Archer Maclean's Pool is an excellent follow-up to Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, which he also designed. The review at Amiga Games Database says it all about this rare underdog: "Archer Maclean had a success in 1991 with Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, so to widen his audience he put together a pool game using the same 3D-engine he devised for Snooker. As well as adapting his engine to the rules of 3 pool variants (UK 8-ball, US 8-ball and US 9-ball) and altering the dimensions of balls and table, he also included many new computer opponents (16 more than Snooker's 4) and added the option to play matches or a tournament as well as single frames. The game is just as good as Snooker was in terms of realism, with the exception that in the US pool-variants, in which the balls are numbered, the numbers stay fixed in the centre of the balls, giving them the aspect of sliding across the table instead of rolling." With a combination of great graphics, fluid gameplay, and accurate ball physics, Archer Maclean's Pool ranks among the best pool games ever made, and arguably the best PC pool title until Celeris' Virtual Pool three years later. Two thumbs up, way up! Reviewed by: Underdogs |