''Pool Paradise'' is a 2004

pocket billiards Pool is a classification of cue sports played on a table with six pockets along the , into which balls are deposited. "Pool billiards" is sometimes hyphenated and/or spelled with a singular "billiard". The WPA itself uses "pool-billiard" in ...

video game, developed by Awesome Developments, and published by

Ignition Entertainment Ignition Entertainment Limited, doing business as UTV Ignition Games, was a video game publisher of Indian media conglomerate UTV Software Communications. After The Walt Disney Company acquired UTV Software Communications as a wholly owned subsi ...

, released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and GameCube. The game is the fourth game to be endorsed by professional snooker and

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

player

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...

Gameplay

Players control a virtual pool player at a beach resort, with pool tables inside different huts. Players have to work their way up the tournament ladder in order to unlock features and complete the game. The game's features, according to Booners Interactive, include 30 unique computer characters, with highly detailed hands, on an animated island with day and night cycles, and 8 virtual camera modes; 11 different game types and 5 modes of play, with 10 different tournament ladders, and 10 table sizes and shapes; and analog

cueing Cue or CUE may refer to: Event markers * Sensory cue, in perception (experimental psychology) *Cue (theatrical), the trigger for an action to be carried out at a specific time, in theatre or film *Cue (show control), the electronic rendering of th ...

, using a

gamepad A gamepad is a type of video game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. They are typically the main input device for video game consoles. Features Gamepads generally feature a set o ...

or a mouse. "Hidden features" throughout the game were also alluded to. As well as various pool and snooker games, beach

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

, a

coconut shy A coconut shy (or coconut shie) is a traditional game frequently found as a sidestall at funfairs and fêtes. The game consists of throwing wooden balls at a row of coconuts balanced on posts. Typically a player buys three balls and wins when eac ...

skee-ball Skee-Ball is an arcade game and one of the first redemption games. It is played by rolling a ball up an inclined lane and over a "ball-hop" hump (resembling a ski jump) that jumps the ball into bullseye rings. The object of the game is to collect ...

ramp, and the original '' Dropzone'' arcade game are all unlockable. Unlike previous games endorsed by

, in ''Pool Paradise'', White is a playable character, and is the best player in game.

International edition

The game was re-released in 2006 under the new title ''Pool Paradise: International Edition'', only in Europe for the PlayStation 2.

Reception

The game received "generally favourable reviews" on all platforms according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. Alex Trickett of ''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

'' called the game "crisp, clean fun at a budget price"; however, he did call the game's soundtrack "uninspired". Alex Navarro of ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' enjoyed the European GameCube version months before it was released, stating in an early review, "''Pool Paradise'' features a great gameplay design, as well as a ton of available pool games and side ventures." He also suggested the game was very strong on its own merits commenting "even if ''Pool Paradise'' weren't the only available pool game for the GameCube, it would still be a strong choice for any billiards fan." ''

'' later named it the best GameCube game of April 2004, and nominated it for the year-end "Best Alternative Sports Game" award. '' GameSpy'' and ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

'' gave the same European GameCube version a mixed review, two months before it was released in Europe, and nearly three months before it was released Stateside.

References

External links

* {{Snooker Video Games 2004 video games Cancelled Xbox games Cue sports video games GameCube games PlayStation 2 games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Windows games Video games set on islands UTV Ignition Games games Multiplayer and single-player video games