News Post

After 20 Years NHL 94 Remains One of the Best Sports Videogames of All-Time

04:56 PM - March 20, 2013 by Steve_OS

Can you believe NHL 94 was released 20 years ago this month? NHL.com has posted an article about it today, which includes a couple of video clips.

To this day, Jeremy Roenick still receives comments about the game.

Quote:


	"It's the No. 1 comment that is made to me over the course of every day, whether it's over Twitter or meeting on the street. Whatever the case may be, I would say one out of three people I meet mention '94 Sega," Roenick told NHL.com. "They say one of three things: One, 'You couldn't beat the Chicago Blackhawks [in the game] because of Jeremy Roenick.' No. 2, 'I got through college playing Jeremy Roenick in '94 Sega.' The third is it was a rule that you couldn't be the Chicago Blackhawks in the game, because they were that unstoppable.

What about you? Do you have any NHL 94 stories you'd like to share?

Source - Electronic Arts Celebrates NHL '94's 20th Anniversary (Game Informer)

Member Comments

# 1 crob8822 @ 03/20/13 05:17 PM

I remember playing this game for hours, a great game indeed!!!!

# 2 bad_philanthropy @ 03/20/13 05:28 PM

I've never understood the "NHL 94 is the greatest sports videogame ever" talk. I played it as much as anyone, and truly had an amazing time with it, but to me it doesn't compare to the fun factor or iterations released more recently. Heck, I think NHL 98 on PS1 was a better game from both the pure fun standpoint, and sports simulation aspect. NHL 2k3 is another one I consider a true landmark in the history of the genre.

For me, NHL 94 is a great sports videogame in its time. Nostalgia may engender fond memories f it, but the merit of its constant celebration seems to have nothing to do with it as a sports videogame and more of a videogame that penetrated the mainstream in an era when videogames were still kind of fringe. Lik I said, I think a game like NHL 98 and NHL 2k3 were far greater achievements.

# 3 murph17 @ 03/20/13 05:34 PM

2 minute misconduct penalty on NHL.com for using the SNES version in their video. Everyone knows the Genesis version was the shiznit.

# 4 thbends @ 03/20/13 05:38 PM

Being fro Dallas the only reason I knew the NHL was through my friend's grandfather's satellite tv and the old NHL games. Belfour was INCREDIBLE in goal in those games as well.

It would be cool if they would offer it as a download.

# 5 RandyBass @ 03/20/13 05:40 PM

NHL 94 is a landmark in sports gaming. I put it up there with Baseball Stars and ESPN NFL 2K5, with all three games being ahead of their time.

# 6 Luke466 @ 03/20/13 05:40 PM

As a Scott Stevens fan I played a lot as the Devils and #4's hitting power (?) matched JR's. Stevens was unstoppable as a St. Louis Blue #2 LD in the '92 game version.
College? Who needs to get to class?

# 7 Cletus @ 03/20/13 05:43 PM

NHL 94 on the SNES was far superior and I played them all on Genesis. SNES didn't have the weight bug, which made the grinders and tough guys of the league pointless.

# 8 CaptainSuperman @ 03/20/13 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thbends


	It would be cool if they would offer it as a download.

It isn't featured in 13? I'm pretty sure it was in like 12 or 11, so I only assumed they kept it in.

But there is always this...

http://coolrom.com/roms/genesis/6203/NHL_Hockey_'94.php

http://coolrom.com/emulators/genesis/

# 9 Bull_Dozer @ 03/20/13 10:58 PM

I hate hockey, but I enjoyed the hell out of NHL 94... fantastic game.

# 10 sketchy1 @ 03/21/13 01:33 AM

i dunno if this is the 94 game or not can anyone tell?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3vHbOilhpc

# 11 Money99 @ 03/21/13 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cletus


	NHL 94 on the SNES was far superior and I played them all on Genesis. SNES didn't have the weight bug, which made the grinders and tough guys of the league pointless.

I had both version as well and I agree. I enjoyed the SNES version way better.
There were other subtle changes as well like proper jersey's and a more realistic color palette. And I believe they had better scoring celebrations (could be wrong on that one though).

I still consider NHL94 to be one of the best sports games I've ever played and probably played that game more than any other hockey game as well.

I miss those days. I think our expectations as gamers has really hurt the pure joy that can be had with sports games these days.
And developers don't seem to have as much time to really put out a bug-free, completed game.
Every game has patches now.

Anyway, I guess my fond memory wasn't specific to one play or game, but my brother and I used to have some epic 7-game series against one another.
We'd even record stats and had sarcastic, hilarious game quotes (yes, we were that nerdy).
If I had to mention one specific memory that's burned into my head it was game 7 in OT with my Wings against my brother's Hawks.
Steve Thomas skates the puck down the ice where my defender goes to check him.
He fires the puck on net, skates around my defender and then plows into my goalie, who's still trying to handle the shot, and all three go into the net, sealing the win for my bro.
To say I was incensed is an understatement. He still brings it up 25 years later, haha.

My top hockey games of all time:
1. NHL2K3 (easily the greatest hockey game of all time. AI was absolutely superb).
2. NHL94
3. NHL07
4. NHL2004
5. Fox Champ Hockey 2000.

Honorable mentions: Mario Lemieux hockey (underrated game. Had full stats including 2nd assists), NES Ice Hockey and NHL2K10.

# 12 oldman @ 03/21/13 10:06 AM

I am not a hockey fan, but as an 11 year old I somehow ended up with this game on Sega and I still remember it as being one of the greatest games I ever played!

