NHL 95

NHL '95 was EA Sports' third licensed ice hockey game, promising the fastest action in the series to date. The action is viewed top-down, and can be played with or without realistic penalties. There is a full season mode, allowing you to guide a team through all 84 matches, with the option of injuries potentially putting players out of a sequence of matches. You have full control over trading and creating players for your squad. New in-game moves include dummy shots and lie-down blocks.

Released: 31 December 1994
Platforms: Game Boy Game Gear MS-DOS SNES Sega Genesis
Genres: Ice hockey Simulation Sports
Developers: EA Canada High Score Productions
Publishers: Electronic Arts EA Sports
Modes: Local multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Third person Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Non-fiction

About

NHL 95 (also known as NHL Hockey 95) is an ice hockey video game published by EA Sports. It was released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Genesis. The team rosters and player attributes in the game reflect that of the 1994–95 NHL season.

Keywords

ice hockey
national hockey league
ice skating
box art - real photos
year in the title
difficulty level
penalties
montreal canadiens
new york rangers
stanley cup

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

GamePro gave the Genesis version a perfect score and called it "the smoothest, most entertaining hockey title ever created", citing the ability to sign, trade, and release real NHL players, the ability to create one's own fantasy players, the advanced statistics tracking, the new injury animations, the realistic sounds, and "the unbelievably blazing speed of the game". They declared the SNES version to be "just average" due to the vastly inferior controls and sound effects as compared to the Genesis version, as well as the removal of content such as shootout mode, playoff mode, fake shots, and drop-passes. They were still less enthusiastic about the Game Boy version, saying that its impressive graphics and selection of modes are outweighed by the frustration generated by the limited two-button control. They also commented, "The sprites are large and detailed, but that creates another problem. The bigger the players, the less ice that fits on the tiny screen, so you almost need a map to find the net."

Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "A must for any serious hockey fan."