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Pool Panic


radiofloyd
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I liked the look of this when Nintendo showed it in their indie showcase, so I took a chance on when it was discounted a little recently. But I’m not sure whether or how much I like it.

 

I’ve just been playing the single player mode. As you can see in the trailer, it’s a kind of wacky, fun pool game, you play as the cue ball who you can freely move around and the aim is to knock all the other balls in the level/stage/pool “table” into various pockets. Of course this involves playing a shot like you normally would in pool or snooker, but it also usually involves various interactions with the environment and many of the balls don’t just stand still either.

 

You move your character, the cue ball, with the left analogue stick, and when you’re taking a shot, you move the direction the cue stick is aiming with the right analogue stick. This part is a bit fiddly and it’s the main reason why I have mixed feelings about the game. But it works a little bit better with a pro controller than with the switch’s analogue stick.

 

Aside from clearing the table and potting the black ball, each level has other challenges you can aim for - completing the level within a certain time, completing the level within a certain number of shots, potting all the balls in the level (many of them are hidden) and also making sure you don’t accidentally pot the white ball. I usually fail most if not all of these, but I don’t really care.

 

The game has a vibrant, fun, colourful art style in the spirit of games like Cuphead and Hidden Folks, and the levels have lovely music too, so on the artistic front it’s no slouch. For now I’m just going to keep playing in 15-20 minute bursts.

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Played a bit more of this today. As fiddly as the right analogue stick controls are, I’m enjoying it. The overworld map that you roam around really is an impressive work of art. And the music can be stunning at times, the person (people?) responsible for the music in the game is obviously very talented. A shame the soundtrack isn’t on YouTube. 

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  • 1 year later...

This might be one of the trippiest games I've ever played. I don't know how many drugs were consumed to come up with the idea for this game, but it's standing alone with what it does. If you're into esoteric stuff like Katamari and Donut Country, then maybe give this a look if you can be bothered.

 

To summarise you play as a cue ball. You get put into a Mario World-esque map and have to earn trophies by clearing tables. Clearing certain tables sometimes alters the map in ways that allow you to take shortcuts and get to areas you wouldn't be able to get to before.

 

I say the levels are tables, but this is normalising a situation that cannot be normalised. What never changes is that the goal is simple. Pot all the balls and then finish on the black.Sounds simple enough, but it isn't, since if you want all the trophies, you need to do the frame in under a set time, set shots, pot all balls (some of which may be hidden) and not sink the white or black accidentally. You can go for the trophies on different runs, you don't need to get them all in the same run, but still, there's a lot to take in if you want to master the game.

 

No two tables are identical and the game often does that Mario thing of taking an idea, running for it for a bit and then just abandoning it. There's an area in the game where the maps are derelict and you're potting zombie pool balls, but have to stock up on shotguns to take shots, as any other contact will cause you to die. The tables themselves vary wildly, and while it's always the same goal of "Pot as many balls as you can", some of them are based on being speedy, some are based on endurance, some are puzzles, some are just simple jokes. Starting bar fight, crashing medieval fairs, playing Qix with foxes and raiding a pirate ship and causing a mutiny, it's all super varied. You're bound to say "WTF is going on?" throughout your journey with this game.

 

The music is ace, in general it's all presented very nicely, but at times the controls can be a bit of a bitch and at times you're going to end up walking around the world map wondering what the hell you're supposed to do. I sort of hope they do a Pool Panic 2 so they can take some of the rough edges off, if they managed to do that and make it a bit less finieky to play it'd have probably seen more accolades.

 

It really is trippy as fuck though, this is the biggest understatement. It's like an advert for doing DMT.

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