Reviews from

in the past


There is something about Nintendo sport games on the NES that always feels they miss something. Probably because by how over-simple they were and have the most basic content. But this was made in 1988...which surprises and made me perplexed.

Maybe I'm just over-thinking over a hockey game that I played just to see if it could click on me. Didn't much in single, I heard in multiplayer does get a little interesting.

Probably the only semi-decent sports game on the NES made by Nintendo.

This is actually not bad. It's basically Foosball.

It's above average for NES sports standards. That's not saying much.

This game made hockey fights fun.


It would be a 2.5 star game, but gains a star because the USSR is a playable character (team), and that's just really weighty and un-sarcastically meaningful looking back.

This is actually not terrible except for the fact that on defense you control both your goalkeeper and another play at once, which is still one of the most baffling design decisions even when considering the tech.

A bit too chaotic but fun. Yet another sport I have no frame of reference as to how it's supposed to play but unlike Baseball, the rules and gameflow are comprehensible to the human brain. Is it too heretic to say Ice Hockey is just a faster and slippery version of Soccer?
(NSO Games 4/241)

In 1987, Konami released Blades of Steel for American arcade machines, a title characterised by its intensity and emphasis on fighting. The mechanic was dramatic, interrupting the action in favour of side-view sequences where the goal was to hit the opponent five times to send them to the penalty box. There is no doubt that the title served as a direct inspiration for Nintendo to expand its Sports series. While Stick Hunter: Exciting Ice Hockey (1987) predated Ice Hockey by a few weeks, the approach was significantly different. Nintendo's title, directed by Hideki Konno, comes across as a synoptic imitation of the sport as if its director had promptly dissected what had made Blades of Steel so successful, without being an enthusiast himself. Much of the grammar of Konami's game has been retained, from the way the player can switch between characters to the fighting system and the difficulty of scoring points, as the goaltenders are such challenging obstacles to break through.

Ice Hockey does not include the side-view fisticuffs, which were probably considered too violent for a casual sports game. The mechanic is still very important, however, as it allows the player to create a numerical imbalance, often the only way to create viable shooting opportunities in such a fast-paced game. The goaltenders, who can be controlled when the puck is close to the net, will not let a shot go through if they are in the way, no matter how fast the puck is moving: because it is impossible to aim accurately, scoring is primarily a positional affair, rather than an accuracy contest or a chaotic battle near the net. It is therefore important to create as much space as possible by knocking out at least one opponent during a fighting sequence. Ice Hockey crystallises this spirit through a simple fighting system – all that is required is to mash the A Button – but one that keeps the game's momentum going.

The subtlety lies in selecting the players before the game. It is possible to set their stature; a frail character will be swifter and more maneuverable, but will struggle to prevail in fights; and vice versa for a heavier player. The composition of the team alters the attacking strategy: a heavy team will take the initiative more often and press the opponent back, while a light team will be more successful in quick counter-attacks. Ice Hockey is thus a simple and functional concept that manages to create good gameplay coherence. The absence of complex rules – there is the icing rule, but the offside one is not implemented – does not alienate the player and underlines Hideki Konno's desire for accessibility: it is no surprise, therefore, to note the elegant simplicity of the power-ups implementation in Super Mario Kart (1992).

fat, medium, skinny hockey is still some of the best hockey

Not much of a hockey fan anymore, although I was a big Red Wings fan back in the 90's - a really fun arcadey hockey 3v3 game that I played with my cousins back in the day. The little tune that plays during the face-off and throughout the match will always be stuck in my head.

Desafio TOP 100 NES IGN
Jogo #100

Um dos jogos perfeitos pra jogar com o amigo no Nintendinho, simples de aprender mas ainda tem espaço pra bolar estratégias de jogo, ele tem um time customizável, onde tu pode escolher entre personagens mais magros, médios e grandes, e isso abre um leque de possibilidades. Adoro jogar com o time da URSS e meter porrada nos EUA.

I discovered this on the Wii U in 2015, and had a realization:

This is the best 2-player competitive NES game.

Why did no one tell me about this?!? It's delightfully frantic, but instantly accessible. It's effectively digital Foosball, and everybody loves Foosball. Ice Hockey on the NES is always a good time when you've got someone to play with.

Wow, surprisingly quite fun. First impressions are really strong

Lowkey hidden gem when played multiplayer

what the fuck do you do in this game

Game #65 of my challenge

Sports games was really popular at the time. It was meant to reach out to different type of kids and try to reach the interest of some to play video games. A lot of sports had their own games, but it was time for Hockey to have his place to shine.

Once again, there ain't no plot to this game since it's a sports game on the NES. Simply be the hockey champion and beat every country.

