Top 10 NHL game

[KevSkillz4]

NHL 13 and NHL 14 because of EASHL. Best EASHL time.

 

[filip85]

NHL 98 PS1 version- I hope one day they find a way to mod this game. I love this hockey game.
NHL 2K11 Nintendo Wii
NHL Legacy Edition
NHL 2004
NHL Championship 2000 PC version...hope for a modded version one day.
NHL 09
NHL Face-off 2000
NHL Hitz Pro
NHL 2000 PC version

Autumn of 1997. was really heyday for NHL games. NHL 98, NHL faceoff 98, Wayne Gretzky 98, NHL Breakaway 98, NHL Powerplay 98, NHL All star hockey 98.

 

[abo9]

I'll just list the ones I remember playing. I haven't played much of post 2018 games so won't comment much on them except that they all seem to blend in and don't have much "flavour".

1) NHL Hitz Pro - no offense to more realistic games, but Hitz pro was a different animal in terms of fun
2) NHL 2014 - I still play it and it transfer extremely easily to newer games
3) NHL 2k10 (or 2k11?) - Being able to download custom rosters (updated, with new prospects, etc.) from the other players on the internet was simply AMAZING. The GM mode was also quite fun, quick sim and we could play with friends thanks to being able to select multiple teams
4) NHL 2009 (or 2007?) - Introduction of the stick controls for dekes and shots instead of buttons. It was magical
5) NHL Slapshot for the Wii - Ok, this one's kinda dumb and the novelty wore off quick, but it was great for a bit
6) NHL 2004 - I did not even own the game but I was jealous of the amount of personalization available in GM mode
7) NHL 2005 on the Gamecube - It's super clunky and horrible to play today, but it was my first NHL game experience
8) Post 2018 era - Personally we could all play NHL 2014 and it would not make much difference except graphics lol

 

[BMann]

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[Smirnov2Chistov]

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It's been mentioned around here before, but the lack of competition really has made EA a 'stale' brand. I'm saying this as someone who is behind on playing titles. I'm currently finishing an NHL 18 Franchise run after not playing for six months.

Growing up on the PS1, I actually never enjoyed the EA style of game. It was too 'back and forth, one timer in the slot' type of game-play that was constant even on a more difficult setting. Their 'only' competition at the time was 989 Sports (Faceoff Series), and the random one-off games (Konami - Blades of Steel 2000, Fox Sports - NHL Championship 2000, Virgin - NHL Powerplay series)

I don't know the 'politics' of it - if that's even the right word, but are licensing fees that expensive where only one game company can afford it?

 

[BMann]

It's been mentioned around here before, but the lack of competition really has made EA a 'stale' brand. I'm saying this as someone who is behind on playing titles. I'm currently finishing an NHL 18 Franchise run after not playing for six months.

Growing up on the PS1, I actually never enjoyed the EA style of game. It was too 'back and forth, one timer in the slot' type of game-play that was constant even on a more difficult setting. Their 'only' competition at the time was 989 Sports (Faceoff Series), and the random one-off games (Konami - Blades of Steel 2000, Fox Sports - NHL Championship 2000, Virgin - NHL Powerplay series)

I don't know the 'politics' of it - if that's even the right word, but are licensing fees that expensive where only one game company can afford it?

More to do with exclusivity deals to kill off the competition. All these microtransactions is what EA care about. Rakes in fortunes. Forget about improving AI and simulation.

It can be done. Computing power for the consoles and current desktops are immense and going to get even better. But EA are not interested.

It's a shame as their founder Trip Hawkins never envisaged this. He has the same mindset as me when it comes to sports games. To make them as realistic as possible by including a huge amount of statistical analysis and actual strategies alongside the visual recreation.

Fingers crossed that legal cases to stop this scourge of microtransactions (kids pestering parents to buy packs) win through and force EA into a change of strategy or that other studios develop their own non licensed but playable games or that the regulators see EA Sports monopoly for what is. Anti competition.

Sports games could and should be far more advanced than they are currently but the dead hand of the money men as in film making and popular music where churning out product, style over substance in the name of mammon is all pervasive and they are not.

 

[BigT2002]

More to do with exclusivity deals to kill off the competition. All these microtransactions is what EA care about. Rakes in fortunes. Forget about improving AI and simulation.

It can be done. Computing power for the consoles and current desktops are immense and going to get even better. But EA are not interested.

It's a shame as their founder Trip Hawkins never envisaged this. He has the same mindset as me when it comes to sports games. To make them as realistic as possible by including a huge amount of statistical analysis and actual strategies alongside the visual recreation.

Fingers crossed that legal cases to stop this scourge of microtransactions (kids pestering parents to buy packs) win through and force EA into a change of strategy or that other studios develop their own non licensed but playable games or that the regulators see EA Sports monopoly for what is. Anti competition.

Sports games could and should be far more advanced than they are currently but the dead hand of the money men as in film making and popular music where churning out product, style over substance in the name of mammon is all pervasive and they are not.

