"Big Time Intensity"

NHL 99 is the latest offering from EA Sports. It's not as bad as most hockey fans think. I?m a big time hockey fan and I know what real professional hockey is like. The NHL series has come a long way in every respect since 1991 when it first debuted on Sega Genesis. The graphics are awesome. The sounds are great. The AI is acceptable. However, there are still quite a few problems. Problems such as super human goalies, too many glass-shattering hits, some awkward animations, and why the hell do the benches have no doors? I mean, players coming back to the bench for a line change are too tired to hop over the boards. There should be a door for them to walk into.

The graphics in NHL 99 are very good. I play at a resolution of 1024 x 768 and it?s fantastic. You can see the players? water bottles and towels on the benches and the penalty boxes, the backside of the boards, the home team logo and the NHL logo on the puck, the ice shower when players turn or stop, the animations on the jumbotron in each arena, the computer in the timekeeper's box, the vibration of the glass on hard hits, the goal light that lights up when a goal is scored, pre-game spotlight logo of the home team that pans across the crowd, and many more details that make this game very enjoyable.

However, NHL 99 is not without its annoying features. The animation of the players is weird sometimes, such as breaking the glass on hits too often. Why is there a gap between the boards and the crowd? All the NHL arenas have seats right up to the side boards. Where is the goal judge? Why is the timekeeper gone after one period? Where are the linesmen? Where are the coaches for each team?

The AI isn?t too bad. The computer team now fights back if you hit them after whistles. Your teammates now follow the strategies that you set up. The man advantage actually feels like an advantage and you can somewhat pass the puck around for a good shot on net. Players actually go to the net if you set up the right strategies. Your goalie often bails you out when you need him the most (but so does the opposing team?s goalie). No more lopsided scores like 15-1 or something. The AI does suffer the following problems. In higher difficulty levels (pro or all-star), once again the goalies are from another world, because they can stop a goal right across the net, even though no goalie in real life could have stopped it. There?s no way you can score from the slot unless you deflect it on the way, or it bounced off another player into the net, or you bank it off the goalie from behind the net. The goalies let in lob shots from center ice and the other end of the ice from time to time. There are too many penalty shots.

The sound in this game is awesome. You can hear the players? sticks making contact with the puck on passes and shots, the goalies stopping the puck, the players hitting along the boards, and the crowd cheering with sirens and horns going off when the home team scores and or when they react to a penalty. The play-by-play is dull for the most part, and the color analyst doesn't always comment on the game when he has the opportunity to. The arena announcer is very good, except all the arenas have the same announcer voice; he announces the goal scorer and the assist after every goal to remind fans of what's going on in the arena.

This game is a lot of fun. NHL 99 is somewhat realistic and a joy to play. You can feel the intensity in the air of a hard-fought hard-hitting game, the change of momentum in a important hockey game or series, the excitement of a man advantage or disadvantage, the heated scrums after some whistle, the rage when your best player gets injured, the excitement of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the rivalry with other teams in your division, and so on. You'll scream at the ref for bad calls made against your team or a goal disallowed when your player has his toenail in the crease. You can feel the suspense of sudden death overtime when you don't know when someone is going to score. Any mistake can cost you a goal. All these things contribute to the overall enjoyment of the game.

Let's hope EA Sports can fix some graphics and AI problems for NHL 2000. NHL 99 is a winner in my book, even though I think I?m being overly critical.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/01, Updated 10/26/01