Review NaN of 1
Price Paid:
$15.00
from Toys R Us Summary:
This game is a billiards simulation, and is indeed a true 3D Pool game on a handheld gaming platform, and that is a true feat of technical accomplishment. However, the game is not without some serious problems, and they may be due to the reality of the GBA's limited screen resolution, memory and processing power.
The GBA was never designed as a 3D gaming platform, but this has not stopped developers from pushing the hardware/software envelope. Super Monkey Ball Jr., ZooCube and a couple of other games can be considered true 3D games, but in terms of realistic physics and spot-on camera movement and control, nothing can come close to 3D Pool. In fact, I've seen few 3D games on full sized consoles that have the camera control that 3D Pool has.
In fairness, it has to be stated that 3D Pool is not a full price GBA title. And when you take that into consideration, the game is actually a good deal. There are some serious bugs and some essential missing elements in some of the gameplay features, but even with those negative issues, 3D Pool is still a lot of fun to play, and it's only $15.
I am not a big pool player. I do not care for smoke filled billiards parlors that reek of tobacco and stale beer. But for 3D Pool, familiarity with real world pool isn't very important. In fact, it's best to think of this game as a new kind of strategy title. The pace is slow and deliberate. You must plan every shot, checking out every angle, and, if a good shot cannot be found, then shoot to place the cue ball somewhere that will cause trouble for your opponent.
Pool is part luck and part skill, and the amounts of each vary from one game to the next.
3D Pool has done a great job with the 3D camera control, with the game physics, and with the interface. One thing the developers have no control over, though, is the GBA's screen resolution, and that is the biggest problem with the game. Simply put, the level of precision needed to accurately plan your shots is not possible with the GBA's screen resolution. The number of polygons available for objects in the scene is severely limited, and it shows throughout gameplay. Nor are there enough colors available. The balls appear almost flat shaded, they are all the same color no matter what their distance from the camera, and there is no way to accurately judge the impact point of the cuestick or the distance the ball must roll.
It must be stated, though, that the developers have tried their very best to remedy the situation. There are multiple levels of zoom, and you can move freely and accurately within the 3D space above the plane of the pool table to plan your shots. The awesome interface is icon driven, and there are controls to move crosshairs over a circle representing the cueball to vary the impact point. You can even chalk your stick.
And the one major included game element that could have alleviated many of these problems is incomplete. That is the Trick Shot Editor, which allows you to set up custom shots for practice. The Trick Shot Editor is very cool, except for one big issue. There is no way to save your setups. So, you cannot tweak your shots, changing the angle or cuestick power or point of impact with the same ball layout. This would have been a godsend had the developers included it, but the reality is, since it's impossible to manually place balls on the table in the same position from one trick shot to the next, the Trick Shot Editor is all but useless.
Then there is the developers' attempt at humor that you must work around. When planning your shots, the various pool balls will randomly turn into little smiley faces and animate, and it is funny for about the first 30 seconds of gameplay. Sadly, there is no way to turn this 'feature' off.
Another problem is bugs. When playing some of the numerous AI opponents, they will sometimes get stuck with a low angle shot and the game does not catch the error, resulting in the CPU player stupidly poking his cuestick against the wall of the table, requiring a cold reset. And, if you rotate the 3D world too fast, you can crash the game completely, also requiring a reset.
Still, if you like strategy games, then you may want to get this game, warts and all. It is quite playable, it is cheap, it is fun, and it is the perfect pick-up-and-play title for when you have just a small amount of time to play. I am hopeful that the developers will make a full sized console version of this game that is thoroughly QA'd and polished before release, because with that kind of power, ram, and graphics, this game could really shine. Report this review >>
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