NHL ’99 Review

            I admit up front in this review that I am not a hockey fan by nature. In fact, unlike much of my family, I normally do not care to watch sports in general. With that knowledge, one would be safe to assume that I am writing this review not from the standpoint of a hockey fan, but from that of a gamer. That said, I not only like this game, but also have a special place in my heart for it. If I have done my job correctly, my reasons for my feelings towards this game should be very apparent by the end of this review.

            As is per tradition, I will go over a little bit of background information first. NHL ’99 was released on October 1, 1998 for the Nintendo 64, PC, and PlayStation consoles. However, I will be focusing on the Nintendo 64 version for this review.

            Overall, the graphics are decent. All of the jerseys look good, and the rink looks realistic as well. The players’ faces look exactly the same, but that could be due to the hardware limitations of the N64. The intro graphic reminds me of some sort of painting, and the menu screens themselves incorporate many different designs. I would have liked to see the N64’s graphical capabilities pushed a little more, but what I saw was pretty interesting, nonetheless.

            This game’s sound is pretty good, too. The crowd and players make their usual cheers, boos, and grunts at the right time. The goal horn sounds like that of an ambulance siren. Since I am not much of a hockey fan, I cannot tell whether or not that is realistic. It is interesting to note that instead of Jim Hughston and Darryl Reaugh calling the game as in the PlayStation version, a lone Bill Clement announces the game.

            The controls are very solid for an N64 game. The d-pad is used to move around, the B button is used to shoot, A to pass, and so on. I won’t go into too much detail here. This setup, in my opinion is quite comfortable. If that is not the case with the player, then controller setup can be changed.

            The difficulty of this game varies. In beginner mode, the game is a joke (fittingly). Rookie difficulty offers a lot of teachable moments, and the CPU actually tries to win in Pro difficulty. However, in All-Star difficulty, the computer becomes brutally aggressive.

            Due to the many modes and features that inhabit this game, like Tournament mode and Create-a-Player, I believe that it holds up as well today as it did in 1998. This game, therefore, has high replay value. I would recommend this game to any fan of hockey, or, in my case, hockey video games.