Best Pool App so far, by far – Virtual Pool HD Review

I have tried them all, and have mostly been disappointed. None of the other pool apps out there could rate more than 1 or 2 stars. But this 5-star app is in a league of its own. Kudos; this is a killer app. That's not to say it is perfect, it could use more games (Philadelphia anyone? How about cut-throat?) and more rules options (let us conform the game to our local rules) and it is buggy at times (the graphics regularly disappear at the top of the screen and who wins is often obviously incorrect; simply putting a game "on hold" results in an immediate forfeit; called shots in 8-ball make the cue point wildly in bizarre directions). Plus the menu button needs to be relocated to somewhere that isn't directly where we want to interact with the game, which annoyingly happens all of the time. It could use some freshening up. But although the ralls are a little hot (how about an option to adjust that?) the physics are nearly perfect. For instance, the throw imparted by engiish to a cut shot is right on the money. Banks follow english and shot speed faithfully. Drag-draw shots are extremely realistic and faithful to stroke speed. All that is missing here physics-wise is swerve and the ability to raise the cue butt for jump and masse shots, really. If you jump or break too hard, the cue ball should fly off the table just like in real pool. So far, things are not quite that realistic. But getting used to this game is much like getting used to any particular pool table. I am smitten. I would like more games and more table sizes (currently you get 3 7-ft tables and 3 8-ft tables); a regulation 9-footer would be nice (make a product placement deal with Fusion tables, why don't you? Incorporate a graphic of the table top coming off and transitioning to a pool table, and charge them for it. Then we all win), and it would be nice if we could alter table cloth colors and ambient lighting per room. Snooker on a 10 or 12 footer would be sweet. On the minus side, the 3D zoom into the table after every shot, impressive as it is, is actually a completely unnecessary time waster--what we want directly after the balls stop moving is an overhead shot, and we don't need suggestions for the next shot either (just go overhead and remove the cue from the display until you get player input). And there is an annoyingly unrealistic cue?/rack? noise during each break shot setup (not needed-take that out). Popups explaining fouls would be welcome. But there really is little to complain about. I have played this game every day since I got it 6 months ago, and it never gets old. It is sometimes more convenient and more fun than real pool, believe it or not. If I had the time I would play this game 4 hours a day every day. It's that good. It occupies about 98% of the time I spend on the iPad. For all of its minor warts and faults, it's the best app I've ever seen, from anybody on any device. And that is saying something. If I had paid a couple of hundred for this app, I would consider that to have been a bargain. That's how much fun it is. What I would really like to see is an expanded training feature written with this app as the starting point. Redos on shots would be a really great addition. A button option for slow-mo replay of each shot would be very instructive and helpful to learning about what each shot's ramifications on the current new ball location for each shot might be. That alone might be the most valuable feature that this app does not yet have. Do that, and incorporate all the above features and needed bug fixes as a paid upgrade, and this app would be worth 10 times what it costs now, and I would gladly pay that and more. Otherwise, I might have to write that app myself!
Review by Idontwantanynickname! on Virtual Pool HD.