When I was a boy – OK, preteen (not quite a delinquent) – I spent a lot of time after school at the local Boy’s & Girl’s Club playing pool. I got to be pretty good in a hurry, and could beat most of the other kids that were hanging out at the Club. That was a long time ago …

I still really like to play pool, and so I was excited to try MicroPool from Hungary-based Botond FM. This mobile version of the classic game is an extremely satisfying substitute for the real deal – OK, it’s much smaller, but the in-game details are fantastic.

Within the main settings of the game you can choose from four different pool games to play, including 8-Ball, 9-Ball, and variations called Speed, and Killer. You can play against another person sharing the device, or if you’re craving a quick game you can challenge the computer.

There are several customization options available in the game, which are all nice in their own way. You can change the color of the table, you can adjust the length of the aiming line to help you visually line up your shot, and – for me, this was great – you can adjust the strength/skill of your computerized opponent. At first, he beat me every time – yes, I did personify the computerized opponent who was cleaning my clock – but then I took him down a notch or two, and suddenly our skills were better matched to one another. (Sometimes we can all use a little extra help, right?)
I have been playing MicroPool on my Nokia N97, and the large screen of the device is optimal for the shape of a pool table. Additionally, the game is well-suited to the touch-enabled functionality of the device, as you guide your pool cue to line up your shot, and then determine the power of your shot with the “meter” (for lack of a better word) using the cue stick tool in the lower-right hand portion of the app. After you strike the cue ball, the meter displays the intensity of the hit with a color-coded indicator (in the red zone, and you’re really smackin’ it).

The sound effects are just right (the clacking of the balls as they hit into one another, and as the cue stick strikes the ball); and the movement of the balls across the table is very fluid – you even see a slight shadow next to the balls as they glide across the table. (My apologies for this image – not a true screenshot due to technical difficulties of my own, but you get the idea for how the game looks on screen.)

One nice feature – even though the game can be played quickly – is the ability to save an in-progress game. If you should need to quit mid-game, you can pick up again right where you left off.

This video demo provides a nice quick look at MicroPool as it is played on a Nokia N97 device:

And, if you don’t know how to play pool, MicroPool is easy to learn. Based on what the company says about itself online, this sort of thing should be the norm for all of the mobile games they create. As they state in their mission: “applications must be simple, start up and operate fast. And, of course, have to be extremely easy to use. Botond FM applications are designed to fulfil these requirements to bring you the best possible user experience.”

Happily, Botond has another app in Ovi Store that should be a good compliment to MicroPool – it was certainly another one of my boyhood favorites in full-size mode – called MicroPinball Casino. I think I know what game I plan to try next …

In the meanwhile, MicroPool is available for $4.99 (USD) in Ovi Store. Give it a shot.