''Minnesota Fats: Pool Legend'' is a 1995

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

(pocket billiards)

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

for the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

and

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

. It was also released in Japan for the Saturn under the alternative title . The game features famed player Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone. It was released as a sequel to

Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo. The A ...

's earlier success ''

Side Pocket is a pocket billiards simulation released as an arcade video game by Data East in 1986. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy, while an enhanced remake was later released on the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainmen ...

''.

Gameplay

The objective is to travel through different cities and defeat AI-controlled

hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more general ...

s. The player can also take on another human player in order to prove his worthiness at the

pool table A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that i ...

. The Saturn version of the game largely plays the same as the Genesis version, but includes a training mode, a short documentary on Wanderon, and a completely different plot in the story mode. In the Genesis version, the player takes the role of an unnamed rookie pool player seeking to challenge Minnesota Fats, and

cutscene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...

s are computer-animation. In the Saturn version, the player takes the role of Minnesota Fats himself, in his quest to challenge fictional pool hustlers from around the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

;

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

full-motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...

s (FMVs) are used for the cutscenes. In the story mode of both games, the player plays either

eight-ball Eight-ball (also spelled 8-ball or eightball, and sometimes called solids and stripes, spots and stripes or rarely highs and lows) is a discipline of pool played on a billiard table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls ...

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle of ...

, whereas in other modes, the player can also choose multiple other game types, including

straight pool Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a cue sport in which two competing players attempt to as many billiard balls as possible without playing a . The game was the primary version of pool played in profession ...

rotation Rotation, or spin, is the circular movement of an object around a '' central axis''. A two-dimensional rotating object has only one possible central axis and can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A three-dimensional ...

and

one-pocket One-pocket is a pool game. Unlike other games played on a pool table where any can be used to score , only one pocket for each player is used in this game. The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any obj ...

Development

As was typical of live action FMV in video games, the cutscenes in the Saturn version were shot on a minimal budget. Some of the opponents were portrayed by staff from Data East's marketing department.

Reception

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'' gave the Genesis version a generally negative review. While they praised the "authentic" sound effects and the story mode, they commented that the overhead view makes the balls look small and flat, all the available music tracks are

elevator music Elevator music (also known as Muzak, piped music, or lift music) is a type of background music played in rooms where many people come together (that is, with no intention whatsoever to listen to music), and during telephone calls when placed on ...

, and the controls are imprecise. ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'', in contrast, said ''Minnesota Fats'' improved upon the already excellent original ''

'' by adding new modes and the ability to play eight-ball, "the staple of any pool game that was mysteriously absent in the original." They added that the cue-ball shaped cursor is more accurate, the physics are more realistic, and the opponent AI, while prone to making miraculous shots and missing easy ones, provides an overall decent challenge. They deemed it "easily the best pool game for a home system – though it still can't beat a smokey bar", and gave it 3 out of 5 stars. ''Ação Games'' gave it 4 out of 5 circles. On release, ''

Famicom Tsūshin formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the ...

'' scored the Sega Saturn version of the game at 28 out of 40. ''

'' panned the game, calling it "a slow, plodding CD with clumsy controls". They particularly criticized that shots which would be easy to make in real life often don't come off in the game, and that the graphics are restricted to a single view with no close-ups or switchable camera points. The review made some odd errors: it refers to the original ''Side Pocket'' as a

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japa ...

game, and states that the story mode climaxes in a duel with Minnesota Fats (true of the Genesis version, but not the Saturn version). ''Next Generation'' also criticized this version in a brief review published over a year after the game, summarizing it as "some poorly written and acted FMV clips of Minnesota Fats around what is nothing more than a top-down, 16-bit pool game". The reviewer scored it 1 out of 5 stars.

Legacy

The game has a sequel called ''

Side Pocket 3 is a Japan-exclusive Pool (cue sports), pocket billiards video game for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation (console), PlayStation. Like its predecessor, ''Side Pocket 2'', it features the in-game likeness of a real-life professional pool player. In t ...

''.

References

{{reflist

External links

Minnesota Fats
at

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1995 video games Cue sports video games Data East video games Sega Genesis games Sega Saturn games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Shogo Sakai Video games based on real people