Article 39514 of rec.games.video: Newsgroups: rec.games.video Path: uwm.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wupost!gumby!destroyer!terminator!aal.itd.umich.edu!rdunkle From: rdunkle@aal.itd.umich.edu (R. M. Dunkle) Subject: NHLPA Hockey '93 Review (LONG) Message-ID: <1992Oct2.045753.11608@terminator.cc.umich.edu> Originator: rdunkle@richards.aal.itd.umich.edu Sender: news@terminator.cc.umich.edu (Usenet Owner) Organization: Campus Computing Sites, University of Michigan Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 04:57:53 GMT Lines: 93 First things first: the differences between NHLPA Hockey '93 and the immensely successful original NHL Hockey. The use of real players and a stat-keeping facility are the obvious (and well-advertised) enhancements. All 24 NHL teams (including the two expansion teams) have full rosters of real players, rated in 13 categories: Agility, Speed, Offensive Awareness, Defensive Awareness, Shot Power, Shot Accuracy, Pass Accuracy, Stick Handling, Weight, Endurance, Aggressiveness, Checking, and Fighting for skaters; goalies are rated in 10 categories. These are combined to get an overall rating, which, as with the rest, can be viewed at any time during the game. This is another new feature of NHLPA - no more mysteries. Player ratings are easily available for review, which is quite helpful when choosing lines. This is another welcome enhancement - the player can set whatever lines he or she chooses, and can save lines (for one team only) with the battery backup facility. The default lines, as with NHL Hockey, seem somewhat arbitrary, not reflecting the true tendencies of the NHL teams. Thankfully, that is no longer a problem. Changing lines is done at the pause menu, which contains many more options than in NHL Hockey, and is the gateway to the enhanced statistical features, as well. Viewing Game Statistics gives much the same information as in the earlier game, with "Faceoffs Won," "Body Checks," and "Passing" added. Passing is given as the percentage of completed passes. The Player Stats feature allows you to view pertinent statistics for the game in progress, for either team. Goals, Assists, Points, Shots-on- Goal, and Penalty Minutes are available for the skaters, with Shots and Goals Allowed for the goalies. The D-Pad is used to scroll through the players and categories, with players ranked by the highlighted category. Also available is a complete scoring summary, penalty summary, Team Roster, other scores from around the league, and "Crowd Meter," which apparently measures the excitement level of the game. The changes in game play are more dramatic than expected. Improved goalie play was badly needed (the NHL Hockey goalies can be beaten consistently by skating across the goal mouth), and was implemented quite fully. Rebounds are up, but goalie placement and movement are much improved. Goalies now dive to cover up the puck, and there will be no more games of "push the goalie out of the way while I score" - the programmers put in a full-fledged interference penalty, and the refs aren't afraid to call it. The refs aren't afraid to call much of anything in NHLPA - partly because the moves have changed. The 'A' button is still used to clutch and grab, and the 'C' button shoots and gives a burst of speed, but the 'B' button - formerly just used to "poke check" and try to snag the puck - now poke checks quite a bit more dramatically, knocking players off-balance (a new feature, the players wobble for a moment) and even flooring them. The 'A' button also gives a more dramatic hook than it used to. The new controls take a bit of getting used to, but are more realistic, and close enough to the original that transition shouldn't take more than a game or two. Fighting's been revamped, as well, though only minorly - the computer opponent won't fall for the "punch-and-back-off" routine any more. Injuries were added to NHLPA, and this might be the only new feature that could have been left out comfortably. Not the injuries themselves - they add more realism to the game, and come about as frequently as one would expect. What is not as welcome is the graphics that go along with the injuries: the injured player falls to the ice, and lies convulsing as a pool of blood spreads from the area of its head. Anyone who's seen the more serious injuries in the real NHL may find this more disturbing than it needs to be. Lastly, the battery backup seems somewhat under-utilized, but is still a very nice touch. As mentioned above, a set of lines may be saved. Additionally, the current playoff tree is saved, along with the full accumulated statistics for the team the player is controlling. There is no full, regular-season replay facility, but an entire (maximum) 28-game playoff season can be saved. Only one set of playoffs can be saved at one time, and it's done automatically. Regular-season games may be played without losing the saved data. NHLPA Hockey '93 seems relatively free of bugs, but there are a few: goalie saves for a playoff series don't accumulate correctly - after reaching a certain point, it appears they exceed the maximum for the memory they are alotted, and revert to a fixed value thereafter; a few graphics glitches have made appearances - the white "reflection" stars going up and down the sides of the ice turned black (looking like holes in the ice...), and a goalie turned invisible for a few seconds (the puck suspended eerily). In all, NHLPA Hockey '93 is a worthy successor to the original NHL Hockey, an admirable effort, and will likely win all of the awards the original did. - Brian Dunkle -- Brian A. Dunkle | "Dig Zebrox!" rdunkle@aal.itd.umich.edu <---|---> bad@emunix.emich.edu [Now residing in fiery Tucson, Arizona...Life is strange..] [Lizards are our friends. If only they could talk to us...] Article 39552 of rec.games.video: Newsgroups: rec.games.video,rec.sport.hockey Path: uwm.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!nsisrv!kong!jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov From: jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke) Subject: Re: NHLPA Hockey '93 Review (LONG) Message-ID: <1992Oct2.173818.2940@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov> Sender: news@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov Organization: NASA GSFC References: <1992Oct2.051447.11875@terminator.cc.umich.edu> Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 17:38:18 GMT Lines: 43 Xref: uwm.edu rec.games.video:39552 rec.sport.hockey:38980 In article <1992Oct2.051447.11875@terminator.cc.umich.edu>, rdunkle@aal.itd.umich.edu (R. M. Dunkle) writes: > > First things first: the differences between NHLPA Hockey '93 and > the immensely successful original NHL Hockey. The use of real players and .. (rest of excellent review deleted)... Other differences: The music played at the title screen and game selection/option screen is no longer loud and brash -- In NHL Hockey I'd cringe whenever I knew that damn selection screen was coming up! Fights have some (and potentially a large) significance, because if a player is injured during a fight they are out for the whole game (injuries during normal play result in being out for one period.) One strategy is to take one of your better fighters and keep pounding a more vunerable and important player in an attempt to pick a fight with them. If you do it enough times and beat them several times you can take them out of the game (if you win a fight you generally get a penalty, so it had better be worth it.) This isn't as easy a task as it sounds, though. Instant replays allow you to follow any player instead of just following the puck. MUCH better manual -- finally an explanation of how shooting at the goal works (it has a diagram of what combinations of joystick and C button shoot the puck where). It also has examples of penalties and such for those of us who aren't hockey experts. Still, it could use some further clarifications -- for instance, I don't have any idea what qualifies as an "assist" and in playing the game it doesn't get any clearer (sometimes I'll score a goal seeming with a single player and yet one or two others will be listed as having assisted.) What is an assist? The crowd meter doesn't just measure the noise level of the home crowd -- crowd participation has a real effect on the game. The way it's implemented is that crowd noise directly effects the statistical ratings of the home team players. If the crowd's bored you'll be worse off, if you play a fast paced game, steal the puck a lot, etc. the crowd goes wild and your team plays better. It's a clever idea. Steve