Genesis

Side Pocket

I'm going to go out on a limb with this one, and call it the most fun video pool game EVER. I remember playing the challenging one-player mode for hours in 1993, and playing it today only confirms how great it is. Granted, there are few options, and no fancy 3D angles like those in modern pool games. But this game is SO much fun. Besides the two-player modes, there is an extremely addictive one-player game where need to score a certain number of points to make it to the next level. You score points by making consecutive shots or sinking balls in numeric order. Various imaginative trick shot opportunities are presented to you between rounds. The control is excellent and easy to learn. I really love the jazzy background lounge music - it adds atmosphere. The graphics are also very attractive. Side Pocket is a real gem.

Har man tröttnat på det "vanliga" biljardspelet kan man övergå till "trick shot"-avdelningen, där man på en meny väljer mellan ett antal olika tricks - bra test på både tålamod och beräkning av vinklar! För min del slutade de flesta försöken med ljudet av krossade vinglas, vilka ingick i stor mängd som hinder i de flesta tricksen. På det hela taget: ett spel som det är en utmaning att bemästra om man är intresserad av biljard!

Embodying this utilitarian approach is the game's hyper-realistic, overhead-angle table display — not as realistic, unfortunately, is its follow-the-dotted-line aiming system, which allows you to hit the cue ball in only about half a dozen places. An extensive trick-shot menu — apparently meant to compensate for this glaring limitation — is intriguing, but completely superfluous.

Billardprofis werden in Side Pocket kaum eine passende Alternative zum „echten“ Billardspiel sehen. Die ungenaue Vogelperspektive kann nicht überzeugen, eine 3-D-Darstellung wäre realistischer. Zudem bewegt sich die Ziellinie nicht fein genug, um eine millimetergenaue Peilung zu ermöglichen. Alleine kann Side Pocket nur leidlich motivieren, zu Zweit wird’s spaßiger. Habt Ihr ein Mega Drive und einen menschlichen Gegner, aber keine Aussicht auf einen richtigen Billardtisch, ist Side Pocket empfehlenswert.