Snooker games have been around since the early eighties, even on the Spectrum which famously couldn't really combine colour with smooth animation and they do have some appeal don't they? Maybe because playing them makes you like some snooker version of Neo. By day you're a cack-handed spastic whose best ever break involves four or five balls but in the virtual world you're making triple figure breaks and humiliating Stephen Hendry in the final of the World Championship.
Dedicated players will no doubt keenly contest the leaderboards, although whether the title can build up a greater online community than its predecessors - it was sometimes impossible to find someone to play at World Snooker Championship 2007 - won't be clear until sometime after launch.
+ Realistic ball physics
+ Challenging AI
+ Satisfying break building
+ It's only £30
- Underwhelming presentation
- Minor camera/control issues
- Load times are too long
Since Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker bar billiards and its many cousins have been re-created on pretty much every format going, and in the second quarter of 2008 it will make another appearance, this time on the Nintendo Wii. While it's also coming to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and DS, the Wii version is notable because it will ship with a snooker cue attachment for the Wii Remote that will re-create the physical experience of playing the sport. Blade Interactive recently dropped by with advanced builds of the several console versions, and Gamespot had a play.
