Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars

"Another reason to hate Wayne Gretzky"

Introduction to: Wayne Gretzky Hockey

This is Wayne Gretzky's Sega Genesis hockey game. The front cover displays several pictures of his ugly face out on the ice, wearing an NHLPA All-Star jersey. The back of the box boasts it's awesome player animations and how quickly you can get a game started, "two button presses" it says! It's rated Kis to Adults and supports up to 4 players. It was released by Time Warner Interactive in 1995.

Graphics

Without a doubt the graphics are the most redeeming quality of the game. I must admit, when you start up a game and see that puck drop, I was impressed. The puck dropping scene is impressive, and very realistic. But then, after the face-off, the screen cuts back to reveal a sloppy view of supposed ice hockey players. There's many problems here. First of all, the jersey colors are weird, second of all, the player animations are pathetic, third of all, the overall ice rink is atrocious.

Players look like little blobs skating around, and the ice rink just looks plain terrible. The colors are bad, not very bright and off-hue for some jerseys. The goalie animations are pathetic, so goals are practically random. The only good part is sometimes the player animations when they get checked or something look good, but for the most part, the graphics are terrible.

Gameplay

The gameplay is awful. Skating is slow, and two-dimensional. The camera view is off to the side, so you can hardly see where you are going. The length of the ice rink is so tiny that you can score just as easily from your side of the ice than your opponent's. Holding on to the puck is nearly impossible, and body checks are everywhere. Plus, the AI is despicable, the opponent's goalie practically hands you free goals. Speaking of goals, they are completely random, you can't really control your shots, so basically you just have to get lucky.

As you can see, my mind is going in to chaos just trying to think of all the things that went wrong in this game. Overall, the major flaws reduce the fun factor for me in this game.

Sound

Ugh, the sound is terrible too. The thing is, every single time you hit the body check button, it makes a male grunting noise. This gets extremely annoying when you are tapping it to make a body check. Plus, the other sounds around the rink seem to drift in and out, and often sometimes you are skating in complete silence. I'm not sure why this happens. But it sure is annoying. Plus, there is no commentary, so the only music is in between plays or on the menu screen.

Replay Value

I guess all hockey games have some replay value, but the overall flaws in the gameplay make this less fun to play again than it was the first time. Therefore, the replay value is low, even for multiplayer.

Final Word

This is without a doubt one of the most flawed hockey game I have ever played. True, I'm not a Wayne Gretzky fan, but I thought he might at least be able to make a decent hockey game. But alas, this game is a major disappointment, avoid it at all costs.

Final Score: 3

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/06