Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker

aka: 147 3D Snooker
Moby ID: 7528
DOS Specs

Description official description

A 3D snooker simulator. The table and cue can be turned through almost any angle, with shot strength and spin as required too. An on-screen dotted white line shows the path of your ball, including the next bounce.

There is also a "trick-shot" mode, allowing you to recreate classic snooker trick shots (well, not the one with the basket. Or with the cues lying on the table. Or the one with the girl lying on her back with the pink ball in her mouth. But you know).

And if you dawdle too long, the balls pull faces at you. Honest!

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

Original game
PC Version

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 87% (based on 22 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 35 ratings with 2 reviews)

A new dimension in recreating snooker on computer

The Good
The 3D engine was amazing, bringing the game to life in remarkable detail. The graphics were stunning for their day and moved impeccably quickly. Lining up a shot was made easy with practice, and lots of different methods could be used to find the right angle.

The ball physics were extremely accurate, with every subtlety of motion incorporated. The angle of contact, application of spin, chalk level, speed of impact, cannons and plants, contact with the cushion, positional play for break-building and so on.

As a result, winning strategies in the real sport usually work here. Always try to play into an area to leave yourself a choice of reds. Play to get into the bunch early, but beware the 'flat-back pack', and play into this carefully. When your opponent needs snookers, try to snooker him yourself, thus limiting his chance of keeping safe off the resultant shot. Indeed, playing this will probably improve your real snooker ability.

Archer Maclean has long been famed for his attention to detail and sense of humour, and this game features much of it. There are great sound effects when you add chalk to the cue, and lots of details when you leave it idle for a while - I especially love the little 'made in England' signs the balls spout.

The trick shot mode was fantastic, helping you improve your skills as well as set up random shots for fun.

The Bad
All you could do was play individual frames against one of the four computer opponents - there was no proper tournament structure,and the ability gaps between the players were a little too wide. The initial release only had one game-save space. Having to apply chalk manually was perhaps taking the attention to detail a little too far.

The Bottom Line
A scientifically-accurate recreation of the popular British sport of snooker, featuring an accurately recreated table and 4 computer opponents as well as a 2-player mode. Licensed by the perennially popular Jimmy White, who's failure to win the World Championship has almost boosted his place in people's hearts.

DOS · by Martin Smith (81669) · 2005

A new dimension in recreating snooker on computer

The Good
The 3D engine was amazing, bringing the game to life in remarkable detail. The graphics were stunning for their day and moved impeccably quickly. Lining up a shot was made easy with practice, and lots of different methods could be used to find the right angle.

The ball physics were extremely accurate, with every subtlety of motion incorporated. The angle of contact, application of spin, chalk level, speed of impact, cannons and plants, contact with the cushion, positional play for break-building and so on. Playing this will probably improve your real snooker ability.

Archer Maclean has long been famed for his attention to detail and sense of humour, and this game features much of it. There are great sound effects when you add chalk to the cue, and lots of details when you leave it idle for a while - I especially love the little 'made in England' signs the balls spout.

The trick shot mode was fantastic, helping you improve your skills as well as set up random shots for fun.

The Bad
All you could do was play individual frames against one of the four computer opponents - there was no proper tournament structure, and the ability gaps between the players were a little too wide. The initial release only had one game-save option, and was incompatible with accelerated Amigas as well.

The Bottom Line
A scientifically-accurate recreation of the popular British sport of snooker, featuring an accurately recreated table and 4 computer opponents as well as a 2-player mode. Licensed by the perennially popular Jimmy White, who's failure to win the World Championship has almost boosted his place in people's hearts.

Amiga · by Martin Smith (81669) · 2004

Trivia

3D engine

The 3D engine was originally written for the Acorn Archimedes system in 1988, although that version probably was never finished.

Demo mode

There is a hidden mode in this game in which you can watch the computer compile breaks of 147 (the most that's possible in normal circumstances, and something of a Holy Grail among professional snooker players - coincidentally White became just the second player to achieve this during the World Championships in 1992, though several other players have achieved it since - Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry share the record with three). Go into Trick Shot Mode and press F7, F4 and then F1, and it will now be available on the Demo Mode Menu

Original idea

The idea for Jimmy White to license the game actually came from TV Presenter Jeremy Beadle, when he met Archer MacLean at a trade show.

Version differences

An updated Amiga version was made in 1994, adding accelerator card compatibility and multiple game-save slots.

Some early Amiga copies weren't fully compatible with Kickstart 2 either, and produced black blocks on the screen (although it was basically still playable)

Awards

  • ST Format
    • January 1993 (issue #42) - #7 in '50 finest Atari ST games of all time' list

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  • MobyGames ID: 7528
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Famine3h.

Genesis added by Tibes80. DOS added by Rebound Boy. Atari ST added by Martin Smith.

Additional contributors: Martin Smith, Patrick Bregger, Jo ST.

Game added October 19, 2002. Last modified February 12, 2024.