The game with the magic recipe
Sega Genesis
Released in 1993 by Electronic Arts
Grade: A+
This is the crown jewel of 16-bit hockey, almost always mentioned among the greatest sports games ever. It’s known for being the first hockey game with one-timers, adding a critical wrinkle to an already kickass hockey engine.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the third of seven NHL games EA made for the Genesis. The second in the series NHLPA ’93 is a strong, strong offering, but ’94 surpassed it easily by adding one-timers.
NHL 95 was given an impressive update in graphics and increase in speed, but lacks that “magic recipe” and is pretty easy against the CPU. Still great in my opinion.
NHL 96 updated the graphics again, increased the speed again, but most key, increased the difficulty and AI by a ton (and was the first to include multiple difficulty levels), making it the game of choice for some people.
NHL 97 and NHL 98 upped the speed even more and diverted further from 94’s magic, but are still more than respectable hockey games and worth owning for fans of the series.
Praises and gripes
I can’t think of many other games that are so universally fun to play right from the start, while also rewarding players for playing smart and aggressive over the long haul. With its vertical view, smooth controls, charming graphics, equally charming sound, it’s easy to pick up and it’s immediately exciting, yet fun to keep playing over and over.
Scoring is sweetly satisfying. Hitting is a thrill. Passing the puck around requires a reasonable amount of fine skill. Random and unusual things happen, as they should in a hockey game. It’s still arcade-y, but it’s coated in the spirit of real hockey.
For an arcade-y sim, the amount of scoring is just right in this game. You’ll score most of your goals on well-crafted one-timers, but many other methods can result in goals, and players are rewarded for a well-rounded offensive attack. The surefire scoring trick from 93 works maybe 1/10 of the time in 94, which is a critical adjustment.
Contests always turn out differently, which adds to the re-playability and makes a 7-game playoff series an adventure. Big comebacks don’t just happen all the time, but they’re possible enough that games stay tense for a long time even if someone’s ahead a few goals.
The CPU opponent, while leaps and bounds tougher than NHLPA ’93, is still a bit too easy. This is great for getting into the game, but for a real solo challenge you’ll be trying to win the Cup with a bottom-of-the-barrel team. Or hardcore dorks can graduate to NHL 96 to play against more challenging AI.
FYI, the beloved fights and bleeding heads from NHLPA 93 were left out of this version.
Top Teams
This came after Montreal beat Los Angeles in the Stanley Cup and their fans rioted and set fire to police cars.
Despite that, the consensus top dogs of NHL ’94 are Detroit (ridiculously stacked first line) and Chicago (stacked plus a great goalie). Vancouver is a specialty top choice for their speed. Other contenders include Pittsburgh, Montreal, L.A., Calgary, Buffalo, and Winnipeg.
In the 1994 playoffs, Chicago, Detroit, and Montreal all lost in the opening round, L.A. didn’t even make the playoffs, and it was the New York Rangers edging the Vancouver Canucks for the Cup in seven games, and the pissed-off Canucks fans started a riot of their own. Little much, eh?