You would hope they would learn their lesson if it ever comes down on them they have to remove microtransactions, but all it'll most likely do is move into a subscription-based setup where depending on your "level" will account for how many bonuses and multipliers you get for playing consecutively. In that essence, they'll just gamify the game.

I'm actually shocked they didn't tie coins to achievements, considering how impossible some of those can be as it is. Not to mention, it would reinforce the argument that people "enjoy playing single-player and multi-player equally" since they are most likely tracking those stats as well.

 

[M88K]

It's been mentioned around here before, but the lack of competition really has made EA a 'stale' brand. I'm saying this as someone who is behind on playing titles. I'm currently finishing an NHL 18 Franchise run after not playing for six months.

Growing up on the PS1, I actually never enjoyed the EA style of game. It was too 'back and forth, one timer in the slot' type of game-play that was constant even on a more difficult setting. Their 'only' competition at the time was 989 Sports (Faceoff Series), and the random one-off games (Konami - Blades of Steel 2000, Fox Sports - NHL Championship 2000, Virgin - NHL Powerplay series)

I don't know the 'politics' of it - if that's even the right word, but are licensing fees that expensive where only one game company can afford it?

It's not the licensing that is the issue, it's the small target audience that profits are low

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

It's not the licensing that is the issue, it's the small target audience that profits are low

I guess when you put it that way, it makes sense

 

[BigRedWings]

I don't think I have a top ten, exactly, but my number one is NHL 2002. Still have my PC copy, box and all. I also have it on PS2. And I still hear Gob's I Hear You Calling in my head, after all these years.

 

[BigT2002]

It's not the licensing that is the issue, it's the small target audience that profits are low

Electronic Arts, NHL and NHLPA Extend Multi-Year Deal to Bring More Hockey Games to Millions

EA SPORTS ™ NHL® to Accelerate Hockey Video Game Innovation Worldwide, Building Upon its 30-Year History of Authentic Interactive Entertainment Today, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) announced a multi-year renewal to their...

news.ea.com

EA Sports extends licenses for UFC, NHL video games

Terms undisclosed; neither game has had competition for a decade

www.polygon.com

Correct. I don't see anything that states exclusivity as it did for Madden. It most certainly is a small audience and probably why EA has held supreme with it for this long. It can just take what it does in other games from basically the previous year and mash it into NHL and we'll all be happy with a new game.

 

[OKR]

NHL 04
NHL 10
NHL 05
NHL 09
NHL 22

I strongly recommend getting NHL 04 for PC while you can still find them, and look into mods for that game, you can find vintage rosters, jerseys etc. as well as current rosters and jerseys, even authentic scoreboards, arenas and etc. for most european leagues as well.

Less ideal option is NHL 09 with mods, but might be the one with more mods now.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Correct. I don't see anything that states exclusivity as it did for Madden. It most certainly is a small audience and probably why EA has held supreme with it for this long. It can just take what it does in other games from basically the previous year and mash it into NHL and we'll all be happy with a new game.

I think that is a common misconception that is spread around to the masses every time. It has been said on these forums many times that EA does not hold exclusivity on NHL titles. I wish 989/San Diego Studio could make an attempt at a game..

 

[CrazyMonkey1208]

I've been playing video game hockey since Blades of Steel on original Nintendo around 1990. These aren't just nostalgic, but I played all of these when released-

NHL Hockey (1992,Sega)- rock em sock em hockey, score goals and fight afterwards. Lacked team name licensing, so teams were named by their cities with appropriate colors

NHLPA Hockey 93(Sega)- Now teams have names and logos at center ice, plus fighting. This version was WAY better than massively overrated NHL94.

NHL Faceoff '99(PS1)- Played like a sim. Way more enjoyable than EA's version. Darren Pang and Mike Emrick did the commentary too. Also fairly realistic sounding goal horns. Game was a blast, graphics were just ok.

EA NHL 09 (360/PS3) greatly improved gameplay. Less arcade, more sim. Game was fun to play again.

EA NHL 14 (360/PS3)-last harrah on these consoles. Improved graphics, gameplay. Every game after this just seems to improve graphics and make minor tweaks. They all just kind of blur together now honestly

 

[Puckstop40]

1) NHL Hitz Series - Never had as much fun playing hockey video games than these games. When I was young, my friends and I played these games for countless hours and would play street hockey as well.

2) NHL 2004 - Kind of self explanatory. Phenomenal game.

3) NHL 2K5 - Ahead of its time with the the things you were able to do. Still has the best presentation ever for a hockey game as well.

4) NHL 14 - The last great NHL game in my opinion. This was the best EASHL experience hands down, GM Connected, be a pro, etc. I can’t believe how bad they have made EASHL now when it was arguably the best feature in my opinion.

5) ESPN NHL Hockey - Pretty much the same comments I have for 2k5.

