NHL 2001

I've played the EA NHL games since the Sega Genisis, and I've rarely been disappointed. I will admit a couple of times they pretty much cut and pasted the code without much improvement over the previous season. That may be what happened here, but since I never played the '00 version, I can't speak to that. What I can say is that even if you ave the '00 version, the updated rosters and two expansion teams make this a good buy, for as cheap as it can be found.

Whats great about this game? The EA NHL series has a great track record. You know what you are getting into when you get this game. This is far and away one of the best games to play with mutiple people. I truely believe there is no greater head to head video sports game to play. You can get blown out in Madden, and the other team can start running the clock on you, but you're never out of time (until the last minute) in NHL. Also, you can plug in up to 8 controlers with a multi-tap and get a whole group going. See how easy it is to score then.

Speaking of which, some reviews you read make it sound impossible to score, some make it sound like every shot goes in. Whats the real deal you may be wondering? It depends greatly on your skill level (obviously), and wether or not you use line changes. Of course if you only play your best players for the whole game, and you play with Detroit, you're going to score a lot of goals, but is that realistic anyway? If you play at the rookie level, just about any one timer will go in, plus a variety of other shot types. At the most difficult level, it is a challenge to score (at least for those who don't play it 24/7 to figure out all the tricks), and I played in far too many 1-0 or 1-1 games for my preference. At the second hardest level, you can play a good challenging game against the computer, if you take a team with a less than stellar goalie. But the true fun is playing against/with other people. Try mastering the one timer with a buddy, instead of just yourself, then you will have truely enjoyed this game.

As for the franchise mode, there are good points and bad points. The good points is that it track lifetime stats for all players. You can see who the leading scorer is after five seasons. It has a complete set of post season awards, and it always feel great to see your players face one the awards screen after a long season. However, I did find the player management aspects of the franchise mode lacking a certain amount of realistic control. First, one player becomes a free agent from your team every year. Only one. There's no sense of contracts, or salary cap, or anything of that nature. You just randomly lose one player each year. Then when signing free agents, it appears that only good teams can sign good free agents. I won the Stanly Cup with the Wild, but I couldn't sign a single free agent. Then you only draft one player. You may also get a player or two that retires. There are also next to zero free agents available to sign during a season. Overall, I feel that aspect needs improvement, which I fear will never happen as the NHL series may have come to an end for PS1 (now I REALLY need an Xbox).

Pros:
-Proven game quality that dates back to early 90s
-Wide range of difficulty for beginers and experienced gamers

-Great for multi tap and up to 8 players
-Best hockey game on the planet for PS1 (no '02 for PS1?)
-The bets (in my opinion) sports game to play head to head

Cons:
-Franchise format needs work
-The end of the road?


The best game ever!   December 15, 2001
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

This game is the bomb!You can do a ton of things in the create a player screen like if you enter Bruce Willis for a name the announcers will say "The Dude" during the game. Another one is called "The Hammer Player" if you enter "Hammer" as his first name the announcers will refer "The Hammer" during the game. I have three more so one of them is called the Super Foward if you enter Peter Forsberg or Jaromir Jagr as a name answer yes to his ratings then adjust them as needed. You can also use Nhl Challenge Bonus to boost thier attributes. Then return to the Create a player screen and use his name as anyone you want. Here's my last one called the Super Goalie if you enter Dominik Hasek as a name in the create a player menu.Then answer yes to his ratings, then adust his ratings as needed you can boost thier attrubutes by going to Nhl Challenge Bonus points now go to the previous screen and choose any name. You can go (...) get views or cheats and codes there are no bad things about this games exept if you're really good at this then don't do Begginer as a level. Oh yeah I have one more cheat called Super Defenseman if tou enter Chris Pronger or Sandis Ozolinsh as a name. Answer yes to his ratings then adust his ratings as needed. Then you can go to Nhl Challenge bonus points to boost up their attributes. Return to the previous screen and change his name to your choice, but don't change any other setting for any of these hints. That is why I love this game so much!


Tyler's Review for NHL 2001   November 19, 2001
I thought the game is cool. I got NHL Faceoff 2001 and it isn't as good as this game.
It is the coolest NHL game yet for Playstation.


Good Stuff   September 19, 2001
 1 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a great game! The roster doesn't seem right for 2000 or 2001 but that's ok. I still love it. I especially like the big hitting. The only thing I don't like is that the computer seems to be able to score even when you've got all the momentum and it has none. Try scoring when it's the other way around. It's impossible your players go really slow. Anyway hockey is great and so is this game!
pz