Ice Hockey (NES, 1988)
Graphics-7 Sound-6.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-7* Story-N/A
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-7 Fun-6.5/?** Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5?
*If facing one of the better teams like USSR or Czechoslovakia
**2-player vs
+
Basic team creator (choose between skinny, medium and fat players with four different stats (speed, shot strength, checking (decides who bounces back when two players bump into each other), face-off) - skinny is the fastest and best at face-offs but the worst shot+the weakest in fights and checking while it's the opposite for the fat one and the medium one is average in every stat)
Controllable goalie (see below however)
Game speed and period time options
"Switch to closest player to puck" button (can't cycle between players instead though)
Can fake goal shots by tapping the B button
The A button gives a short speed boost when you don't have the puck
Can switch the positions of your players before a face-off with u/d and l/r or with A/B to pick who does the face-off (cycles the players clockwise/counter-clockwise)
8-way aiming
Controllable goal shot strength (hold down B, stronger shots are faster)
Can use passing to trick/outplay the the opponent's goalie with an assist though it is pretty hard to pull off as CPU allied players won't necessarily move into position as you'd expect them to (see the later NHL series)
Team fights (seems to happen at times if you start attacking an opponent player and the fight goes on for too long with noone getting hold of the puck and moving away, the player who mashed the A button the most wins and the loser gets sent to the bench (lol)) - uncontrollable fight where the whole teams go into one spot and fight for a bit
+/-
6 different national teams however they only differ when the CPU controls them and only because the default lineup of fat/medium/skinny players will differ
Tiny rink (takes about 2 seconds to get to the other side so there's not much passing*)
Can attack and knock over other players without penalty
Includes the icing rule (where if you send the puck from your side all the way across the rink past the blue line on the opponent's side there's a faceoff on your side of the rink; can't be toggled)
Only 4 players besides the goalie (5 in real hockey)
Teams don't have the colors they do IRL (technical limitation unless two sprites are layered like in Mega Man)
Goalies automatically "win" the puck if the player with the puck bumps into them
No difficulty options however playing at game speed 4 or 5 vs the CPU is noticeably tougher
Can't pass if an opponent starts attacking you
Movement is pretty stiff compared to ice skating
-
Some control issues (can't switch off controlling the goalie so you'll do it while controlling another player too (you'll also control the highlighted player while controlling the goalie after he has the puck which feels a bit awkward), the tiny rink can lead to shots at your goal from off screen that you'll have a hard time reacting to as you won't know the position of your goalie until the camera moves toward it (following the puck), unskippable cleaning/ice smoothing cutscene between periods 2 and 3)
Your CPU allies are really bad at defending meaning you pretty much have to rely on manually steering your goalie and him grabbing the puck which can take a while
Sometimes your whole team stays off screen for a while when you're on the defense even after the goalie has the puck
The opponent's goalie randomly moves out of the way to let you score a goal easily (it doesn't seem like you can shoot the puck between his legs) - large goals compared to the goalies
Can't lob/volley shoot the puck with a separate button/combo (it automatically lifts somewhat if you do a strong shot but you can't use it to make it fly over player or the goalie)
No cups - single matches only
Probably would've been better if the game auto-picked the player closest to the puck as you tried to pass to that player (could've been toggled with Select)
No customization beyond the three categories and no "leveling" so you can't train a player to make it the best in the game
No tutorial (read the manual)
No ending
Only one in-game theme
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-7 Fun-6.5/?** Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5?
*If facing one of the better teams like USSR or Czechoslovakia
**2-player vs
+
Basic team creator (choose between skinny, medium and fat players with four different stats (speed, shot strength, checking (decides who bounces back when two players bump into each other), face-off) - skinny is the fastest and best at face-offs but the worst shot+the weakest in fights and checking while it's the opposite for the fat one and the medium one is average in every stat)
Controllable goalie (see below however)
Game speed and period time options
"Switch to closest player to puck" button (can't cycle between players instead though)
Can fake goal shots by tapping the B button
The A button gives a short speed boost when you don't have the puck
Can switch the positions of your players before a face-off with u/d and l/r or with A/B to pick who does the face-off (cycles the players clockwise/counter-clockwise)
8-way aiming
Controllable goal shot strength (hold down B, stronger shots are faster)
Can use passing to trick/outplay the the opponent's goalie with an assist though it is pretty hard to pull off as CPU allied players won't necessarily move into position as you'd expect them to (see the later NHL series)
Team fights (seems to happen at times if you start attacking an opponent player and the fight goes on for too long with noone getting hold of the puck and moving away, the player who mashed the A button the most wins and the loser gets sent to the bench (lol)) - uncontrollable fight where the whole teams go into one spot and fight for a bit
+/-
6 different national teams however they only differ when the CPU controls them and only because the default lineup of fat/medium/skinny players will differ
Tiny rink (takes about 2 seconds to get to the other side so there's not much passing*)
Can attack and knock over other players without penalty
Includes the icing rule (where if you send the puck from your side all the way across the rink past the blue line on the opponent's side there's a faceoff on your side of the rink; can't be toggled)
Only 4 players besides the goalie (5 in real hockey)
Teams don't have the colors they do IRL (technical limitation unless two sprites are layered like in Mega Man)
Goalies automatically "win" the puck if the player with the puck bumps into them
No difficulty options however playing at game speed 4 or 5 vs the CPU is noticeably tougher
Can't pass if an opponent starts attacking you
Movement is pretty stiff compared to ice skating
-
Some control issues (can't switch off controlling the goalie so you'll do it while controlling another player too (you'll also control the highlighted player while controlling the goalie after he has the puck which feels a bit awkward), the tiny rink can lead to shots at your goal from off screen that you'll have a hard time reacting to as you won't know the position of your goalie until the camera moves toward it (following the puck), unskippable cleaning/ice smoothing cutscene between periods 2 and 3)
Your CPU allies are really bad at defending meaning you pretty much have to rely on manually steering your goalie and him grabbing the puck which can take a while
Sometimes your whole team stays off screen for a while when you're on the defense even after the goalie has the puck
The opponent's goalie randomly moves out of the way to let you score a goal easily (it doesn't seem like you can shoot the puck between his legs) - large goals compared to the goalies
Can't lob/volley shoot the puck with a separate button/combo (it automatically lifts somewhat if you do a strong shot but you can't use it to make it fly over player or the goalie)
No cups - single matches only
Probably would've been better if the game auto-picked the player closest to the puck as you tried to pass to that player (could've been toggled with Select)
No customization beyond the three categories and no "leveling" so you can't train a player to make it the best in the game
No tutorial (read the manual)
No ending
Only one in-game theme
