Jimmy White's 2: Cueball

Overview

Jimmy White's 2: Cueball is a pool and snooker simulator that is a follow-up to the highly regarded Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker. The game is endorsed by legendary British snooker player James Warren "Jimmy" White MBE, commonly known as "The Whirlwind".

Cueball lets players explore three rooms of Jimmy White's own house, consisting of a hallway area, an American 50's style pool room, and a British 19th century snooker room. Each room includes a bumblebee-guided virtual tour, a feature referred to as the Jimmy White BeeCam.

In addition to the basic games, the pool and snooker rooms offer a variety of interactive elements. The decor and activities are themed appropriately to each room's time period — for example, the 50's style pool room contains a jukebox while the 19th century snooker room contains an antique radio.

Game Modes

Snooker

As the manual says, "if you understand the rules of snooker then you'll find this version strangely familiar".

Pool

The pool mode includes options for UK- and US-style pool, offering both US 8-ball and US 9-ball play as well.

According to the manual, "assuming you've already had a play in the snooker room you should be immediately at home in the pool room". This would seem to suggest that players should begin their journey in the snooker room.

Darts

The darts minigame is available in the snooker room and includes 301, 501, and Around the Clock play modes. Players can choose to face off against either a CPU opponent or a human opponent in the same room via pass-and-play.

Checkers

Checkers (also known as "draughts" in the UK) is available in the snooker room. It plays like a standard game of checkers, but with animated 3D pieces. Like darts, checkers can be played either against the CPU or against a human opponent in the same room.

Dropzone

Dropzone, available in the pool room, is an arcade game about rescuing stranded men from a hostile alien planet and returning them to their moon base. The player uses a jetpack to fly to each man, pick them up, and return them to the base. Fortunately, the player is also armed with a laser weapon and smart bomb to fend off attacking aliens, along with a cloaking device to hide from them.

But this game holds darker secrets as well. According to the manual, "Lose all of your men, and you have to survive in a volcanic alternative dimension. Oh yes."

Scoring works as follows:

• Men
  • 100 - 500 for rescuing during wave
  • 100-500 for each man surviving the wave
  • 0 if destroyed
• Android
  • 50 if shot while descending with Planter
  • 50 if shot while chasing a man
  • 500 if shot while falling from a destroyed Planter
• Enemies
  • 150 for Planters
  • 250 for Nemesites
  • 150 for Anti-matter
  • 250 for Blunder Storm
  • 750 for Spores
  • 250 for Trailers
  • 100 for Nmeyes

Additionally, Dropzone awards the player 10 posthumous points after they lose a life, "just in case you were at 9,990 points with no lives left".

One Armed Bandit

The One Armed Bandit is a slot machine available in the pool room. Each pull of the One Armed Bandit's handle costs 25 cents, but offers the opportunity for rich rewards. On some spins, if the player wasn't able to complete a matching set, they are offered the ability to hold or nudge one or more of the reels to affect their chances.

Pool and Snooker Gameplay

Both pool and snooker can be played either against another player in the same room or against a CPU opponent. Players can aim their shots, put "english" (spin) on the cueball, and even see a dotted-line trail of where their shot is going to bounce.

Players can choose to view the tables from either a 2D fixed-perspective angle above the table or from a more interactive 3D view behind the cueball. The players' cues are visible and fully animated, along with a ghostly set of hands that float in mid-air and direct the cue.