PlayStation 1
Released in 1999 by Fox Sports Interactive
Grade: C
By the low standards set by 32-bit sports simulations, this one’s pretty good, but ultimately frustrating to play. It manages tolerable graphics and a good feel focused on realism, but it falls short with bad scoring logic and some sloppy mechanics.
Where it falls in the series
It’s Fox’s only try with hockey, released on PlayStation and PC.
Praises and gripes
The game makes a good first impression. Despite the old, pixelated graphics, the action moves smoothly, not too fast and not too slow. The controls feel intuitive for the most part, with two shooting buttons (wrist and slap shot) and three defensive actions (poke check, body check, and hook).
Players clutter the key areas of the ice, swarm the puckhandler, and block passing lanes. There are plenty of pile-ups, which is realistic, but they reveal some frustrating quirks. You’re often stuck, unable to do anything, and it’s hard to tell why. The animations aren’t clear enough. Are you being hooked, pushed off the puck, or losing it entirely? This generally results in a lot of button-mashing until someone skates away with it.
That’s a minor frustration. A bigger problem is passing. You can’t fire off a fast enough pass. They’re all the same speed. Considering the defensive nature of the game, it’s a bad limitation.
The even bigger problem is scoring. Good chances are routinely gobbled up by the goalies. Breakaways are useless and rebounds are rare. The best method is spamming one-timers, even ones that don’t look anything like real hockey. After long defensive struggles, you’ll score on an awkward backhand one-timer from 50 feet out.
The game is fleshed out with lots of options, including strategy settings that were sophisticated for their time. The commentary is surprisingly good.
There’s a good foundation in the gameplay, screaming for a polished-up 2001 version that never came.