The Intro music and game music is catchy. Nothing extraordinaire here but does the job.

The visuals are neat. The ice is good looking and nothing is really missing for an arena type of view. The characters looks decent. They created 3 types of shapes for the players on the ice and the only thing that they did is to swap colors to represent each country in this game.

The controls are where the shit show starts : You control a hockey player. You can shoot or pass the puck. This is the basics of how a hockey game should work. You can tackle the player with the puck to steal it from them. What is the most annoying thing about this game is that when you control your hockey player, you also control the goalie. This is the worst design decision ever. The reason for that is if you are at a disadvantage, you can't really control the player, because if you do that, the net will be so vulnerable. So the only thing that you can do is to goalie for the whole disadvantage situation until you are lucky enough for the goalie to keep the puck.

The gameplay is really not good as well. You have 3 type of players on the ice : The skinny, the medium and the fat one. They each have their speed and strength associated to one another. However, there isn't much difference between the stats of all of them (especially the speed). This makes the game really frustrating since the skinny one are kind of useless. Scoring in this game is also really hard. The computer is so good to block your shots. It was so painful to play this game that once I scored one point more than the other team, I kept the puck behind my goal and wasted time until the game is over. I know this is shameless, but I did what I got to do to win a game and get over with it.

While this game was really popular at the time, I had no fun at all playing this game. Maybe this game was more appreciated for his 2 player gameplay, but I didn't tried it and probably won't. This game is not be open from me ever again.

The best of the sports NES games I have played so far(excluding Excitebike). It's fast-paced and excited in comparison, though it wasn't anything too special. The Zamboni stuff during intermissions was cute.

6.2/10

I played a lot of this game like a good Canadian should, buts its the inferior hockey game on NES. The best part of this game is turning on the rubber puck code so that they puck never stops after a shot.

Pros: You can pick the USSR!

Cons: Is Gorbachevs…

Once again, just like Soccer, how does the game read my mind and switch to the exact player that I want to control?!?!

I mean... it's hockey. Do you like hockey? Hockey sucks, not gonna lie. He was our next lead that Wrestling told us about after he proved he didn't murder my Dad, so Soccer, Tennis, Baseball and I went ahead and went to where Ice Hockey is so that we could confront him about this.

We found him drying off after a big match that he had just finished against a similar opponent, and when he saw us approaching, I could see his face turn into a nervous expression, which gave me confidence we were getting close to solving this mystery. It took us a good while to squeeze any info out of him whatsoever, but when Soccer started getting serious, that's when true fear struck him. It was also then at that point where we heard a sound coming from a distant room behind Hockey, which he then reacted to with fear, signifying that we had found or culprit.

However, before we could get past him to confront the criminal, Hockey then summoned a group of goons to block our path, but I wouldn't turn back now, and neither would my comrades. They shot hockey pucks at us, which did do a number on us, but then Tennis and Baseball started firing back, which gave Soccer and I the opportunity to run past them to get to the distant room.

I was afraid of the safety of Tennis and Baseball, but when I looked back at them, they fought with confidence in their face, working together to take down their foe. So, with that being taken care of, Soccer and I then ventured to finally uncover the murderer of my dad.

Game #111

A very simple hockey game with 3 different classes of players (the slow but strong one, the fast but weak one, and the all-rounder) and little strategy yet I do enjoy it quite a lot. Its simplicity is probably its biggest strength.

Eu era craque aqui em, embora não tivesse a menor ideia de que esporte era esse.

proto-nba jam, lots of fun with friends. I remember bringing my Wii on a camp trip and playing tons of this and brawl with the other kids in my room


The early 80's first party nintendo sports games are generally seen now days as clutter that wastes spots on the virtual console/Nintendo switch online. And to various extents that's correct, however Ice Hockey does deserve credit for being the first sports game made by nintendo that's truly unambiguously fun (Punch out is only technically a boxing game)

Ice hockey is incredibly fast paced (especially for an NES game). Features fun co-op and was also the first nintendo sports game to use the tried and true formula of heavy, medium, and lightweight characters as a way of encouraging multiple playstyles

Actually surprisingly fun... about as fun as an NES game can get.

Easily the best of the Nintendo sports games from the 80s. Tecmo Bowl is my favorite 80s sports game, but this is a close second. For what it is, it's a whole lot of fun. Better than NHL 19 in my opinion (not over 21 though). Lots of customization and it's very replayable. It's one of my most played games on the NES collection on Switch!

GRADE
A-

Surprisingly fun and challenging little sports game. Gameplay is simple enough to pick up and play, but it controls great and has just enough customization to give it a ton of replay value. If you're looking for a cheap NES game that's actually good, go for this one.