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Jimmy White's 2: Cueball
"Snooker, pool, darts, draughts, bandits and a retro video game make up this Whirlwind package"
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Developer  Awesome Dev. Game Type  Sport
Distributor  Virgin Review Date  Apr 00
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Playability:
 
      To be perfectly honest it was some time before I actually racked up and smacked around a set of snooker balls. The reason being was that while I have experienced a few pool sims on Playstation before I don't ever recall seeing a video game of darts (the nearest I saw was archery on Olympic Games). I spent the first enjoyable hour playing this sub-game against both human and CPU opponents. With three difficulty levels and the option to play 301, 501 and Around the Clock I was in my element as I never believed that darts could be transformed into a working video game. It's not perfect (could have included a slight nervous shake), but it passed a little time. Other sub games include draughts, a few pulls on the one-arm-bandit and a journey back into time with that retro classic shooter, Dropzone.

When I eventually got around to setting up the snooker balls I was desperately disappointed to see that there was no competition mode. The game options offer ten CPU opponents, best of 1-9 frames and a practice mode that allows you to undo your last shot. The main staying power has to be working through nine of your opponents to finally unveil Jimmy White... but it's not really Jimmy White... it's Jimmy's white gloves. Just have to use your imagination!

Because snooker can sometimes be a game of endurance players can regularly take a break to try out a few of the sub-games, or even leave the room altogether and begin a game of pool. Pool games cover 8-Ball, 9-Ball and UK Pool rules. Once again each round may last up to nine frames against ten CPU opponents. The final match will be against the hot shot himself, Jimmy Whirlwind. At any time you can exit each game and rejoin precisely where you last left off.

Playing the game can be a bit of a chore at first because of the confusing cluster of on-screen icons. Gremlin's Pool Shark allocated a different joypad button to each action. JW's 2 Cueball takes more of a PC stance and fills up the side of the screen with no fewer than 12 action icons. Add these to the 7 other game symbols and that makes 19 in all. Far too many! There's no need for most of the options, certainly not permanently visible on screen, and its not that this is a difficult game to play... it's just such an effort to wade through them all.

There are several helpful aids such as a shot assistance and a view line as to where the cue ball will travel. This is great for playing off the side cushion, but is of little help as to what will happen to it after striking the object balls. Still... you don't want things too easy, do you?

Overall, Jimmy White's 2: Cueball is tidily presented and will offer a fair challenge to the budding snooker fan, but is by no means faultless.
 
Game Options:
 
      This is a 1 disk game for 1-2 Players. It is compatible with the standard (digital) joypad and the analog stick controls of the dual shock joypad. Games can be saved via memory card (1 block per save).
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Staff Opinions
Martin  "The tables have been expertly rendered, ball physics seem fine and the full range of shots are available. So it's not that there's anything drastically wrong with this, just there's already too many average pool games on the market. It's also worth noting that Codemasters have what looks like a very good snooker sim about to hit the streets, so competition will be fierce. Being totally honest I enjoyed the sub-games more than the main game, but then I prefer to go down to the pub for a real game of snooker or pool."
Graphics  14/20
Playability  39/50
Sound  6/10
Lastability  16/20
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