🎱 Snooker Nation Championship 2019 "I’m off to practice my cut-shots" 🎱 #SNOOKER2019 #GameDev #IndieGame

A fun and absorbing Snooker game that may not have the licensing but it has the gameplay and, more importantly, the physics.

I love a good game of snooker, in fact, my band was actually formed in a snooker hall (Snooker World, Church Village… we miss you) and as I grew up I pumped some serious hours into the various snooker games released across the Amiga and PC platforms from 1989 to the late ’90s.

I must admit that, in both the video game realm and in the real world, my attentions have been mostly elsewhere since.

I did dabble with International Snooker on the PS Vita a few years ago but the combination of irritatingly unrealistic AI combined with a lack of options and constant coughing in the ambient noises led me away from it after a short time, unfortunately.

Fast-forward half a decade and ‘cue’ Snooker Nation Championship 2019, one of two Snooker games released this year for PS4 but the only one to be unlicensed, is this a problem? Not for me. 

The usual options are here in terms of altering the ease of your shot with guidelines, different angles of approach and local multiplayer but there is also an online league mode as well as an offline tournament that will take a good few hours to finish, not to mention the myriad unlockables that will set you back a pretty penny! (in in-game money, of course).

I was also impressed with the AI in the game, in one particular frame, I had completely danced on the ashes of the chances of my success when it came down to the black. I had 53 and the AI-controlled player had 46, he continually tried to Snooker me, teasing me by turning what should have been straight pots into awkward long-range knocks off the cushion.

Eventually, he sank it and beat me after a re-spotted black, and I promise you, as I watched it fall, in slow-motion into the corner pocket, my buttocks were TENSED and my teeth were gritted so hard that they were creaking. Crucially, not out of anger but out of tension and immersion.

Summary

With its rock-solid physics, longevity due to unlockables (baize, cues and locations)  as well as it’s extremely generous price, Snooker Nation Championship 2019 may appear to be the underdog of the genre in 2019 but don’t let that fool you, this is a solid version of a sport that has always translated well to the screen and deserves to be played by the Snooker fans out there (it’s also a great place to start if the sport is completely new to you)

Right, I’m off to practice my cut-shots.

❄️ RATING: ICE COOL ❄️

Ratings Explained

ICE COOL (Great Game Recommended)

MELTING (Recommended with reservations, one to consider if you are a fan of the genre)

MELTED (Not A Recommended Purchase)