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Loading and running Snooker is exciting - you get an excellently designed title page that successfully whets your appetite for what is to come. But actually playing Snooker is a different experience altogether.

In the real world, snooker is a game of skill, but in this version it has become more a game of chance - and a frustratingly unsatisfying one at that.

It's not that the graphics are poor. Apart from the brown ball and the annoying flicker of balls in motion, the display is attractive, and can draw your eyes hypnotically. Unfortunately, the display and the various options, such as 'ball deletion' and 'foul, pass to your opponent', do not make up for contradictions with the laws of physics.

Whereas rebound from the cushions is reliable and predictable, when two balls collide, you get unpredictable table results. This does not accord with that calm precision which makes real snooker such fun to play.

In actual play, the table occupies the top half of the screen, and you position a white cross to indicate the direction you wish your ball to travel in. Speed of travel is varied by the time you spend holding down the space bar, and on releasing it, your ball spins across the baize.

Only if you are very keen on Snooker and can't wait for a better version, should you consider this version.