''Steve Davis Snooker'' is a

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and published by

CDS Software CDS Software (also known as CDS Micro Systems for its earlier titles) was an independent publisher and developer of computer game software based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK. History The company was founded by Ian Williams, a computer prog ...

in 1984. The budget release published by Blue Ribbon Software reached the top of the UK charts in May 1988. ''Steve Davis Snooker'' simulates the

cue sport Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

. Released under licence from 6-time Snooker World Champion, Steve Davis. The game is the first to feature a license of a professional snooker player, with later

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 ...

creating the ''Cueball'' series. CDS called the game the "ultimate successor" to their 1983 pool simulator, titled ''Pool''. Davis would also be involved with the 1989 follow-up '' Steve Davis World Snooker,'' as well as 1996's '' Virtual Snooker.''

Overview

''Steve Davis Snooker'' allows players to play against themselves, or against a human opponent in either

Snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

, or Pool. However, there is no opponent AI. The game could be controlled by either a Joypad or a

Cursor Cursor may refer to: * Cursor (user interface), an indicator used to show the current position for user interaction on a computer monitor or other display device * Cursor (databases), a control structure that enables traversal over the records in ...

and

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

control scheme. The game has two different modes, with a ''short game'' (a game of Ten-Red Snooker similar to

power snooker Power Snooker is a cue sport, that is a variant format of snooker. The sport was conceived in 2010. Its concept was derived from the game of snooker and the game of nine-ball pool, with racks being used and the nine red balls which featured one ...

), or ''long game'', a game of traditional fifteen-red Snooker. The

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

game's box art boasts that the game has a "trick shot edit mode", "accurate spin", and "friction factor."

Reception

Critical reception for the game was generally high, with

Zzap! ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazine ...

magazine scoring the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

game at 79% commenting "Steve Davis Snooker is the best version of the sport I have ever seen on the 64, with its excellent approach and options helping make it so if you're a snooker fan or you want to try something different from your everyday shoot em up, then this makes a worthy and refreshing change." Commodore Format also mentioned the game in a review, scoring the game at 70% before stating that whilst Snooker was a "hideously dull game", the game was a "nice conversion." Crash Magazine also reviewed the game for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

, scoring the game at 77% saying "A very good, user-friendly simulation, which (possibly for the first time) really calls on skill."

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was publi ...

were also positive with the game, scoring the game at 7/10, but did cite the lack of a mechanic in game as an oversight. Commodore User gave the game 60%, commenting that the game's developer were "too ambitious this time", commenting on the game's downgrade in the port from the Commodore 64 to the

Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...

. However "If you're a dedicated afficionado [sic] then Steve Davis will no doubt appeal to you."

Sequel

An updated version of the game would be released in 1989 for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

and

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

, known as '' Steve Davis World Snooker''. The game featured similar gameplay as that of the original, however, also included AI opponents, and improved graphical designs. The game also features additional modes, such as

Eight-Ball Eight-ball (also spelled 8-ball or eightball, and sometimes called solids and stripes, spots and stripes or rarely highs and lows) is a discipline of pool played on a billiard table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls (a ...

and

Nine-Ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle of e ...

Pool, with Billiards.

References

{{Snooker Video Games 1984 video games Amstrad CPC games Atari 8-bit family games CDS Software games Commodore 16 and Plus/4 games Commodore 64 games

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

Multiplayer and single-player video games Pool video games Sinclair QL games Snooker video games Video games based on real people Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games

Overview

Reception

Sequel

See also

References