We’ve seen our fair share of pool simulators that have come strikingly close to recapturing the essence of the real thing, even though nothing beats having an actual cue stick in your hands and cleaning house on an actual table. Well, Adult Swim Games has done something very different with its sim, Pool Panic. In fact, to call it a game of billiards would probably be an insult to the creative team. Yes, there’s pool. But there’s also a wacky world built around it, with challenges that you might not see coming.
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The game is divided up into two halves of gameplay. The first has you controlling a rather excited cue ball across a number of stages, lining himself up for certain shots. The second has you lining up a cue stick to hit him and try to send his adversaries into a nearby pocket. When he finishes sinking them all, he can move on to the next stage.
But this isn’t a matter of enemies just standing around waiting to be sunk. Pool Panic mixes things up wonderfully. One stage has you trying to take down a crane so you can defeat the pool ball working inside of it; another requires you to knock over a grill and spill food on the ground so two hungry pool balls will climb down from otherwise inaccessible areas and you can sink them. Things get even crazier as time goes on, including ghosts, pool balls in bars (what do they play in there, since it’s not pool?), a pool ball in a living room and so on.
What’s great about Pool Panic is, along with the pure zaniness happening here, there’s actually some logic to the gameplay. Yeah, it can take getting used to; but you actually earn rewards depending how quickly you beat a level or find all the collectibles within it. You’ll see these given out when you drift into the pocket (after taking care of business on the stage) and cruise through an endless void while humming along to a psychedelic tune. The time challenges alone will keep players coming back for more.
Not a Perfect Game, But a Strange One
That said, the gameplay isn’t quite as essential as the devs were hoping. There is some finesse that has to be taken with pool shots, and often you’ll come across targets that can frustrate easier than expected. That’s not to say you can’t figure out another route…but sometimes they can more of a hassle than expected.
That and sometimes objectives aren’t clearly marked. We came across a couple of stages in the game where we took down some foes and then tried to exit the level, but then zipped back into it without so much as a hint that there was some other pool ball waiting in the wings. A little more of an indication system would’ve gone a long way here.
One other thing — the game’s camera can be its own worst enemy at times. For the most part, levels are clear and concise to see; but during others, your view can be obscured, making a good shot almost impossible to make. Some sunken balls were done out of sheer luck. Hopefully, Adult Swim Games will consider a patch for this in the future.
Everything else about the game, though, retains a certain amount of goofy charm. The open world your cue ball roams around is worth exploring, and filled with new challenges as you really begin to open it up. There’s also something giggle-inducing about the game’s animation, though your character smiles wayyyyy too much for a lead hero. Get angry or something, cue ball. Please.
Enough Goofiness To Recommend, Especially With Friends
At least some of the other balls included in the game exude great personality, like an angry one that won’t keep still; or a goofy one that moves around and giggles each time you miss him. The game could use more of these, but the ones that are here are hilarious — even if they can be a pain to hit.
Where the game deserves most credit is with its design. The levels, for the most part, are smartly put together, even though the lack of objective markers can make them a bit hard to figure out at times. Also, the sound design is something else, between the goofy sound effects and the fun soundtrack choices that you don’t often get in a game like this. It’s really well worth the listen. (And I need that intermission “surfer tune” in my song library stat.)
Finally, along with the single player challenges, Pool Panic comes with a robust collection of hilarious mini-games. Sadly, they’re offline only; but they’re good fun if you can get friends together for a few sessions.
There are some clear areas where Pool Panic could use improvement, namely with proper indications of things you miss, as well as with the camera and occasionally tough balls to hit. But for the most part, it balances creativity and wackiness into a well-implemented game that’s worth your time. This is doubly true if you have a few friends to play the game with.
Pool Panic isn’t an essential Switch release. But its hilarity makes it enough of a worthwhile choice to “cue” into your library.
WWG’s Score: 3.5 out of 5
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.
