Micro Pool Review

One the many advantages that real-life games have over computer is the realistic sound effects.

One the many advantages that real-life games have over computer is the realistic sound effects. And while other pool games utilize annoying background music, the developers of Micro Pool – Botond FM– spared no expense in the realism of Micro Pool, from the sound effects to the physics of the game – but more on that later.

There are a total of 12 of game modes available in Micro Pool  (also known as µPool). There are 4 available rule sets for gameplay. The first one is US-8 Ball (also known as billiards). The other 3 modes include 9-ball pool, Killer, and Speed, generally unknown types of gameplay to those who know as little about pool as myself. To those interested, the exact rules for gameplay can be found on Wikipedia. As to the other 3 modes available for the 12 total combinations, you can play either You v. A friend, You v. iDevice, or iDevice v. iDevice, a seemingly useless version of gameplay.

The graphics of µPool are crisp and clear on a 4th generation iPod Touch. While not the greatest clarity possible on such a small screen, they are crisp enough to read the number on the balls, which I believe is important for some versions of pool.

The controls are located on the right side of the screen, which is actually somewhat uncomfortable for the right handed user. This cannot be changed in the settings. The angle of the shot is adjusted by placing the finger anywhere on the screen and moving, rotating the entire plane of aim. Power is determined by pulling back on the small image of the stick on the right of the screen, where greater pullback leads to greater power.

Ah, the physics. This game truly stands out because of its physics. The movement of every ball is so accurate, and I can guarantee that for every shot that was oh-so-barely missed, I never felt that it was because of poor programming. The friction and transfer of energy is clearly the result of hours of painstaking programming, and Botond FM deserved full credit for that.

Reviewed Device: iPod Touch 4G

[review pros=”Great physics, sound effects and lots of game modes” cons=”Controls aren’t very right hand friendly and music cannot be played while using app” score=90]