Game Review: World Snooker Championship 2005 (PC, Sold Out)

As a fan of snooker, games based on the sport, notably on 8-bit computers, always lacked something. Whether it be the white noise effects when hitting the ball, or having the ball go off either fast or really slow, it did not feel quite real somehow. As games improved with realistic graphics from a 3D perspective but also immersive gameplay, you somehow were able to believe you could play a few frames down the snooker club with relative ease. In fact, previous iterations of this game series had been called World Championship Snooker, and released by Codemasters, but changed here with the re-arranging to World Snooker Championship 2005 from that edition onwards.

Plan B

It is also worth noting that the game’s original front cover is replicated on the Sold Out re-release too (which in itself is ironic having a Mastertronic owned label re-releasing a Codemasters game) – in that Steve Davis and Ronnie O’Sullivan feature, as does the late Paul Hunter. When the game was originally released, Paul was diagnosed with cancer before the game was released, and even though the cover art was retained, the back cover notes a tribute to him, which was a good thing to see. He was of course famous for winning three Masters titles and his Plan B during the mid-session intervals if things were not quite going the right way and would most likely have won a coveted World Championship too.

In terms of playing the game on a modern PC, you may get stuck very quickly and I had to revert to a different Plan B of my own. The game uses SafeDisc protection, which even later versions of Windows 7 stopped from working correctly, and is a no go on Windows 11. There is no known working patched executable I could find, so in the end I reverted to a virtual Windows XP machine, and was able to install and play the game on that. So definitely well worth noting if you are wishing to try it out – and maybe utilising an old tower PC or even a Shuttle mini-PC might be useful instead for this era of gaming.

You Can Do the Romford Rap

Once you have the game running, you can create a profile, and indeed create your own player, with plenty of customisation available, including waistcoat and shirt colours, amending your own face to resemble more like yourself, and to adjust all the features and style you would like to be like. I created an all-blue outfit for me, as I wanted to try and take on the world. The options screens generally here are well presented, with a circular menu with a simple set of icons to determine what you have chosen. You may of course just want to have a friendly match at first, and get used to the control method and indeed the variety of options on offer for control, mainly using the keyboard but with some mouse input too, should you prefer that.

What is supposed to be an improvement is the instant shot, but I soon put a stop to that as unfortunately it did not work well for me. The plan is once you have aimed the ball, you can hold down the left mouse button, move the mouse back for the amount of power, and then move the mouse forward to hit the shot at that power. More often than not, the shot was hit with much less power meaning I would sometimes miss the ball and commit a foul, so not one for me. I can see what they were trying to do here and with later consoles having a more responsive way of achieving the same, it did at least foretell the future.

Open Up Your Trap and Give It Some of That

In whichever mode you choose, taking a shot with the keyboard works well. You move the cursor around the table with a view to selecting the ball you wish to hit, with the Shift key giving you a closer look. You can also use up and down to change the angle view too or use the right control key for the more traditional overhead view, if you prefer that. Fine tune the aim is either holding down the space bar with the movement keys or holding the right mouse button and moving the mouse, which does work well. For spin, the mouse wheel plus steer of the mouse can be used, or right Shift with the direction for the spin you need. The aiming aid, if you enabled it, shows a yellow arrow where the ball will go and a white arrow for the cue ball, plus red for any projected spin direction.

When ready to hit the shot, press ENTER and you will see the power meter on the left-hand side. You can use the up and down keys for the power, and you will note that if you have the aiming aids on, you can see the arrow showing you how far the ball may travel too. Once happy, press ENTER and the shot is hit. If you do pull off a good shot and you pot a ball, you may well get an action replay of the shot. This is very much in the style of the television camera angles and certainly when your opponent is playing is pretty much how you would have seen snooker on the television at the time, so the mood has been captured well here.

Where’s The Cue Ball Going?

One nice addition here is the commentary, with three expert snooker players taking to the microphone. One of them is the now sadly missed John Virgo, who would of course ask where the cue ball was going if heading anywhere near a pocket. Steve Davis and John Parrott also add their expert eyes to proceedings too, and in the options, you can either select commentators at random or pick three different combinations of two of the three, so ether Virgo and Davis, Virgo and Parrott or if you want a repeat of the 1989 final, Davis and Parrott. There are certainly plenty of moments which add to the realism here, and the satisfaction when you do pot a ball is enjoyable with that added. Note the commentary is only in the tournaments, you do not get it when playing in the two-player friendly or indeed the other modes of cue sports either. Nonetheless, having that added realism is very welcome.

In the tour mode you start off with the qualifiers for each of the tournaments, and you need to win a number of matches just to make it to the more advanced stages. Even at these early stages, the computer opponents are just as difficult as they would be if real players, meaning you really do need to be on your game and have mastered the controls well to pull off some big breaks and some tactical snookers when needed. Even winning a frame early doors did feel like a sense of achievement, as it did winning the first match too. But that does mean you will get some longevity here as it will take time to master your opponents on the road to the legendary and iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Na’ Then! I’ll Si’Thee!

As well as the standard snooker modes, you also have other cue sports, such as 8 and 9 ball pool, billiards complete with yellow, red and white ball only, and also bar billiards, which immediately harks back to Indoor League with Fred Trueman hosting, and Taffy John smashing all comers. The rules here are relatively straightforward bar billiards rules, and hitting a few of the red balls in for double points and a sizeable legal break do mean it can be entertaining, especially in two player mode. There is also snooker plus, which adds an orange ball for 8 points and a purple ball for 10 points, meaning the highest break here would be 210 in all. That would be one to aim at once you had mastered the game more too.

In whichever mode, the ball mechanics are consistent and do work whether if viewed in overhead or 3D, with no noticeable slow down at all. It also seemed to play quickly, more so if you turn off replays in the options to speed things up. Yes, it can look good showing your shots off, but it does the same with the computer opponent too, meaning a long wait sometimes in between their breaks if you want to then go and play a shot, so do note that carefully. The controls themselves work well and the manual does list those and the control screens and layouts in good detail, which did mean I could soon pull off some audacious pots to the right middle pocket and get into the game even more. Well worth persevering here.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in World Snooker Championship 2005 are very good, with the table and the surrounding crowds all in 3D, and the replays show off the graphical engine to its full potential. The player likenesses are very good, notably Ding Junhui, Marco Fu and a very young at the time Neil Robertson too. The referee and the MC for the tournament are also nicely drawn and animated, with the snooker balls moving well. As for the sound, the commentary is very good and the sadly missed John Virgo adds to the nostalgia here. The main theme certainly has been heavily inspired by The Doug Wood Band’s Drag Racer, the proper snooker theme and one the BBC have finally brought back properly for the snooker tournaments these days (kudos to whoever made that decision.) There are also some more ambient tracks for some of the modes as well which is nice to have.

Final Thoughts

World Snooker Championship 2005 does carry on the tradition of the series with some nice touches, sensible controls and overall, some good playability. Yes, the difficulty level for the tour mode is hard, and winning a match will take some time, but once you get used to the controls and are able to pull off some pots and tactical shots, you will find that you get better at play and will soon be on your way to achieving some glory. Yes, it is a pain to set up on a modern PC and in truth an old Windows XP or 7 box might be the better answer in the long term if you do want to play this. But it is worth the effort, and you will soon find yourself challenging friends to a tournament in person (the online play of course would not really work these days).

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