# 13 DJ @ 03/21/13 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Money99


	I had both version as well and I agree. I enjoyed the SNES version way better. There were other subtle changes as well like proper jersey's and a more realistic color palette. And I believe they had better scoring celebrations (could be wrong on that one though). I still consider NHL94 to be one of the best sports games I've ever played and probably played that game more than any other hockey game as well. I miss those days. I think our expectations as gamers has really hurt the pure joy that can be had with sports games these days. And developers don't seem to have as much time to really put out a bug-free, completed game. Every game has patches now. Anyway, I guess my fond memory wasn't specific to one play or game, but my brother and I used to have some epic 7-game series against one another. We'd even record stats and had sarcastic, hilarious game quotes (yes, we were that nerdy). If I had to mention one specific memory that's burned into my head it was game 7 in OT with my Wings against my brother's Hawks. Steve Thomas skates the puck down the ice where my defender goes to check him. He fires the puck on net, skates around my defender and then plows into my goalie, who's still trying to handle the shot, and all three go into the net, sealing the win for my bro. To say I was incensed is an understatement. He still brings it up 25 years later, haha. My top hockey games of all time: 1. NHL2K3 (easily the greatest hockey game of all time. AI was absolutely superb). 2. NHL94 3. NHL07 4. NHL2004 5. Fox Champ Hockey 2000. Honorable mentions: Mario Lemieux hockey (underrated game. Had full stats including 2nd assists), NES Ice Hockey and NHL2K10.

I get what you are saying about expectations, but at the same time a lot of us that grew up playing NES, SNES and Genesis were kids or teenagers. Videogames were still a new thing to us so we were just happy to have something that resembled the sporting events we watched on TV.

It's only natural that as the games evolved, our expectations for what to expect from said games would evolve as well. I do think that sometimes our expectations are unrealistic and that we can forget that we're supposed to play these games for fun.

NHL 94 definitely ranks as a top-10 all-time sports game for me. I played it for several years; tons of head-to-head matchups against friends (like you and Rudy, I also had league where we kept track of records, stats, etc. in a notebook) and of course, the CPU.

# 14 Money99 @ 03/21/13 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ


	I get what you are saying about expectations, but at the same time a lot of us that grew up playing NES, SNES and Genesis were kids or teenagers. Videogames were still a new thing to us so we were just happy to have something that resembled the sporting events we watched on TV. It's only natural that as the games evolved, our expectations for what to expect from said games would evolve as well. I do think that sometimes our expectations are unrealistic and that we can forget that we're supposed to play these games for fun. NHL 94 definitely ranks as a top-10 all-time sports game for me. I played it for several years; tons of head-to-head matchups against friends (like you and Rudy, I also had league where we kept track of records, stats, etc. in a notebook) and of course, the CPU.

Very true. I think that's what I miss - my ignorance to thinking it could be even better, haha.

Another '94 story. I have a very good friend that is just horrible at video games. He makes us all feel like superstars.
He'd come over on the weekend and we'd have a 4-team tournament (3 HUM, 1 CPU) with the top 3 making it into the playoffs.
But we'd always have to include all 4 teams because my buddy would go 0-3, haha!
He'd try to refuse and stick to his principals, but we forced him to play mostly because we'd all be laughing as the CPU would outscore, hit and fight him all over the rink, LOL!

I eventually took pity on him, and because I had both the Genesis and SNES, I lent the Genesis to him for a week so he could get better.
After 5 days he reported back that he was now able to beat the CPU more than 50% of the time. He was feeling confident and sure.
Then his 13-year-old sister walked in the room, saw the game and asked to play.
He gladly accepted the challenge feeling he'd make himself even more confident by beating on this rookie.
He lost by 4 goals. She had never played the game in her life and destroyed him.
My friend didn't let that deter him. He continued playing the CPU to get better and better.
Then one day, his 50+ year old father sat down to play him and after 2 periods HE was beating my buddy by multiple goals.
That's when he shut the console off, packed everything up and drove it back to my house, "Here! I don't want to see this thing ever again!", Hahaha!

P.S. My friend was so bad at video games, he would routinely get beat-up by Glass Joe on Mike Tyson's punch-out. I'd say his record against Joe was 3-10.

# 15 keator @ 03/21/13 04:00 PM

Penguins, Rangers and Canuks (sp) were also very deadly in that game...

Plus the addition of the one timer, and how much easier to was to score going down than going up for me...

I love this era of videogames.. The game boxes were awesome, EA was still king, and you had to use your imagination as well. We didnt worry about patches or bugs, just played the game and had a blast.

\

# 16 MelBosco @ 03/21/13 05:44 PM

Personally I find the earlist games in the genre are often the best.

Tecmo bowl is (IMO) the best football game every (in terms of enjoyment)

Blades of Steel (IMO) is the best Hockey game (in terms of enjoyment)

None of this picking NHL teams and line juggling. You had the option of the fat guys, the medium guys or the skinny guys.

Personally I liked picking the fat guys. Big hitters and huge shots.

# 17 Bulls321974 @ 03/22/13 09:18 AM

"Can you believe NHL 94 was released 20 years ago this month?" Yes, I can. The number "94" indicates that pretty clearly...

# 18 Kingdawgydawg @ 03/22/13 10:42 PM

94 was the best, being a Kings fan I used Gretzky, Sandstrom and Robitaille all day and the Bruins with Cam Neely and Ray Bourque! I probably spent 6 months real time playing that game!

Sent from Tapatalk

# 19 testorz @ 03/23/13 10:19 AM

NHL '94 was one of the best sports game ever ! Loved playing it back in the day !

# 20 murph17 @ 03/26/13 12:29 PM

OK all this 20th anniversary talk got me motivated to finish hooking up my media PC/emulator down in the man cave this weekend.

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