Championship Pool on NES is one of those games that makes you wonder how you ever played pool without it. No hauling heavy tables, no messy chalk—just grab a controller and start sinking balls. The physics feel surprisingly decent for an 8-bit game, though you’ll definitely need to adjust to the slightly floaty cues at first.

You’ve got four ways to play: Tournament if you’re serious, Party mode for up to eight players (good luck keeping track of whose turn it is), Freestyle for casual shots, and Challenge mode when you want to test your skills. The instruction manual is weirdly detailed—like, who knew there were this many ways to mess up a bank shot?

It’s not perfect, but for a quick round of digital pool with friends, it gets the job done. Just don’t expect the AI to go easy on you.