Arcade Pool reviews

Pool is such a classic game, and there have been so many digital versions. Miniclip.com’s8 Ball Pool is one of the most played of all time with over 1 billion games played online. The game now comes to iOS, and is all about speed. You’re given the regular rack of 15 balls, and you try to hit them all in as quick as you can. You start with 3 minutes, and you get a 10 send bonus for each ball you hit in. Once you hit 14 balls in, you’re given a new rack of 14 balls, and you keep going through racks for as long as you can.

There isn’t much to the game, and feels just like a basic flash game ported to the iPhone, and that’s because it is just a basic flash game ported to iOS. Once you’ve played once through you’ve seen everything in the game, and there isn’t much to come back to. There are Game Center headboards but no achievements. The game does have a nice arcade style that makes pool extremely dependent on time, and provides plenty of action. It would just be nice to see more game modes, or some type of variability.

You know what you’re getting with 8 Ball Pool ($0.99, iPhone), and there just isn’t that much. The gameplay is good except for the controls which are quite tedious on the 3.5″ iPhone/iPod Touch screen. There are a number of times where you don’t aim precisely, hit with the wrong power, or just perform a shot before you mean to. There is a multiplier system from sinking consecutive balls, but the entire time you’re playing you just want there to be more to the game.

8 Ball Pool is worth skipping for even $1, and if you really want to play the game just try the free flash version.