When it comes to nailing a sports simulator, it’s all about finding that sweet spot between authenticity, realism and fun. Even when that sport is a little more niche in its mainstream appeal, if you can’t capture the magic that makes that recreational pastime so unique, then you’re doing its fans a serious injustice. We’ve seen some real howlers in the world of snooker games over the years – which is probably why it’s been so long since we’ve had an officially-licensed title – but snooker aficionados should breathe a sigh of relief because Snooker 19 is a sturdy and confidently authentic recreation of balls and baize.
British studio Lab42 has a bit of an odd pedigree to its name (having developed a version of Football Manager for mobiles and ports of Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami for PC), but in partnership with publisher Ripstone (which has plenty of experience with pool simulators), it's managed to tick all the important boxes. With that official licence, you get 128 of the world’s best players, face-scanned for some impressively accurate character models, alongside every single real-life venue from the official circuit.
For those that have grown tired of winning frames in generic locales, being able to nail a maximum break under the lights of the Crucible or Alexandra Palace really sets Snooker 19 apart from the years of unofficial and often inconsistent snooker games we’ve had to endure. Sure, those character models move a little stiffly, but visually, it’s such a convincing product you half expect to get a whiff of stale lager, fag smoke and body odour.
Switch-based sports sims often experience some form of content sacrifice or are forced to run on inferior engines, but this one really doesn’t. It has its faults, but all of these are present in versions available on other platforms. If you really want to take your snookering on the go, you can do so with the full package.
It goes without saying, but authenticity and Ronnie O’Sullivan’s gurning visage can only take you so far. Physics mean everything when you’re getting ready to break on the table, and Snooker 19 isn’t ready to 'snooker' itself in this department (ahem). You can tweak so many aspects of your game, including holding 'ZL' to refine shot positioning and adding side or spin to the cue ball by pulling back the analogue stick to find the right amount of power.
It takes a while to get used to, and even on the lowest difficulty, those really tough shots (such as lightly spinning around the black to hit a red or striking two cushions to land in the corner pocket) remain just as challenging. For snooker purists, this full-on commitment to realism will have them loosening their bow tie in anticipation – just don’t expect an arcade approach that leaves much room for error.
In terms of content, Snooker 19 ticks most of the boxes you’d expect. There’s plenty of modes to tackle offline, including a Career mode that divides its roster into a Pro Seasons grouping (focused on the big names in snooker) and the self-explanatory Rising Stars. There’s also support for online play, with standard ranked matches and regular tournaments (such as the Paul Hunter Classic, due to kick off this month). It’s a pretty standard set of modes, but the online tournaments easily stand out with the ability to earn special rewards based on your performance.
As we’ve mentioned, the presentation is pretty good overall. However, there are some issues. Those aforementioned player animations really don’t do the quality of their character models justice, but hopefully, a little mo-cap in a potential future instalment might help rectify that. There’s also commentary from David Hendon and Neil Foulds, but it’s easily one of the weakest aspects of the game, often coming off (at best) as half-baked and (at worst) completely irrelevant to the match unfolding on-screen. Again, this is the best snooker package Ripstone has ever put out, it just needs some rough edges smoothing out beyond its authenticity and licence.
Conclusion
Sports simulators continue to raise the bar of quality on Nintendo Switch, and Snooker 19 keeps that upward curve moving with an officially licensed recreation of all things baize-based. With an impressive number of facially-scanned pros and real-world snooker halls, and an incredibly precise simulation of striking the ball and setting up future shots, you’re treated to one of the best snooker games of the last decade. While still very rough around in the edges in terms of animations, commentary and accessibility, this is a must for snooker devotees who want an officially-licensed sim on Switch.
Comments 56
Needs more John Virgo - 'Pot as many balls as you can'
I really want this, is there a physical version?
"Commentary lacks any real character"
...and that was a bad miss.
As a fan of snooker, on TV and the early Codemaster releases I kinda want to buy this game. I’m just not totally sure.
@Jack_Goetz bah! came to post just that!!
Snookered!
1. I could do without that irritating "swoosh" after every turn the CPU makes. It really is doing my head in!!!
2. Given how utterly well made this game is, it's an absolute shame that I can't play Pool in the engine.
I'm hoping for either an IAP or a Pool by the same team..
Otherwise, absolutely no complaints from me, and I'm usually quite Ranty about Pool/Snooker games.
10/10!
Oh yeah, and commentary, audience, music, et all, each have separate volume sliders in the settings, so if you want a nice quiet ball-clacking simulator, you can do it!!
@Xelha
BIG BREAK
Loved that show
I haven't really played a pool game since Side Pocket. I really enjoyed that game but doubt I could get into it again.
I still play the Billiards game on Wii Play with my mate; it's a tradtional along with the Tanks minigame. I find it hard to get into any other snooker / billiard game because of this!
