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NHL 94
Consoles: Sega Genesis/Sega CD/Super Nintendo
This is saying a lot about a game because I am in no way shape or form a hockey fan. I did not play this game when it originally came out but I had a friend in Middle School that I used for this game. All my friends knew how good this game was but couldn’t find a copy until we met “kid” as I will call him. This is hands down the greatest hockey game ever made.
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First off this review or synopsis is written with the Sega Genesis build in mind. Sure it was basically the same on all consoles but the Sega version is said to be slightly better than all the rest, I’m not sure what the difference is but it’s the one I played so I’m going to write it with that in mind. This is kind of weird writing about this because I know nothing about hockey and really am not a fan so this might be shorter than it should but hey this is the last game to be done before the top ten so get ready for some heavy reading with that. Before I go any further this game is popular for being in Swingers, a Vince Vaughn movie, which I’ll leave a clip of at the end of this. For it’s time, back in March of 93, this was the most realistic hockey game to come out…. Although it was only the third iteration in the NHL series and the only other game to come out I can think of is Blades of Steel. Once again I digress; the game featured a top down perspective that is still somewhat used today. The camera angle doesn’t move around the action like it does now but it has that ¾ feel to it that keeps you right there the whole time as things are going on. Although the game is somewhat criticized for not being that big of a step up from NHL 93, it still brought one thing to the table that changed this series forever. The developers brought in the “One Timer”. What is the one timer you ponder? The One Timer is quite possibly the quickest and could be said the cheesiest way to score. It’s basically a shot right off the pass. Sure it’s in the real NHL but something about it in this game was so god damn hard to stop. It took me at least 20 games to perfect it when I first played the game but once I did things got crazy between my friends and I. We’d have epic 11-10 games because you really had the odds stacked in your favor if you could perfect the One Timer. Along with the one timer you could do “The Duper” and “The Move” were second and third in my arsenal of shots but nothing could take away my love for the “One Timer”. See the thing about this game is that when the developers were deep in their development cycle they must have been whipped by a slave master or something because the final product is pure perfection. If you check some asshole into the glass 3 times out of 10 you are gonna send him through it. You score a goal or there is intermission you will hear the roar of the crowd or the cheesy organ music. I say the organ music is cheesy because I think all organ music is but it is a very nice touch especially for a system with such limited sound capabilities. One last thing about the Organ, apparently this game has real life team specific organ songs. I couldn’t tell you if they’re accurate or not because I’m not a hockey fan but if you are you should be able to recognize them.
NHL 94 also features a robust full season mode. Sure there is no D-League or a lot of things we’ve become accustomed to in current generation games but I would gladly trade all of that in for the gameplay of NHL 94 and a barebones season mode. You see if you were good enough and got a grasp of the gameplay it didn’t matter what difficulty you played the computer on, you’d crush them. The real big draw of this game was playing with friends. Fights and throwing controllers was very common when we played its just too bad the developers removed fighting because it would have prevented a lot of real life black eyes. Hell I’ll be honest; to a lot of people they think these graphics suck but fuck you guys I love them. Sure the Ice is blue and you can’t really tell who is who unless you know the colors but for real the game still looks good all these years later and NHL 06 featured this game as an add-on so best believe I rented that game and was very impressed even today with the graphics.
NHL 94 is the last game outside of the top ten and could be the last sports game. I guess you guys will just have to wait and see. Watch the video below of the greatest hockey game of all time and then when you’re done with that, watch the scene from Swingers.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbDmbw55uJA"]NHL 94 - Best Goals & Saves (Sega Genesis) - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChtBbasZrjM"]Swingers - NHL '93 - YouTube[/ame]
I'm aware the video says 93 but it is actually 94
Originally posted by Tailback UComment
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Between NHL 94 and Madden NFL 94 that was a tremendous year for sports gaming. NBA Showdown 94 was pretty solid too.
Another cheese way to get goals was the wrap around. Goalie AI was never good enough if you wrapped really tighly around the net.
Oh yeah, Also, I think there was/is a pretty active mod community for this game using emulators. Might be worth looking into Lefty.Comment
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NHL 94
I was not expecting this game. I wore my sega out playing this. Mark Messier was my man, I was young and had never even heard of the guy yet... I had quite a few hat tricks and memories playing with Messier.Comment
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Yeah i was thinking you guys wouldn't expect it. But it's crazy some of the players that were in this game especially these four who are still playing:
Jaromír Jágr
Roman Hamrlík
Nicklas Lidström
Teemu Selänne
Originally posted by Tailback UComment
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Look at this curveball he threw us I don't think anyone would of guessed NHL 94 would be on the list.Comment
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NHL 94 had great control, great gameplay, and the camera angle was perfect. The goalie AI was bizarre (a lob shot from mid-ice would result in a rebound and a quick scoring opportunity, but a slap shot from point blank range would always be caught), but you could see the entire ice and play accordingly.
I remember playing a future NHL iteration, and the camera angle was nuts. The camera followed the puck around, so you would simultaneously get sick and also have no idea where the other players were.Comment
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mario kart double dash was the best.
also RE4 was one of the best games everComment
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also whereis castlevania symphony of the night?Comment
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k_g8CDjT3w"]SNES - NHL Stanley Cup - YouTube[/ame]
It was almost impossible to score without cheating or getting some lucky once in a million goal too.
I think I ended up playing a whole season + playoffs in that game. My eyes are still trying to get over it.
Leafs offseason training!Comment
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I actually have never really played a Castlevania game. I mean i dabbled maybe once or twice but from what i hear most of those games have an insane difficulty curve and after playing Ninja Gaiden it really turned me off from games with wicked difficulty.
Originally posted by Tailback UComment
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The old ones are pretty tough, but not Ninja Gaiden tough. Symphony of the Night though isn't very hard at all...it's more like Super Metroid (well, really, it IS Super Metroid only with vampires and shit). It's very, very fun, and still holds up really well. I'd recommend giving it a shot, it's really nothing like the old 'vania's or Ninja Gaiden.Comment
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those early EA Sports titles were awesome! they were so much funComment
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