When you’ve dominated the CPU on 94 or 95, and you’re ready for a tougher challenge
Sega Genesis
Released in 1995 by EA Sports
Grade: A
This unique installment in EA’s beloved 16-bit hockey series is known for faster action and tougher AI than its classic predecessors. The basic ingredients are all there: the action is smooth, the controls are responsive, the graphics are easy on the eyes, the sound adds charm, and it just feels like hockey.
Where it falls in the series
EA hit home runs with NHL ’94 and NHL 95, two slightly varied titles that are undeniably fun. NHL 94 in particular is consistently hailed as one of the best sports games ever and best Genesis games ever.
The 96 installment plays faster, too fast for some people’s liking. But more important to a sports dork like me, its CPU is tougher. The game’s marketing emphasized that this was a hockey simulation. The back of the box advertised better goaltending, smarter offensive teammates who skate into open ice, and more alert defenders who come after you quickly. And it’s the first in the series with multiple difficulty levels. It also brought back fights, which weren’t present since NHLPA ’93.
Its successors, NHL 97 and NHL 98, upped the speed to a damaging point, pushing the feel of the game too far from what everyone loved in earlier versions.
Praises and gripes
The intensity of NHL 96’s gameplay is right on the edge of being too fast and too frantic, without quite going over. It requires smart strategy at a really fast pace, which is more true to real hockey than earlier NHL games.
The increased speed definitely makes players more tricky to control, but it inspires more passing and use of space.
AI defenders are much more aggressive about hitting and stealing the puck. This is a simple concept that drastically affects how the action plays out. Since you have slightly less control and you have guys coming after you much harder, you need to pass the puck more … a lot more, almost as much you’d see in a real NHL game. In 94 and 95, boy, it sure is fun to finesse your way up the ice, bouncing off checks and skating circles around defenders, on your way to a 1-on-1 with the goalie. In 96, forget it. It’s not about finesse. It’s about making your players work as a team, getting into a scoring situation, and taking advantage of the chances you can get.
Goalies are way, way better than before. The old scoring tricks don’t help you at all here. Basic one-timers don’t become goals nearly as often. Goalies don’t allow rebounds and then slide out of position like they used to. It can be a struggle to score; it truly feels like you’re battling to have more chances to score, which is closer to the approach real hockey players need to have. You can easily get into a rut if you’re carefully trying to set up the perfect play.
Okay, okay, I’ll admit, there is one pseudo “scoring trick.” It won’t happen too often on the higher difficulty levels, but if you can manage to skate fast right across the goalie, you can usually beat him with the quick shot. At least this is realistic to hockey; goalies won’t usually stop that shot. But defenders shouldn’t allow it as often as they do in this game.
The graphics are a slight step down from 95, in my opinion. They went for more detail in the player models, which have thinner limbs, and more detail in the ice, which is textured with skate marks. Altogether, it has a dimmer, less pleasing look.
Top Teams
The 1995 Stanley Cup saw the surprise New Jersey Devils beat the Detroit Red Wings.
In EA’s digitized world, the top teams were Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago. New Jersey gets no respect, as they’re dropped to the second tier along with Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Quebec.
And in 1996, back in reality, it was the Colorado Avalanche winning the Cup over the Florida Panthers. Wait! Did you read that right? Weren’t the Avalanche formerly the Quebec Nordiques, who are in this game? Yup, NHL 96 came out with a team in the wrong city. And then that team won the Stanley Cup. Weird, right?