Reviews

Pure Pool review for Nintendo Switch

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Also on: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Publisher: Ripstone Publishing
Developer: VooFoo Studios
Medium: Digital
Players: 1-2
Online: Yes
ESRB: E

Pure Pool is exactly what it says in its name: a no-frills pool game.

How no-frills is it? So much so that I?ve been struggling for a few days to think of what else there is to say about it. I mean…it?s pool.

Don?t get me wrong, I?m not saying that to diminish the game. It looks very nice. It has a smooth, jazzy soundtrack. It plays exactly as you?d expect a pool game to play, and it does a nice job of integrating touch and traditional controls.

Beyond that, I?ll also note that Pure Pool features a lot of pool. There are nearly 500 events in the career mode, ranging from your standard game of pool to modes where you have to beat the clock, or sink a shot on every turn. The challenge levels range from ?very easy? to ?the game must be cheating to pull off that shot.?

Just about the only complaint I?d have is that, on occasion, the physics seem a little wonky. I lost track of the number of times I?d shoot a ball, only for it to roll around the rim of the pocket like a basketball, and then pop back onto the felt. I?m not going to claim any kind of expertise on the physics of real-world pool, but it still happened far more than seemed realistic.

Still, that?s not enough to really diminish Pure Pool. It looks nice, it plays well, and it doesn?t try to be anything more than it is. What more could you want in a game of pool?

Ripstone Publishing provided us with a Pure Pool Switch code for review purposes.

Grade: B+
Matthew Pollesel

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