Actua Pool - PlayStation

Gremlin’s Actua Sports series made an early appearance on PlayStation with Actua Soccer. Soon after, the brand name was established to the extent that players would see a game with Actua in the title and think, “that’s worth a look.” After a variety of sports developments, the Pool genre was to get its very own Actua title. Confusingly, Mirage's 3D pool game was issued as Pool Shark, before disappearing almost instantaneously to be re-issued as part of Gremlin's blockbuster Actua Sports series.

As one would expect from an Actua game, Actual Pool offers a polished playing experience. It's a fairly run-of-the-mill 3D pool game, but a better example of the genre. While it lacks some of the many versions and varieties of the game, it makes up for it with the 'School of Pool' interactive tutorial, and a wide range of opponent characters and venues around the world in which to play them. Including the thinly disguised Alvis Burger, who plays out of Las Vegas, and deeply intones "thangyewverrymuch" a lot. Justifying the ‘Actua’ essence of the title are some highly developed ball physics that include friction, speed-to-ball-roll and collision. An accurate shot tracker has also been incorporated that allows for some precise shooting.

Actua Pool is yet another example of what Gremlin is capable of. Future productions of the series on next-generation hardware platforms would no doubt be a good move for the British company. Get out those five Dollar bills and shoot some pool!
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