NHL 95

Hockey combines grace, speed, and violence (Im not talking about hockey fights , either) into one extremely entertaining game. And throughout its history, the sport has produced some of the most iconic athletes in American culture.

While watching an NHL game on television, you’ll notice that someone on the ice will be doing something extraordinary, so youll flip to another channel to make sure they caught it. Thats basically how I discovered NHL 95 on Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive) when it first came out. I was blown away by how the gameplay mimicked what I was seeing on TV. The game was realistic in many ways, but there were some cool features that made me love it even more.

I cant even figure out why people watch any other sports. Hockey combines grace, speed, and violence (Im not talking about the fighting, but hitting into boards, hitting with elbows, just the act of crashing into each other is brutal and so much fun). As a result, NHL 95 (the first video game to be licensed by the NHL) was one of my favorite games as a kid. I played it all the time. So when I heard that EA Sports made a new NHL game for this year (NHL 14), I took notice.

I’m happy to report that they did not screw up what was already perfect. The graphics are amazing and it makes me feel like Im watching a NHL game in HD on TV rather than playing on my PS3. The gameplay is smooth and fast, which suits the sport very well