Looks OK but I will continue to wait for the delayed This is Pool/Snooker to see if that fairs better.
@Xelha Memories..... What a great show Big Break was!!
I love pool. Snooker is close enough I guess, given the lack of a truly good pool game.
I want one with motion for the shot, where speed affects how hard you hit it.
This review read like a higher score. It is wonderful on the PS4 and the developers seem to really care about improving it (I think there has been 5-6 patches since the release). Happy to see the reasonable Switch price as well.
I bought it this morning and played a few frames after it released at 12pm. It's actually very good - if you like snooker, obviously!
Only niggles from me, after only a few frames - there is quite a bit of "loading" when the AI is "thinking" during their playing - you can speed up their turns, but not the "thinking". And, I was surprised there isn't a Practice Table feature / Trick Shot area unless I'm missing something... I'd have liked to mess about with the physics a bit there, but seems to be missing.
Minor niggles though - the "thinking/loading" thing is not that bad, just like the actual game I guess where you're waiting for your opponent to miss...! It's a really solid game though, and £30 offers good value. I'd give it a 7 or 8 based on early thoughts.
"Those aforementioned player animations really don’t do the quality of their character models justice, but hopefully, a little mo-cap in a potential future instalment might help rectify that."
Do you really expect a developer to bring people in for additional motion capture and overhauled animations post release? I'd say it's not only developers and publishers responsible for the "release now, patch later" culture we have today.
With the advent of VR, I don't think I could go back to playing old school Snooker games.
@nocdaes big shame no practice mode
@Dom can you set up a match between two AI players and simply spectate the game?
@sikthvash YES both of those were brilliant, deserving of a full game, really underrated. Especially Tanks, I'd have loved more stages.
No motion controls?
So, I see some similarities and differences between this and normal pool just by looking at it, but can someone explain what snooker is, please? I assume its more popular in the UK?
Also, what's with Judd Trump wearing the same uniform the waiters from Polar Express wore.
@kobashi100 Yea seems like a strange thing to leave out.
You can do a Quick Match and then set both players to Human - it's OK as a workaround.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is the greatest sportsperson of all time.
@AnnoyingFrenzy so in pool you pot your half of the balls once and then go for the black - or if 9-ball you pot all balls in sequence. No balls return to the table. No score is kept - its winner takes all on the final ball.
In snooker, you pot for points and keep a score. 1 point for each of the 15 reds. You have to pot one of the 6 colours after each red, and they range in value from 2 to 7 points. Reds dont return to the table once potted, but colours do - until all 15 reds are potted and then the colours are potted in sequence to clear the table. So the highest possible score is 15 reds, 15 blacks (7 each) and then all 6 colours (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) - to make 147.
I think that's the main thing - oh apart from the table being much, much bigger and the pockets being much smaller!
That's great, but I really don't care about paying extra for officially licensed real life players. (How many people actually watch professional pool/snooker, anyway?) Just give me a quality budget pool title on the eShop, and I'll be happy.
@Daftbomb Unfortunately not, but its an oft requested feature. FTW, I gave it an 8 on my channel and pointed out a lot of the same good and bad points.
@BulbasaurusRex Ha what a quite ignorant thing to say, Snooker has a massive, massive following!!
Theres about 5 'budget' pool games on the eShop as well. Premium Pool Arena is probably the best of a bad bunch. The superb looking "This Is Pool" was due this year, but its been delayed till 2020.
@CaPPa Yup, motion controls would have made it a buy for me. It upsets me to see so few titles make use of motion controls, especially sports titles like this. Are there any other billiards games of Switch that actually support motion controls?
@nocdaes Sounds interesting actually. Thanks for answering in a concise and easy to understand fashion!
Huh. They removed one of the pictures. I wonder why.
@SwitchedOn_Games Tell me that when matches are regularly broadcast on ESPN and sports radio/TV hosts actually make time to talk about it. It's about as popular as professional bowling, and even professional golf is watched more often.
Sure, those games exist, but none of them so far are very good.
@BulbasaurusRex Ah... are you American? It's very popular in the UK and on TV a lot, especially the big tournaments.
From early reviews it seems like a good game.... So if you wish to play snooker on the Switch this is it. I hope it sells well, it deserves to....
Seems like a good game....wish it was Snooker plus......give me a few more table game options and I'd probably bite
@SwitchedOn_Games thanks for the response, probably sounds hella daft, but thats a deal breaker for me, especially at the asking price.
Hopefully that gets patched in along with practice mode
Loving this game, played a bit of career and a few online games so far. 👍
This is getting bought tonight! 🎱
How is the difficulty ? Can you rack up decent breaks ? For those who have it what is your highest break to date ?
Last snooker game I played was on the Atari st I think ! Was extremely unforgiving- could hardly pot 5 or 6 balls in a row
Sweet. The difficulty level may be a bit off putting but I’m goin to give this a whirl.
