Previous Next

On the inlay card C.D.S. say that after the success of their Pool, they have spent considerable time and money in researching and developing the ultimate successor - and this is it - approved by the great man himself. They also add that they genuinely believe that their true to the ball movement is unmatchable.

Steve Davis Snooker is certainly a user-friendly program. Setting up shots and executing them has been made as fast and simple as possible, whilst still allowing a great sophistication in shot. The table size on screen is quite large, with the peripheral information kept to a minimum. Above the table, there are; points scored, fouls, and table visits. Below you will see a bar code for strength of shot, break score, spin required and colour required. In order of taking a shot, the cursor is moved to the ball at which the cue ball will be aimed. If you have just pocketed a red then nothing will happen until you have selected a colour by its score value. Once the cursor has been satisfactorily positioned and entered, the directional keys may be used to select the strength of shot. Once that has been entered, the keys are again used to position a cursor on a large white ball below the screen - the point at which the cue will hit the cue ball and cause any spin. Entering this, also takes the shot.

The game is accessed via a large menu which allows for one or two-player games, long or short game, cursor sound on or off, Curran Speech on or off. Normal snooker rules apply, with the colours being potted in correct order after removing the last red from the table.

Control keys: Q/A up/down, O/P left/right and ENTER
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair 2, AGF, Protek
Keyboard play: very responsive, simple to use
Use of colour: on the whole, very good, but yellow and green balls are a bit dubious
Graphics: excellent ball movement, generally clean and bright
Sound: useful
Skill levels: depends on opponent!
Lives: WA
Screens: 1
Special features: Currah compatible

'Steve Davis Snooker is, as far as features go, probably the best snooker game about. It's also very playable with speed and spin easily controlled. Myy only criticism is that the coloured balls do not stand out too well. Overall, an excellent adaption of the popular game, and a worthy sequel to the C.D.S. Pool.'

' Where does Steve Davis come into this game? Did he program it? I must say that the game seems to be very realistic in the way that balls react. Some quite tricky shots can be played, only because it is realistic. The balls are of a nice size, so that there isn 't too much confusion; they also move proportionately fast. Positioning of the cursor is easy and quick, often a let down in these type of games. Is it fun, you may ask? Well it will be if you're into snooker. Saying this though, I found the game enjoyable to play and I don't like snooker at all. If you want a snooker game, then I can recommend this version - a well planned game.'

'Pool from C. D. S. was, in my opinion, the best version made for the Spectrum. Steve Davis Snooker is a great follow up and the very best snooker simulation you can get. The inlay card's little boast is well justified. Hard work has gone Into refining the process of setting up shots and the result is a joy to use. They have repeated the 'air raid' siren sound with cursor movement that was used on Pool, which is useful if a bit alarming (!), but it can be tumed off if it gets you down. I also like the fact that the cursor doesn't move around the edge of the table, but all over it, which makes for very accurate positioning. The game plays realistically, and is generally great fun.'