 

[Hasa92]

1. NHL 13
2. NHL 07 (Skill stick)
3. NHL 2K series (Can’t pick one but in general)
4. NHL 04
5. Open Ice 3 on 3 Challenge

Honorable mention and possibly the best hockey game ever to be made (But it doesn’t have NHL license do it doesn’t count to this list)

Tape To Tape

Check ot out at Steam

 

[NYR94]

NHL 2004 - still the best hockey game I've ever played. Enough has been said about this game so I'm not going to reiterate other people's points, but if you played it you just know.

The rest I will list in order of release and stand out to me in various ways:

NHL 95 (SNES) - first NHL I played to have season mode and create a player. For a roster accuracy nerd like me, being able to create players was huge and of course having stats saved over a full season was cool too. Made me realize how much fun and addicting the management part of the game (making trades, signing free agents) could be in between the actual on ice gameplay.

NHL 98 (PC) - first 3D NHL game for me and the presentation at the time just blew me away. Also you could download Blomman's NHL editor to fix EA's roster mistakes so if you were OCD about players having the correct handedness like I was, you could fix this. You could also use it to edit players who were no longer in the league into other players if you needed to create more rookies but had already hit the create a player limit. This type of roster flexibility blew my mind at the time. I never bothered getting NHL 99, I just edited all the rosters in 98 myself to be fully accurate and was fine with that.

NHL 2000 (PC) - Stood out to me because of how good the sim engine was at the time. Scores actually reflected the talent of the teams playing and the simmed results even reflected the lines, meaning if Lindros was on a line with LeClair and Recchi with Therien and Desjardins on defense and scored a goal, the assists would actually be from those players and not players who are on different lines. Sounds like a minor nitpick, but I've always been big on getting the most accurate sim stats. Players put up accurate points that made sense considering what line they were on, how much ice time they got, and whether they were on the power play or not.

NHL 12 (PS3) - makes the list for being another big improvement on the sim engine. I liked the gameplay as well. For some reason I was never as high on the earlier NHL PS3 titles as some others are-- NHL 12 was the first one I really liked after being somewhat disappointed in NHL 09 through 11 (never played 08 on PS3).

NHL 22 (PS4) - I just really liked this one. The graphics, presentation, gameplay all clicked for me.

 

[Dirby Kach]

12 and 14 for 360
02 for PC
00 for PC
04 for PS2
97 for genesis

 

[Max96well]

My personal top 10:

10. NHL 2005 (OXbox)
9. NHL Gretzky 2011
8. NHL Hitz 2002 (OXbox)
7. NHL 2K9 (360)
6. NHL 1999 (PC)
5. NHL 2001 (PC)
4. NHL 2012 (360)
3. NHL 2014 (360)
2. NHL 2K7 (OXbox)
1. NHL 04 (OXbox)

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

NHL 2004
NHL Hitz
NHL 11
NHL 2k5
NHL 20
NHL 07
NHL 10
NHL 09
NHL 22
NHL 3 on 3 Arcade

Didn't play a ton of 2k. The new games are better than people give them credit for, but are still held back by terrible teammate AI.

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

1. NHL 09 (start of eashl)
NHL 95 (NHL 94 but the season mode was so revolutionary)
NHL 94
NHL 2001 (I loved collecting the hockey cards, binged this game when I was younger)
NHL 14 (probably the best overall game they've put out)
NHL 07 (skill stick introduction)
NHL 11
NHL 96
NHL 20 (best GM mode thus far, completely rehauled it this year IIRC)
10. NHL 12

 

[Ruthervin]

What is your top 10 or 5 nhl games?
mine would be
1.NHL 14
2.NHL 13
3.NHL 11
4.NHL 08
5.NHL 07

KA-CHING! Blades of Steel!

 

[McRpro]

I've been playing video game hockey since Blades of Steel on original Nintendo around 1990. These aren't just nostalgic, but I played all of these when released-

NHL Hockey (1992,Sega)- rock em sock em hockey, score goals and fight afterwards. Lacked team name licensing, so teams were named by their cities with appropriate colors

NHLPA Hockey 93(Sega)- Now teams have names and logos at center ice, plus fighting. This version was WAY better than massively overrated NHL94.

You actually got them backwards. '92 had team names but not player names. '93 had player names but no team names(hence the NHLPA name). '94 and onwards had both.

I'm curious why you think '93 was better than '94. NHL94 had better...everything really. Other than blood on the ice after an injury. Goalie control, one-timers, etc. And as a SNES kid I will definitely say the Genesis versions were vastly superior to the SNES versions.

 

[NJDevilsFan21]

I went back to playing NHL98-2000 on the PC via CDs and some registry hacks to get it working. One of the things that really jumped out of me from this games is just how much more "authentic" they actually feel. There's no over the top cut scenes, presentations, and unrealistic filler that's present in the newer games. They're just hockey games. Yes things like celebrations themselves and changes/skating look a bit goofy compared today's, but they more or less represent the flow and expectation of what you'd see in an actual hockey game.

I wish EA would just blow it up at all, and/or just remaster one of those games on the modern engine.

 

[Kupo]

NHL 94, NHL 14, and this masterpiece right here: