NHL 97

1997 edition of EA's NHL sport simulation series. Improvements in this edition come mostly in the graphical arena, with a refined version of the "virtual stadium" system that adds new camera angles (including the classical top-down one strangely missing from NHL 96), and polygonal players instead of the bitmap-based ones with motion-captured animations.

Released: 31 August 1996
Platforms: PlayStation SNES Sega Genesis Sega Saturn Windows
Genres: Ice hockey Sports
Developers: —
Publishers: EA Sports
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Third person Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Non-fiction
Country: United States Canada
Age ratings: ESRB E
Languages: English
Composers: David Whittaker, Jeff van Dyck

About

NHL 97 is an ice hockey video game by EA Sports. It was released in 1996 and was the successor to NHL 96. It is the sixth installment of the NHL series and the first to be released on both PlayStation and Sega Saturn. A Panasonic M2 version was in development and slated to be one of the launch titles for it, but never happened due to the cancellation of the system.

The cover of the game features goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, who played for the Florida Panthers between 1993 and 1998. NHL 97 was the last game of the NHL series to feature a goaltender on the cover until Martin Brodeur was chosen for the cover of NHL 14.

Keywords

ice hockey

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

NHL 97 uses a full 3D engine, with motion captured polygonal players (PC/PlayStation/Sega Saturn versions only, the Genesis and SNES versions retained similar graphical values to previous games, but with further enhanced animations). Each goaltender has his own custom-painted mask and the original artwork can be seen inside the game with a special "Goalie Mask Viewer". NHL 97 also introduces play-by-play commentary, provided by well-known announcer Jim Hughson.

For the first time since EA Hockey, national teams were added, but only Canada, the United States, and Russia have their own teams while the other two are selections of the best European players. NHL 97 introduced a skills competition, allowing the user to pick players to compete in drills such as hardest shot, goalie 2 on 0, and accuracy shooting.

Reception

According to market research firm PC Data, the Windows version of NHL 97 was the 20th best-selling computer game of 1996 in the United States.

The game received favorable reviews. Next Generation gave the Genesis version a rave review, saying it retained the familiar classic feel of the series while improving the AI and adding new special moves, fixes, and features. The reviewer firmly denied that a Genesis version of the game was obsolete: "Even with all the enhancements this game has undergone on 32-bit systems, the feel of a humble Genesis pad controlling all-out NHL action is unsurpassed." Air Hendrix of GamePro was also enthusiastic, saying the game "attains a new pinnacle of hockey action.