The Bottom Line: It's fun to play if realism isn't really your bag. It's not a simulation of actual NHL hockey, it's an arcade game made to be fun and high scoring.
socnorb777's Full Review: NHL Hitz 2002 for GameCube
What if the NHL rinks were tiny and the players were huge and there were no real rules and fights were encouraged? NHL Hitz takes this question and runs with it. It's NHL hockey for those with the attention span of a gnat, but it's fun, so I like it.
NHL Hitz has little resemblance to actual hockey. There are only three skaters plus one goalie per team. The action is fast and furious, and there is no regard for silly little things like penalties, offsides, and icing calls. About the only rule is the rule of the jungle, that and the rule that says whoever loses a fight sits out the rest of the game.
Thus fighting takes on a much more strategic element, and actually is one of the more entertaining aspects of NHL Hitz. Each fight is more than simple button mashing, but there is some skill involved in it as well. This game has easily the most elaborate fighting scenes I have ever seen in a video game, and they serve it well.
The rest of the game actually has a bit of skill to it as well. There is a turbo feature which you use by pressing either the left or right buttons, and this provides an bit of extra gitty-up in your step. However, be cautious in using it or you will use it up and have none when you really need it. The turbo replenishes itself when you are not using it, so throughout the game you are pressing and depressing turbo to attempt to use it to your greatest advantage.
This game is created by Midway, and it is a cousin of NFL Blitz. As such, it shares some characteristics with Blitz. In addition to the aforementioned turbo feature, there is also an "On Fire" feature which provides you with more speed and a stronger shot and the added bonus of skating around the rink in flames. This occurs whenever you score your third goal with a single player. Your skater remains on fire until your opponent scores a goal to douse the flames.
The best defensive strategy for the game is hit or be hit. When in doubt on a play in defense, smack the closest guy next to you to the ice. You know you are not going to get a penalty, and chances are it's the right move. The better your hitting ability, the better you'll do in this game. Hitting is somewhat of a science that you get better at with practice. It's a combination of using turbo and getting good timing on where to attack the puck at.
Offense is not hard to come by, as the scores routinely hover around the 9 goals to 8 goals range for a game. However, it is not as easy to score when you really need to, and one of the most frustrating aspects of the game is having 40 seconds left and being down by 1 goal. It seems impossible to penetrate the defense at these times. However, other times you may score 4 goals in 15 seconds, so needless to say it's a quirky game. Unless you get very good at defense, or perhaps you play against someone who is really bad at offense, you won't see much of a defensive struggle. However, I have played a 2-1 game, so it can be done. The Computer AI is rather good, and you will have difficulty defeating the computer, especially after you defeat a few teams.
There are several different options for gameplay. You can play an exhibition mode game if you just want to jump in and go. If you have a memory card (and why have a Gamecube without a memory card? I mean really!) you can save your season and earn points towards things at the hockey shop. There are skills competitions, which I grew bored of in about 6 seconds, and then there is the championship mode, where you take your favorite NHL team against the rest of the league and try to beat everyone and win the Stanley Cup. (This is my favorite part of the game.)
You can also go into franchise mode and create your own team with your own unique logo and colors and even develop players to play on your team. This sounds pretty cool, but I've been so absorbed in the championship mode I haven't even tested it out yet.
Then there is the hockey shop, you can go there and use the credits you earn for winning games and also answering trivia questions correctly at the end of each game. In the shop you can purchase alternative jerseys from NHL uniforms of yore, you can buy funky heads for your hockey players, and you can even purchase new rinks to play your games in. They are weird rinks too, like a coliseum, the circus, the old west, and a shark tank to name a few. These different rinks add a new element of gameplay to the same old generic NHL rink that you play in game after game. The best thing about playing on the regular ice is that the crowd will give you codes to use.
At the beginning of each game there is a screen which you can use to input codes for funky situations like an extra speed burst, not allowing the puck to leave the rink, or even a code that gives players enormous heads. These codes provide some entertaining game options, but do little to change the gameplay (apart from the speed boost, which makes all your skaters fly around like the flash, but that hinders about as much as it helps.)
It is definitely a crazy game with lots of bells and whistles, and actual NHL players which is a definite plus. If you are looking for a hockey game that plays like a simulation of actual NHL hockey, you'd do better to look elsewhere, but if you're just a hockey fan who enjoys playing a fun fast paced video game, NHL Hitz is worth checking out (no pun intended). I give it 8 out of 10 stars and a recommendation to try it!
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