Best nhl video game of all time?

[MJ200]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

NHL94 PC-version. Just because.

yup.
that was the year before the gameplay started to feel scripted

[stlgamer09]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

Roster Share is now broken since the update.. Can't create anymore players or the game crashes!

Roster Share works for me been making rosters all the time.

Also a true legend Blades of Steel!!

[stooge 1010]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

Just watched a video on YouTube of nhl 2004 on ps2, god I miss those days. That game was a blast to play.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[LegendKillerOne]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

NHL 14 by far. I miss that game

[RicoLaguna]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

If u love NHL 14, why wouldnt you just say NHL Legacy which is pretty much a more refined version of NHL 14?

[LegendKillerOne]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

If u love NHL 14, why wouldnt you just say NHL Legacy which is pretty much a more refined version of NHL 14?

I some how missed playing that game. It slipped through the cracks for me which is wierd to say but true. I wish I could try it out but I do not have a ps3 anymore

[The EVHL]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

Most potential - NHL 22 (with heavily adjusted sliders, rosters, strategies - this game can look so so good at times, then so so bad…if they took to the time to polish some mechanics, animations, and update their strategies for the first time since 99, game would be consistently enjoyable)

Vanilla - NHL 2004 PC (best game right OOTB and it’s probably not close. This game was played when I was too young to switch sliders and the game was dynamic, fun, made in the spirit of the sport. Great product with actual effort and a passion for hockey. Would love to see that out of a modern title some day.

Dark horse - NHL Hitz Pro (no line changes, delayed offside not properly implemented, heavy slider work required for a more realistic approach to the sport, but not its enough TLC and being able to overlook the first two bullets on this list, this game plays a very respectable game of 5v5 hockey. Goalies are fun and for the most part actually need to plant their feet to move which is cool. Net-front scrambles are incredible and provide a much grittier experience than any other hockey game. Dedicated dump button is awesome and should be in all modern hockey games. If this series could’ve gotten 2-3 more releases, I think I’d legitimately be able to put the hypothetical Hitz Pro 07 as the greatest game of all-time. This series was really headed in the right direction. These guys ended up making Mario strikers and the OG strikers was basically NHL Hitz and it was a legendary game.)

[VeNOM3099]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

I have yet to find the videogame that plays actual Hockey. So there's no "best" in my mind, but there's a bunch of features from different hockey games I'd like to see merged together in a game.

NHL 2K8's AI Goalies: They weren't perfect, but damn near. The only flaw I found with them is how the AI would handle far shots by diving at the puck. It's not soccer, it's Hockey. Other than that, I loved how you couldn't just score on them without effort. The way they moved and tracked the puck. How they could chain into different saves after attempting one. Or two... Or Three... Simply amazing!

NHL 2K10's AI: 2K10 was my least favorite hockey game in the series, but one thing I'll give them credit for is that no other hockey game forced me to play offense and defense the correct way. Powerplays felt like powerplays, penalty kills felt like penalty kills. Each team had a different strategy and you had to adjust to playing them. Hockey is about creating opportunities through puck possession. The more you controlled the puck, the more space you could create, the more chances you had to score. Simple. No RB + RS or holding down RT and ballerina your way to the net to score. No Baseball scores at the end of a game. Just hockey at it's purest. I miss that...

NHL 07's skill stick: Give credit where credit is due. EA Sports nailed it with how you could control the puck, almost 1:1 with the Right Analog stick. Back when "having thumbs" meant you could actually do something with the RS to make a play instead of just holding UP.

NHL 14's Human Goalies: Again, not perfect, but it was the first time where goalies were nearly on par with the skaters. It still had that magic carpet floatiness feel to movement in the crease, but at least your avatar made a save when he had to. None of this let the puck go through you crap that's been in their game since.

