Sexy Pool

Pool halls are some of the least sexy places on earth, frequented as they are by bearded beer-bellied men with a fondness for cheap fizzy lager and breaking cues over heads. In fact, how pool tables ever ended up becoming an object of top drawer fantasy amongst those looking to romp atop the green baize is beyond us.

Indeed, for those who have never been to a real pool hall with their uncle Bob on a Saturday afternoon, the double entendres and characters that make up the entirety of Sexy Pool's 'unique selling point' might be a tad misleading.

You see, your average game of bar room pool is not against a scantily clad and somewhat aroused woman, and the sort of exchange you're likely to have while playing is much more of the "It's your turn to get the bitter and peanuts in" or "Ask the barmaid to switch over to Eurosport" sort, rather than "Do you think you can handle my hot body?"

Still, Sexy Pool, when not trying to distract with its theme, does a great job of being a solid mobile pool game.

For those of you who are more into darts, or have only recently landed on Earth, the rules of pool could not be simpler.

Imagine a table with six pockets, sprinkled with 15 balls plus a cue ball. The 15 balls are split into two lots of seven (stripes and spots) which you have to pot, followed by the single black ball. Your opponent tries to do the same, with you taking it in turns to try to pot balls until you miss a pocket and hand over play.

In Sexy Pool's simple control scheme, you move the cue left and right using either the thumbstick or the '4' and '6' buttons, until you have the desired angle. The angle that a ball will travel in after being struck by the cue ball is indicated by a small line, which helps with lining up shots.

To take the shot, you simply use the '5' key, which you hit once to initiate the filling of a power bar, and again when the power bar is as full as you require for your shot.

As a control scheme it is slightly less involved than other titles in the genre but it's more than adequate. In fact, you'll find yourself cursing your own cack-handedness rather than blaming the game for missed shots, much like if you were playing real pool.

Playing as one of three characters (Cool Johnny, Hot Shot Ed or Rock Star Max) there are five different pool halls, each with its own 'talented' player for you to beat. Strangely, each time you pot a ball, your opponent rewards you with a bit of shoulder or thigh and a suggestive comment. As such, Sexy Pool has no nudity and is actually fairly tasteful as long as you can endure the sometimes groan-inducing cheesy flirt lines.

Not that you'll hear them as often as you might think – there is a steady difficulty curve, and your adversaries are far from easy to best. The bouts are fairly involved, with some matches going right to the black in what can be tense but enjoyable games.

Visually, too, Sexy Pool bears up well, with great front-end presentation and the inclusion of little details like the pre-game coin toss adding to the overall atmosphere.

There is one almost unforgivable error, however, in that the game has no save function and never keeps track of your progress, meaning that each time you boot it up, you have to beat the earlier opponents. Yet given the casual appeal of this title these earlier matches, often serve as a pleasant warm up before heading into the tougher rounds. And for a game that doesn't attempt to lay claim to any form of involved simulation, it is perhaps not the design cardinal sin it might be.

Sexy Pool is by no means the best mobile pool game, but it is a perfectly enjoyable casual title with simple one-thumb controls and enough character and polish to justify the entry fee.