Look dudes, I'm getting old. And as I reflect back on my life I can't help but think about the enormous portion of it I have spent in front of various shitty TVs playing video games. Out of all those games I'm certain I've logged the most hours playing NHL 94 for the SNES.

This is the greatest video game ever created. If you've never played it, I can't really explain it to you. I don't think I can even really explain it to myself. Everything in the game just works perfectly.

And let's be clear: nostalgia's a bitch. Nothing ever holds up. Except I've been playing NHL 94 again with an SNES emulator and it's still magic. If anything it's better than I remember. I don't think there's any way I could have fully appreciated this game when I was 11.

If you play a whole season and go through the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup, you know what happens in NHL 94? One of your guys on the ice is hoisting a little 16 bit Stanley Cup. That's it. Start another season.

I think the best thing about the game is probably the checking. You can check the shit out of anyone on the other team at any time. And you can LAY THEM OUT. It's just unbelievably satisfying.

Some one made a hacked version of the NHL 94 rom that turns it into a 2-on-2 game (still with goalies). You can download it here. If it's possible I think I like this version even better than the original. It really opens things up.

Just look at how beautiful this game is:

You know for all the time I have spent playing this game, I don't think I'm even really very good at it. I can beat the shit out of the computer but I have a feeling a good human player would destroy me.

Oh yeah did I mention I played almost exclusively by myself on a shitty 9 inch tv with an RF modulator.

i participated in an nhl 94 tournament at the local GAMEZ™store when i was 11. beat the first kid using pittsburgh then proceeded to get humiliated by a 30 something dude with a ponytail in the next round.

so what i'm saying is

have you guys seen swingers?

shame that a bunch of dudes calling each other "baby" never caught on

MAYES I don't care if you lost that tournament, you're still money, babby!

I know a lot of people play(ed) NHL 94 on Sega Genesis and might consider that the purest form of the game. Nothing wrong with that but I came from a Nintendo household. I've played the Genesis version a few times but it just feels a little off to me. Maybe it's just that the ice is so BLUE. I mean wtf.

HITZ

Yes in the summer of 2004 Anthony, Daniel and I played an outrageous amount of NHL HITZ, beginning (I believe) with NHL HITZ 2002 and then later NHL HITZ PRO. those were extremely entertaining games.

I've also enjoyed the recent EA NHL hockey games too.

It's funny, with NHL 94 I never played with line changes, penalties or offsides. But if I play a modern hockey game I feel like I have to play with that stuff.

BTW if you're going to try to play SNES games on your pc just get something like this and plug in a real SNES controller:



$8 on amazon!

Gator is super hungry. Go to the butcher shot and by 10 lbs. of raw meat.

MEATZ

DUDES, yes I totally played and loved that game. Definitely one of the best hockey, and sports, games of all time. Taking this thread back to baseball, though, there are only two clear standouts for me:

1) MVP Baseball 2005 - I could play you forever
2) RBI Baseball - You'll always be my first

Check it out dudes I made this video of myself winning the Stanley Cup in 2 on 2 play with MAYES's beloved Penguins.

I'm playing a little crappy because it slows down a little when you try to record a video with this emulator.

Highlights:
0:24 - bomb one timer
2:02 - Gretzky injury
2:08 - breakaway Jagr goal
3:07 - Lemieux hat trick
3:25 - THE CUP

Brian when it comes to baseball video games I was really just all about this:

And this weird NES game called Bad News Baseball.

NHL 94 SCORING TECHNIQUES

From an offensive standpoint NHL 94 is a pretty intriguing game. It's a fast-paced hockey game, yet the the slapshot is such a completely worthless option. You will never score with a regular slapshot. Don't even try it. Really the only way to get the puck in the net is to get the goalie out of position. There are a few good ways to do that:

1. The Deke

This is the tried and true method and there are several variations. But at the most basic, you've got the puck and are heading straight for the goalie. You move right, he moves right. But then you quickly move left and shoot it to the left side. It's all about the timing here. I think a very good player could score this way just about every time.

One thing you should try to stay aware of is your distance to the goalie. As soon as you touch the goalie you wobble around like a fucking idiot and your scoring opportunity is wasted. The problem with The Deke is that for it to be effective you need to hold onto the puck until the last possible moment. But it's very easy to wait too long and slam into the goalie. ROOKIE MISTAKE, but I still do it all the time.

2. The Cut

This move is cheap as shit, but who are you trying to impress? Imagine you have the puck on the face off dot (probably not a techincal term) to the goalie's left. All you do is skate towards the other faceoff dot so you are moving parallel to the goal. The goalie will move with you but he will usually be a little slow and leave a huge opening.

3. The Wraparound

This is really just a modified version of The Cut. Skate with the puck behind the net. When you come around, keep moving as if your skater is drawing an oval on the ice. The goalie will be slow to move and again leave a huge opening. This can be even more effective than the cut because you can get in close to the goalie, but again be careful you don't touch him because then you will just collapse like a fucking idiot.

4. The One-Timer

For me, nothing is more satisfying than scoring with a well-executed one-timer. There are a lot of ways to score here, but keep in mind again it's all about catching the goalie out of position. You probably want your shooter stationed pretty close to the goal: watch those CPU players and wait for a good opportunity. You may have some luck taking the puck behind the net and then passing to someone in front of the goal for a quick shot. Also, a two man breakaway is great. Take your skater and haul ass down one side as if you are going to skate straight into the wall behind the goal. When you get behind the goal line, you can dish it off to a trailing player on the other side for a great opportunity.

I think that about covers it. If anyone else has some techniques feel free to chime in!

I made up fake names for the first-nameless players on Boston's team for Bases Loaded 2, my favorite baseball game of all time. I can still remember some of them: Keldron Deeff (DH), Chipper Blok (3B, Rookie of the Year), