=2. AMERICAN 3D POOL (90%, issue 11)

Not to be confused with Firebird’s earlier 3D Pool, this 1991 Zeppelin effort isn’t as technically impressive but it is hugely enjoyable.

The game arrived almost too late to be included in Commodore Format’s eleventh issue that hot summer. The cover star in August was Terminator 2, which came on cart and looked amazing from the previews. But y’know what? Turns out that this budget game was a far better bet for the holidays.

3dpoolreview — *Ghostbusters 2* and *Red Heat* were also out on budget this month. Both awful, mind.

It’s not actually too dissimilar to another game in our budget countdown, Championship 3D Snooker – which was also from Zeppelin. You take each shot by lining it up on the overhead camera view, and when you play it switches to a three-dimensional view. You get to pick how much power each ball has and whether it has spin, and there are loads of options. You can play on your own, against a friend or versus the computer. The latter can be a bit frustrating as the C64 will switch from being utterly crap to totally brilliant within the space of a few goes.

But overall, it’s grand. You can even play trick shots and it’ll take a while to figure out the ten different ball configurations and tricks that are available. The graphics work well and the ball moves realistically. And that’s about it. It feels wrong not to write more about a game rated so highly in our budget game list, but the simplicity is what makes it so appealing. Give it a download. CF

CF SAID: “Neat, visually appealing and massively playable.”

WE SAY: The most fun you’ll have with pool on the C64. There it is.