Snooker 19 by Ripstone Games, in collaboration with Lab42 and World Snooker, is a very interesting game. Technically, it’s classified as a sports game, and it’s true that snooker is indeed a sport, but it’s certainly not in the same category as most traditional sports games like FIFA and Madden. Now, I personally have very little experience with sports games outside of Madden 2006 and playing pool with my family, so I was going into this generally blind. Did it meet my admittedly low expectations? Let’s find out.
In terms of the presentation, the graphics look okay. They’re not the most jaw-dropping visuals ever or anything, but they get the job done, and the table model looks good. The character models though…look kinda rough, especially the faces, which don’t look right.
The music is okay. It’s not exactly very prevalent in order to let you concentrate on snooker, but it is good ambient music, and the theme for the intro is very bombastic and gets you hyped to play snooker.
To start the game, first you must use the left stick to adjust the direction so the ball you’re trying to hit is aligned with the specific hole you’re trying to get the ball into. Then, hold ZL while moving the left stick to refine your aim if you happen to be a little off. At the same time, you can use the right stick to adjust the power you will hit the ball with, which is the crucial difference between a powerful shot to the other end of the table, or a steady shot to get a stray ball in a nearby hole. To shoot, pull the right stick back after you’ve adjusted your aim to start the power bar, and then push the stick forward when the bar gets into the blue highlighted area to shoot. If you miss the area in question, your shot will deviate, and you won’t get the intended results.
Snooker 19 also teaches you about the spin mechanic if you want the ball you’re hitting with the cue to move in a specific direction upon hitting its target. To spin, use ZR+the right stick to generate the backspin in a specific direction, but make sure to hold ZR while you do this. The controls, while simple overall, do work, and there’s even a tutorial at the start to get you accustomed, which you can replay at any time in the main menu.
In terms of the actual stuff you can do, you can either play in online snooker matches with players, which works fine enough in terms of connectivity, or you can play through the campaign as your favorite snooker player. You can choose from three difficulties, the option to use aim assist, and how long matches are, although be warned: Advanced difficulty is not playing around in terms of how hard the matches are. And for the love of god, make sure you hit the balls in the correct order. If you don’t, you’ll get a foul and the opponent gets a bunch of points.
Overall, though, Snooker 19 kind of bored me. It’s overly simplistic and sticks way too close to actual snooker to be entertaining for all but the most diehard snooker fans, which I haven’t seen too many of. Even then, I feel like I’d rather play actual pool than virtually hit pool balls with a controller. Maybe if the game offered different pool-themed challenges like hitting only specific balls, or winning in a certain amount of turns, I might have been more tempted to pick up and play it more. As it stands, I can really only recommend this game to those who truly enjoy snooker. Casuals may wish to look elsewhere.
6/10
Check Out the Snooker 19 Nintendo Switch Trailer:
Snooker 19 is available digitally for Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam, PlayStation 4 via the PlayStation Store, and Xbox One via the Xbox Store.
For more information, please visit here: https://www.snooker19.com/
Nintendo Switch Review
My name is Orkhan Justin Hazrati, username JJSlider. I'm generally a Nintendo player when it comes to games, but I have branched out to numerous other franchises from the likes of Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, Wayforward, and many others. Generally I like almost any type of game, barring the FPS and Strategy genre.
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