My Video Game Library: Backstreet Billiards

    I've always been partial to pool. There was something about the colored balls and geometric shots that thrilled me. I was disappointed that I never got a toy pool table like one my cousins got for Christmas. One of my great aunts lived in a house that once was a pool hall. Another relative had a pool table in their attic area. I only got to go up there once, and I never got a chance at the table. Considering how young I was, I couldn't have done much anyway. I started watching 9-ball pool matches on ESPN my junior year of high school. I was just amazed it was on television, but then ESPN didn't have the best variety of sports to choose from back then. The restaurant next to my high school had a table, from what I heard from those who had went there. I only went once, to pick up an order for another student, so I never had a chance to play. I think both colleges I went to had pool table in their rec areas, but I didn't know anyone to help me learn how to play.

    That's why I was very happy once previews started to show up about the first pool games for the PS1. I think there was one on a demo disc, but I didn't like it too much. I was leaning to another game that kept getting previews, Backstreet Billiards. I didn't know which one to get, until I saw a billiards magazine on a shopping trip to Lexington. They were reviewing pool video games, and they rated Backstreet as the slightly better option for the PlayStation. Slightly better graphics and gameplay. That was the one I asked for Christmas.

    The game had two primary options, Story Mode and One-on-One. In Story Mode, you were going after the pool shark who ruined your father's life. You went around town, beating various opponents at pool to get information, while collecting token to increase your stats. (To be honest, I don't think the stats added anything to the game.) As each one was defeated, the bosses, and their pool rooms and background music, would be added to the other mode as playable opponents.  However, after the fourth boss or so, the game stopped. There was a scratch on the disc I didn't notice, and it was causing the game to freeze. My mom returned the game to Walmart.  She got the money back, but they didn't have another game to replace it. I had to wait about a month until my birthday trip to the Huntington Mall to find another copy.

    I played it that evening after the trip, using the saved data on my card to continue. I made it to the next to last boss, when I faced a new problem. I had just picked up a new token to raise one of my stats. However, I had chosen to raise that stat previously using another token that could be used for one of two different one. The new token would push that stat over the max, thereby freezing the game again. I had to start the game over from scratch, making sure to use the tokens correctly so that it wouldn't happen again. I had maxed out all my stats just before the seventh, final boss, and beating Story Mode. 

    My favorite part was One-on-One. There was something about the special tables and music that just hit me the right way. I mostly chose 9-ball, occasionally going with 8-ball if I wanted a change. There was even a snookers table for playing straight billiards. I didn't know enough about the rules at the time, so I barely played that one. I'm thinking there was a two player mode as well, but since I didn't have anyone else to play with, I just used the game's opponents. I couldn't tell much of a difference in gameplay among them, although their stats and styles were supposedly different. I would usually end a gaming session with a few rounds after everything else. I'm fairly sure that I played this game for fun more than any other, as opposed to just grinding away to get every possible challenge in the game.

    After the I lost my games in the flood, my outlets for pool dwindled. I found some online games over time, but done exactly matched the mechanics and graphics of Backstreet. I got a few pool books for my store, but reading is never the same as actual playing. I least I got caught up on the history and rules. As ESPN started to get the rights to more pro and collegiate sports, the need to air pool across their family of networks slowed down. I don't know if they still have the matches anymore. At least at I time I would watch them. Other sports networks have aired pool as well, including a dedicated channel in the upper, upper reaches of my cable box at one time, but it is never at a time I would watch.  I still want to play, but I have yet to get my chance.