NHL 2K10's Arenas Call me crazy, but I never held any game's graphics to be great (not EA, not 2K), but I'd have to be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by the Arena's in that game. Different venues had different lighting, the seating, the jumbotrons, center-ice. You could even customize the arena intros and other sound bites like the breaks in play, fights, goal songs, etc. Each arena brought it's own flavour and personality to the teams already in the game, it was NUTS!

[The EVHL]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

I have yet to find the videogame that plays actual Hockey. So there's no "best" in my mind, but there's a bunch of features from different hockey games I'd like to see merged together in a game.

NHL 2K8's AI Goalies: They weren't perfect, but damn near. The only flaw I found with them is how the AI would handle far shots by diving at the puck. It's not soccer, it's Hockey. Other than that, I loved how you couldn't just score on them without effort. The way they moved and tracked the puck. How they could chain into different saves after attempting one. Or two... Or Three... Simply amazing!

NHL 2K10's AI: 2K10 was my least favorite hockey game in the series, but one thing I'll give them credit for is that no other hockey game forced me to play offense and defense the correct way. Powerplays felt like powerplays, penalty kills felt like penalty kills. Each team had a different strategy and you had to adjust to playing them. Hockey is about creating opportunities through puck possession. The more you controlled the puck, the more space you could create, the more chances you had to score. Simple. No RB + RS or holding down RT and ballerina your way to the net to score. No Baseball scores at the end of a game. Just hockey at it's purest. I miss that...

NHL 07's skill stick: Give credit where credit is due. EA Sports nailed it with how you could control the puck, almost 1:1 with the Right Analog stick. Back when "having thumbs" meant you could actually do something with the RS to make a play instead of just holding UP.

NHL 14's Human Goalies: Again, not perfect, but it was the first time where goalies were nearly on par with the skaters. It still had that magic carpet floatiness feel to movement in the crease, but at least your avatar made a save when he had to. None of this let the puck go through you crap that's been in their game since.

NHL 2K10's Arenas Call me crazy, but I never held any game's graphics to be great (not EA, not 2K), but I'd have to be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by the Arena's in that game. Different venues had different lighting, the seating, the jumbotrons, center-ice. You could even customize the arena intros and other sound bites like the breaks in play, fights, goal songs, etc. Each arena brought it's own flavour and personality to the teams already in the game, it was NUTS!

This is a great list and it's funny how I 100% agree with all of it! 2k10's AI and their presentation, rink graphics always had me coming back for more despite the overall product being fairly clunky.

2k8's goalies were a dream and I loved the "power wrist shot" control found in 2k8. Really offered some cool risk/reward there and you were able to get AI defenders to bite on the fake power wrist shots which added another element to the game!

[mattsb84]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

Early 2000s version on PC were amazing - could mod them to your hearts content for accurate unis/goalie masks/arena music (diddies). Not nearly as technical as the current games, but they were really fun.

HighHeat 2000-2004 was also in that same realm for modablity - though HH was significantly deeper in some aspects and was ahead of its time by comparison - until MVP 05 dropped. PC could really go for a licensed MLB game again - think the last one came from 2k devs a while ago.

[gerald_koonce]

Re: Best nhl video game of all time?

NHL2004 was as close to realism as possible. Yeah, it wasn't perfect. Forceful moves were difficult to do. But it is the complexity of the game and bribes. Graphics there, of course, compared with today's does not stand up to criticism, examples of pictures you can see on the site https://writemyessay.nyc. But it was often said that the gameplay is more important in sports simulators, not the image. So this is fully justified in the case of NHL2004. Plus, it had the most advanced Dynasty mode. Then it all went very much to simplification, reaching its peak by NHL08, where even the improvements for you puts the computer. And now Dynasty - it's just an opportunity to play many seasons for a team you make yourself.
In terms of realism, the best was certainly NHL2004, but the most excitement is still NHL2005. After that, the series died. I hope for a resurrection.

Wrote a post and such nostalgia swept over. Found the game's archive and installed it. Thought there would be problems with installation on Windows 10, but no, it all worked. I am playing it for the second day. I hope for the reincarnation of my favorite game