Ice Hockey
REDISCOVER RETRO GAMING - CLASSIC 8-BIT NINTENDO NES
NINTENDO NES
Game Title:Ice Hockey
System:Nintendo NES
Players:1-2 Players
Genre:Sports
Developer(s):Nintendo
Release Date(s):1988
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Ice Hockey is a 1988 video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Ice Hockey is based on the sport of the same name, with the objective of the game being to get more points than the opposing player by hitting the round black puck into the opposing goal, with the player using a hockey stick. At the beginning of the game, teams are picked. The choice of teams include: USA, Sweden, Poland, Canada, the USSR, and Czechoslovakia. Each team has its own starting lineup of players based on what country you pick, but the player breakdown can be switched up if desired.
The controls overall are quite un-responsive!. Things are a little quirk'ish and accurate movement is often difficult. This isn’t too bad against a human, as you both have the same handicap, but against the computer it can be frustrating. Playing defense can be especially taxing, with the use of Up/Down on the D-Pad moving your goalie, as well as whatever player you happen to be controlling. Having to track two players at once, combined with the goalie’s remarkable inability to trap the puck, results in the computer usually getting in a significant number of shots on goal in any given offensive push. It is very difficult to actually defend the goal while simultaneously lining up your defender to recover the puck. A hockey game wouldn’t be a hockey game without fighting in it at some point, although Ice Hockey’s incarnation of it is a little light. If you go up and try to steal a puck from your opponent, sometimes you will get into a little tiny slap fight with the other player. If this persists long enough, eventually both teams join the fray until the loser (which appears to be determined based on button mashing) is sent to the penalty box, triggering a power play. And the Verdict is...
This is certainly no Blades of Steel, but for a Nintendo sports title, its not bad. |