mode where you get to play against the opponent and if you beat them you will be rewarded with new improvements, such as cue colour, table colour and even new and better opponents.

In two player mode, it’s a straight forward game of pool where you can play your friends in a battle of who will manage to pot all the balls quickest, (or just who manages to fluke the most).

Lastly but by no means least, you get to challenge your potting skills in a game of Pot the Lot. This game will put the balls in a variety of locations around the table and give you a set amount of shots to sink them into the six pockets. To my cost I did a Virgo Trick Shot and potted the black in the first shot and that was game over for me. The second time round I went for the four red balls and then sunk the black and progressed to the next level. This does sound fairly simple but you have to be careful not to pot the cue ball or else it’s game over, as with any foul (e.g. sinking the black before you’re supposed to).

This game would benefit from being able to put spin on the cue ball as straight forward shots typically mean you can’t play the game as you normally would in reality or within other pool games on your phone. Due to the lack of control of the cue ball apart from the speed/power of the shot and the trajectory that the white ball deflects from an impact with a cushion or ball you are left either amused or bemused by the shots you have to pull off in order to not foul or get more than just one ball down per visit to the table.

Another thing that this game would benefit from is the ability to progress without having to connect to the internet to unlock the next advancement. Unfortunately this isn’t possible and if you fail to pick connect to the internet then you’re stuck playing the same opponent as you have to go back to the beginning. Perhaps this was a glitch with my handset and others may not have this problem but I found this very restrictive and did impact on the fun I had.

Rating 62%

Positives

8 ball pool in its simplest form

Get advances in the game by unlocking opponents and other novel things

The pot the lot and two player mode made this game much better than single player mode itself

Negatives

No control over the cue ball

Had to connect to the web to unlock features

Graphics are pretty poor