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This was released the year after the original Virtual Pool, and uses the same game engine many of the same digital assets as the previous installment. However, whilst Virtual Pool featured four different types of pool to play, Virtual Snooker only presents the ability to play traditional snooker, as the name suggests. Originally released only for DOS, it was later ported to Windows 95 and Windows 98 (in a single three-platform release), distributed by SoftKey. Similar to other releases in the Virtual Pool series, the game is controlled by keyboard and mouse, with shots being made by mouse movement. The game features first-person 3D graphics and allows the player to stand up away from the line of the shot, and move around the table to see different angles. The game boasts a higher frame rate than that of the original Virtual Pool. In each release of the game, there is the ability to play locally networked multiplayer games on a Ethernet LAN, and to do basic online multiplayer between two remote computers via analog modems. The game features LAN capabilities, and the ability to connect two computers via modem for basic online multiplayer. As with other games in the series, this was marketed with a guarantee that the simulator would improve the player's non-simulated game at a real table. The game's box indicates six-time World Snooker Champion Steve Davis in a starring role. The game offers 52 minutes of instructional videos with Davis, and the option to pause the video and attempt the shot being demonstrated by the game. This live-action material also includes the world's first televised maximum break in history, completed by Davis. Ronnie O'Sullivan, another top-level professional player, acts as presenter in the game (both he and Davis feature in the cover art, superimposed on snooker balls). |
