You’ve got to start (over again) somewhere
PlayStation 1
Released in 1996 by EA Sports
Grade: D
It’s the beginning of EA’s ugly transition through the 32-bit days, and boy is it ugly, with jarring, unpleasant graphics and sloppy gameplay.
Where it falls in the series
The series was consistently kicking ass on Genesis from 92 to 98, and this is the first of five PS1 installments. The last, NHL 2001, gets my recommendation if you’re looking to check out EA hockey on PS1.
Gripes
The graphics are really, really hard on the eyes. It’s hard to remember that in 1996, these were impressive graphics, and the game goes out of its way to show them off. On every dead puck, the camera zooms out to show the rink and crowd (which looks like a cardboard cut-out), swings in close to a side-view of the face-off, then whips back around into its default position. Speaking of which, the default gameplay camera swings and tilts wildy. It’s off-putting.
What’s also funny is how much depth they added to the controls without really having the engine to make it all worth it. Gone is the simple 3-button configuration. You’ve got individual buttons for fake shots, dumps, drop passes, spin-o-ramas, and even a hard stop. It was an overly ambitious effort — because, you know, a hard stop is traditionally done by simply angling the D-pad in the opposite direction, which still works fine in this game. Tapping R1 to stop is unnecessary.
EA was on to something by adding more controls — as evidenced by the complex controls in quality hockey games that came later — but they feel horribly unnatural to use here.
The gameplay is ruined on a few levels, but what that sticks out to me is the imbalance in tempos. Players move fast and loose, too fast for the sluggish skating control, yet passes and shots move very slow. It’s a frustrating, disorienting mix, especially after gamers spent years with the easy-peasy control of the 16-bit versions. Even when this game came out there wasn’t much reason to play it.