Lunar Pool Review - Screenshot 1 of 3

The humble pool simulator has never made for the most exciting game, so a futuristic version of the classic pub game set on the moon is an intriguing proposition. It is worth noting that Lunar Pool is based on American pool, which is very different game from what the British play. This game is more similar to billiards in the UK.

As this game is set on the moon there are a few differences of course. For a start the tables are not your regular tables. In Lunar Pool you can expect to see tables shaped like a ‘Z’, tables with curved paths and ones with eight pockets and barriers in the middle. It’s more like crazy golf that pool in a sense, why couldn’t these settlers on the moon just leave things as they were?

If all this wasn’t too much to deal with, you also have to deal with the gravity differences on the moon too. You can opt to reduce the rolling resistance of the balls so they essentially never stop ricocheting off themselves and the cushions until they eventually land in a pocket, which is very risky. You could in turn crank up gravity to make the balls move very slowly.

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To make your shot you simply set the cursor to your desired angle and try and gauge the power meter correctly to set the cue ball off at the speed you want. Oddly there isn’t a cue stick in sight! The idea of course is to sink every ball on the table to proceed to the next table. If you sink your cue ball or don’t sink a ball for three goes then its game over.

At first things start out pretty easy, there is no timer forcing you to rush, so it’s just a case of planning your shots carefully and lining the cue ball up for the next ball. Before long the tables start to get more and more complicated however. Barriers in the middle of the table and even bumpers can upset your progress. You really do need to think ahead to succeed, it’s essentially a puzzle game in that respect. There are 60 levels in total to play through and some of them are a complete nightmare to master.

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The game also features a two player option where control of the cue ball is switched between players when they fail to sink a shot. You can play against the CPU too, but beware it has a unfair advantage and is only too willing to use it against you!

Conclusion

This game can offer some short term fun but doesn’t really have the depth of gameplay for us to heartily recommend it to you. You'd have much more fun with rival ball based puzzler Kirby's Dream Course on the SNES which has a lot more scope to the gameplay and therefore much more longevity.