The Sims Pool 3D

Everybody loves an underdog. If Manchester United were to play Berwick-upon-Tweed's Angel Inn Sunday league team tomorrow, we'd all want the latter to trounce the former, just as we'd all like to see Jimmy White wipe the floor with some slick, businesslike up-and-comer who spends all day practising and is irritatingly successful as a result.

So far, the main cue-sport rivalry in the mobile gaming world has involved two publishers – Player One and I-play – that are both, in the wider scheme, underdogs, scrapping it out for the early high ground in mobile's untamed landscape. This month, however, sees the arrival of a third competitor in mobile behemoth Gameloft, and a fourth in evil-super-mega-video-game-colossus EA. Boo!

Except not boo, because despite being as far from an underdog as it's possible to be, The Sims Pool 3D is actually one of the most likeable of the games now populating the mobile cue-sport circuit.

This is partly a function of the Sims franchise. Rather than having a real or fictional persona foisted on you, you get to create and name your player. Before you enter the Pool Hall (the game's rather grandiose name for the menu screen), you have the choice of three different ethnically diverse men, and three slightly less ethnically diverse women, as well as the colour of your selected avatar's hair, shirt, and trousers.

Every time you play after that, you automatically resume as the alter ego you've generated, and you amass achievements and rank as you proceed through a system called 'Sims aspiration.'

Lose your first game, and you learn that at least 'your mom thinks you're cool.' Win a couple, and the staff start to realise that you're not 'a bum off the street.' Pot three balls in a row and the accomplishment gets recorded in your profile, and your avatar, of course, punches the air.

The success of The Sims Pool 3D is also partly down to its presentation. The six different avatars are all trendily dressed and presented in full 3D, and the pool itself takes place in a richly detailed 3D environment, with fruit machines, pool tables, hanging lights, chairs, parquet flooring, and other players lounging around in the background.

Lush as the graphics are, however, EA has smartly opted to subordinate them to the action. You only see your avatar when their hand rests on the side of the table, for instance, and when you're playing all you can see of the background is a part of the floor and the feet of the people around you. Sims Pool 3D is made up of great graphics, but it's not just a showcase for them.

As you'd expect, though, it all looks fairly craggy, and so if you prefer you can have the game display the balls as simple circles with black outlines, which is a thoughtful feature, and demonstrates further that The Sims Pool 3D is not about showboating polygons, but smart presentation.

Mostly, though, the game is successful because the pool itself is good, with solid physics and an excellent interface. You can perform most of the actions you need to perform with the D-pad, rotating the view left and right with, you know, Left and Right (or '4' and '6' if you prefer) and zooming in and out with Up and Down. Once you've chosen your angle, you press the action button to bring up the spin option, and then, once you're happy with that, you press the action button again to bring up a power meter that swings back and forth, meaning that a bit of skill as well as judgement is involved.

It's all incredibly fluid and friendly, and despite the niggling absence of a button for increasing or decreasing the speed at which the cue rotates when aiming, playing The Sims Pool 3D is a joy. It doesn't have the realism and depth of Player One's Ronnie O'Sullivan titles – the line of trajectory doesn't move when you add spin, for instance, and you can't apply nearly enough power – but few gamers will seriously notice the difference, and for general appeal EA's game probably takes the trophy.

Unfortunately, it has flaws, not least the glaring absence of a tournament mode or matches of more than one frame. Although the Sims aspiration system partly compensates for this, it's not enough, and an option to take part in structured competitions with the five computer opponents would have added to the game's appeal.

You can however play three types of pool – US 8-ball, UK 8-ball, and 9-ball – and as well as single matches you can attempt a series of 'challenges', which are essentially trick-shots.

Working your way through these, and to the top of the aspiration meter, will take you plenty of time, and provide you with plenty of entertainment, and while it doesn't quite consign its rivals to the status of underdogs, EA's mobile cue-sport debut should nevertheless give Player One and I-play plenty to worry about.