NHL 96

"EA Sports is the god of hockey."

As this game is around 7 years old, it is still very fun and enjoyable. Some people think that it is a NHL 94 with a new sticker on the cartridge and a updated roster but it is so much more as they have added the spin-o-rama, better graphics,(the fans look better then the ones in NHL 99) and engine with less slow downs. In this review, you will find out why EA Sports is the god of all hockey games ever created.

Graphics: 9

The graphics in the game look awesome. The arena looks pretty good. The crowd looks better then NHL 99, the jerseys are good enough to know what team you are. The two bad things are that there is no Ref the you can see and there is no logos on there jerseys. If they would have added the last two things I said it would have got a 10/10.

Sound: 9

The sound is another strong part of this strong video game. There is an organ which sound pretty good and has many different tunes. In different arenas, there is usually a couple different tunes to hear. Now about that ref we can't see because he is invisible, sounds like he has a hangover or is one of those guys from those boring science movies. The crowd is so-so because they only cheer for the hometown team. They don't boo the away team which would have been cool because I could have been the Rangers at home while the Red Wings were away and every time I score they would cheer for the Rangers and every time the Red Wings score they will get booed.

Gameplay: 10

The gameplay department of this game is easily the strongest part of the game. First I'll start with the modes.

Exhibition: The mode where you can have a single game with one or two players. You can select if you want penalties, offsides, icing, fights and the difficulty level.

Practice: The same thing as Exhibition except you can pick how many players on each team are on the ice at the same time. You can only go from 5-0. ex. Away Team:3 Home Team:5

Playoffs: You pick a team and go for the cup in the playoff from round one to the Stanley Cup game. You have the same options as Exhibition mode except the option only in Season and Play-offs that is one where you pick how many game in a round of a play-off series.

Season: It is a season where you pick the games you want to play in a offical NHL season calendar. Once the season is finshed you go to the play-offs. It has the same options as the Playoffs.

Overall this agme is worth buying unless you have any other NHL game for SNES.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/02, Updated 04/13/02