"Incredibly inexpensive, simple, and FUN!"

First off I would like to say that I do not normally like sports games and that this is an exception. Why is it an exception read on to find out why.

Graphics: 7 out of 10
They were decent at the time but nothing special. Everything is easily distinguishable. You should definitely not judge this game buy its graphics; that would be an incredibly ignorant thing to do.

Control: 9 out of 10
It is perfectly responsive but the main thing that stopped it from getting a 10 was that sometimes you needed to control a different player quickly but couldn’t switch. A to pass, B to shoot, and Start to pause. When passing you can hold a general direction and it will aim it at the most appropriate player.

Gameplay: 9 out of 10
This is what makes the game shine. Ice Hockey is an all-around fun game to play. Before you start each match you can make your team of 4 out of 3 different character builds (skinny, average, and fat). While the fat guy hits the hardest he moves incredibly slow. From this you can guess that the skinny guy is really fast but is not good at shooting. You might be thinking “what’s so great about that”. It might not sound good on paper but once you actually play it you will realize how fun it is. There might not be real teams or players but who cares. This game is better than every recent hockey game on the market and can hold its own in heavyweight fun against the games coming out for next-gen systems.
“Who needs real teams or players when you can run the skinny guy into the boards with the fat guy?”-EGM
You still might be a little skeptical about this game but it placed #93 on EGM’s top 100 video games ever. Just try the game and you’ll have loads of fun. It's even more fun if you play against a friend. You can even start brawls, then the referee pulls someone to go to the penalty box. Its incredible gameplay can even draw in non-sports fans. (like me)

Overall: 8.5 out of 10
It doesn’t have those deep gameplay mechanics or realism but it is sheer fun and is the best hockey game to date.
And that score is comparing it with today’s video games. This one is definetly a timeless classic becaue of its simplistic charm.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 12/29/01, Updated 12/29/01

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