I’ll also be selling some perfume and aftershave that smells of stale lager, cigs and body odor. Let me know if you want a bottle to daub in your neck before playing
Last snooker game I played was Jimmy Whites Whirlwind snooker on the Amiga 500. Will give it a try. Would be funny if they could patch in some Mitchell & Webb commentary
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvL-4Pm3Zmw
Without doubt a great snooker game - but prepared to be frustrated. Even on the easier difficulty setting the AI hardly ever miss a pot.
If you want an incredibly realistic snooker game then this is it.
The lack of an arcade style mode is a bad move though as it just makes the game inaccessible to many.
You can’t pick this up and have a quick blast - it’s hardcore simulation and in some ways almost too much so.
It’s a real shame because it is a great game - a patch with some more accessible modes would easily make this game a 9/10 but as it is it can only be a 7 as it just wasn’t appeal to casual gamers.
Missed a trick shot here folks.
@SwitchedOn_Games I don't get how. It's very similar to pool, which like bowling is popular as a recreation sport in the U.S. but has little following on a professional level, so I don't see how snooker could be that much more popular in the U.K. Don't you guys have large field team sports you'd rather watch like (your version of) football, cricket, or rugby? Even watching the growing field of eSports sounds more exciting.
This is the worst snooker game I’ve played. Sorry I bought it and will give it away free to anyone that wants it. No settings to change that are worthwhile and the aiming assist is a joke. Stay well away from this pile of poop
@Woosh193 ill take it if you are giving it away
@oatmaster Ronnie O' Sullivan is a terrible sportsman. Absolute genius at the table, perhaps the most gifted player of all time. But he's a bad loser, tries to intimidate people, sometimes gets disheartened and quits easily, and openly admits he doesn't care about the game. I don't know why he has so many fans when he has such indifference in return. I genuinely love to see him lose and get knocked out of tournaments.
@BulbasaurusRex it's hard to explain if you don't grow up with a certain sport in your culture. I don't get the appeal of baseball or American football. Even basketball, a sport very closely entwined with hip hop (which I love). Basketball is a sport I'd like to like, it's super cool and has amazing stylish merchandise, but I watch a game and lose interest after 5 minutes. You go down my end and score, I'll go down your end and score, we'll do that for an hour, whoever scores last wins yeah? Hmmm no thanks mate
@Pigeon tbf, that looks brilliant 👍
@PapaMurphy First of all, you're acting like there's no such thing as defense and missed shots in basketball, as well as fouls and other violations. (Although, I personally don't like watching basketball due to it being too quick-paced with too much scoring. I prefer slower, more strategic sports like baseball and American football.)
Second, I already said I get the appeal of large team sports in the U.K. even if they're somewhat different or have different levels of popularity than the U.S. I just don't get what's so exciting about just watching individual sports without much kinetic action involved. They're fun to play, sure, but rather boring to just watch without getting to participate yourself.
@BulbasaurusRex Snooker’s ace ☺️ full to the brim of tension and drama, just as much as any other sport played on a field. It’s bigger than you might think too, it’s really starting to explode in China.
@BulbasaurusRex well there you go, I fully admit I demonstrated I don't understand basketball much, that's the view of an uninformed outsider.
Snooker is generally a nice relaxing watch, a gently paced game of tactics and angles. I'm a bit more involved than most fans, I play at my local club, played in amateur competitions, been to several world ranking events as a spectator. I enjoy football, rugby and MMA too, but I like having something a bit more gentle now and then. When my daughter was a baby, it used to hypnotise her, the colours moving around, which was handy 😁👍.
@PapaMurphy if you fancy a ref when things get back to normal, shout me up 😉
@chewytapeworm aw mate I'd love that. Just life going back to normal, having my regular game against old Ray, I'll enjoy it so much. I'm in North Dorset, only one club in my town, I used to have better clubs at hand when I lived in Northamptonshire. Kyren Wilson, Peter Ebdon, Antony McLeod, and Shaun Murphy (no relation) all come from that area. Kyren Wilson came through at the club I used to play at in Kettering, he's a bit younger than me though, I don't really know him.
I like the Chinese players, but I heard Ronnie say they're a bit too nice, good potters but they don't have any real hustle, he's got a point. I put a tenner on Ding to win the world championship about 4 years ago, Selby knocked him out in the semis. Once China has its first World champion, it'll go cosmic over there. I like Ding and Yan Bingtao, lovely fellas.
@PapaMurphy All the stars! - do you mean Antony McGill or Rory McLeod though? I was looking into obtaining a ref license before this all happened. I suck at snooker but love the game, so officiating would be logical, having a front row seat and helping the game flow.
@chewytapeworm hahaha yeah I meant Rory McLeod, he's from Wellingborough. Good for you mate, I hope you get there. The ref is well respected in snooker. It would be a great gig at the top level. Hong Kong is the only glamorous away fixture though.
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