Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Pool Shark’s immediate strength is that there is almost nothing standing between you and the first shot. You use the mouse, take turns, and try to clear a pool table against the person beside you. For a 1993 DOS game built around local competition, that directness matters. It is the sort of game you can boot up when you have ten minutes to settle a tiny score rather than an evening to learn a sport simulation.

The shareware version’s six-ball table gives each game a brisk, stripped-down rhythm. That can be fun when you want fast turns and fewer chances for a match to drag, but it also limits the tactical buildup that makes pool compelling. A full table asks you to think farther ahead: not merely whether you can sink the current ball, but where the cue ball may leave you next. The sixteen-ball layout in the full 1.2 release is therefore not a minor luxury; it is the version that better matches the promise of a proper pool game.

Configuration options add more value than you might expect. Adjusting pocket size can make a friendly game more forgiving or turn it into a sharper contest, while table colours and player names make a shared computer session feel less anonymous. Don’t expect a solo career or a long progression loop from this setup. Pool Shark lives or dies on whether you have someone nearby who is happy to trade shots and accept that the mouse is the whole interface.

Graphics

The game uses a top-down table view, the sensible angle for following ball positions and planning shots. Table-colour options are a welcome touch in a game where most of your attention stays fixed on the felt and pockets.

Story

There is no narrative detour here, and that suits the subject. Pool Shark frames its drama in the smallest possible way: two named opponents, one table, and the mounting pressure of the next shot. Your story is the accidental miss that hands over the table or the clean run that ends an argument quickly.

That bare-bones approach means the game cannot create momentum for you. There are no supplied characters or stakes to lean on when a session starts to feel flat. You and your opponent have to bring the rivalry, whether that means a rematch after a lucky pocket or a house rule about who gets first break.

For a quick local sports game, that is enough. Pool needs little fiction when each turn can change the table, and the modest player-name option is just enough to turn an otherwise generic match into a personal one. If you want a game to supply atmosphere through a campaign or cast, though, this one has nothing to offer beyond the contest itself.

Overall Experience

Pool Shark is modest, but it understands the useful part of computer pool: a fast, mouse-driven match shared with another human. Its shareware edition is easy to recommend as a short trial because six balls get you into the action quickly. The catch is equally plain: six balls do not provide the texture or staying power of a complete rack.

The full sixteen-ball release is the one worth seeking out if the basic feel grabs you. More balls mean more decisions, more opportunities to recover from an awkward leave, and more room for a close match to swing back and forth. The configuration settings also help it last longer than a completely fixed novelty would.

Give it a chance if you enjoy old DOS games that work best with a friend in the room and do not need much ceremony. Skip it if you want deep solo play or a pool game that entertains you between matches. For a later game carrying the name, you can also look at Pool:shark 2; Pool Shark itself is the leaner, local two-player starting point.

Retro Replay Score

5.5/10