''Steve Davis Snooker'' is a

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

simulation A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game 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 generate visual fe ...

developed and published by

CDS Software CDS Software (also known as CDS Micro Systems for its earlier titles) was an independent publisher and developer of computer game software based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK. History The company was founded by Ian Williams, a computer prog ...

in 1984. The budget release published by Blue Ribbon Software reached the top of the UK charts in May 1988. ''Steve Davis Snooker'' simulates the

cue sport Cue or CUE may refer to: Event markers * Sensory cue, in perception (experimental psychology) ** Cueing (medicine), rehabilitation techniques for Parkinson's disease patients to improve walking * Cue (theatrical), the trigger for an action to be c ...

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

. Released under licence from 6-time Snooker World Champion,

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...

. The game is the first to feature a license of a professional snooker player, with later

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...

creating the ''Cueball'' series. CDS called the game the "ultimate successor" to their 1983

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * 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 roc ...

simulator, titled ''Pool''. Davis would also be involved with the 1989 follow-up ''

Steve Davis World Snooker ''Steve Davis World Snooker'' is a sports simulation video game developed by Binary Design and published by CDS Software. It simulates different types of cue sports, specifically snooker, pool and billiards. Released under licence from 6-time Sn ...

,'' as well as 1996's '' Virtual Snooker.''

Overview

''Steve Davis Snooker'' allows players to play against themselves, or against a human opponent in either

Snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

, or

Pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * 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 roc ...

. However, there is no opponent AI. The game could be controlled by either a Joypad or a Cursor and

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

control scheme. The game has two different modes, with a ''short game'' (a game of Ten-Red Snooker similar to power snooker), or ''long game'', a game of traditional fifteen-red Snooker. The

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

game's box art boasts that the game has a "trick shot edit mode", "accurate spin", and "friction factor."

Reception

Critical reception for the game was generally high, with

Zzap! Zzap! may refer to: * Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' is a computer games magazine covering games for computers manufactured by Commodore International, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by ...

magazine scoring the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

game at 79% commenting "Steve Davis Snooker is the best version of the sport I have ever seen on the 64, with its excellent approach and options helping make it so if you're a snooker fan or you want to try something different from your everyday shoot em up, then this makes a worthy and refreshing change." Commodore Format also mentioned the game in a review, scoring the game at 70% before stating that whilst Snooker was a "hideously dull game", the game was a "nice conversion."

Crash Magazine ''Crash Magazine'' is a French independent magazine published biannually that features articles on women's fashion and cinema. History and profile ''Crash Magazine'' was founded in 1998 by Frank Perrin and Armelle Leturcq; art critics before ...

also reviewed the game for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

, scoring the game at 77% saying "A very good, user-friendly simulation, which (possibly for the first time) really calls on skill."

Sinclair User The ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

were also positive with the game, scoring the game at 7/10, but did cite the lack of a mechanic in game as an oversight.

Commodore User ''Commodore User'', (also referred to as ''CU'') later renamed to ''CU Amiga'', is a British magazine initially published by Paradox Group before being acquired by EMAP. Timeline ''Commodore User'' was launched in October 1983 with an initial pr ...

gave the game 60%, commenting that the game's developer were "too ambitious this time", commenting on the game's downgrade in the port from the Commodore 64 to the

Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...

. However "If you're a dedicated afficionado [sic] then Steve Davis will no doubt appeal to you."

Sequel

An updated version of the game would be released in 1989 for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

and

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

, known as ''

''. The game featured similar gameplay as that of the original, however, also included AI opponents, and improved graphical designs. The game also features additional modes, such as

eight-ball Eight-ball (also spelled 8-ball or eightball, and sometimes called solids and stripes, spots and stripes, bigs and smalls, big ones and little ones, or rarely highs and lows) is a discipline of Pool (cue sports), pool played on a billiard tabl ...

and

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 o ...

pool, with

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

References

{{Snooker Video Games 1984 video games Amstrad CPC games Atari 8-bit computer games CDS Software games Commodore 16 and Plus/4 games Commodore 64 games

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Station, an Australian base and research outpost in the Vestfold Hills * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Sa ...

Multiplayer and single-player video games Pool video games Sinclair QL games Snooker video games Video games based on real people Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games

Overview

Reception

Sequel

See also

References