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We've all seen plenty of snooker and pool computer games - in fact, there's already a pool game for the ST entitled Electric Pool from Microdeal. But Q-Ball takes this genre of game literally into another dimension!

Quite simply, Q-Ball is a kind of 3D snooker played in a cube that can be viewed from any conceivable angle (well 252,144 anyway). In both the single and two player versions of Q-Ball, the object of the game, as in normal snooker, is to pot all the balls in the cube. There are six reads and one colour, the yellow. Each time a red is potted, you can have a go at the yellow and, if successful, it's time for another red... and so on. Each time the yellow is potted it is replaced in the centre of the cube.

The traditional pocket has been replaced by holes cut out of each of the eight corners of the cube. You have 60 seconds in which to play a shot and, until you get used to the aiming in three dimensions, you'll need every second you can get. Just hitting a ball of the correct colour scores one point for every second remaining on the counter. For potting a red you get 10 points for every second left and a bonus of 500 points. A second red potted by the same shot scores double and a third scores treble - and so on. Potting a yellow is similar to red except the bonus is 2,000 points. If you miss altogether or hole the cueball or a red or yellow out of order, you lose 500 points. With eight pockets, this happens all too often.

In linking the player's scores to the timer and by penalising them if they take too long programmer Adam Billyard has cleverly added another dimension (as if there weren't enough already!) to Q-Ball, that of the arcade game where increased speed and skill in decision making and aiming are rewarded by higher scores. When playing a shot you can alter the air friction within the cube which determines how quickly the balls slow down and stop.

Although difficult to master at first, Q-Ball is well worth sticking with.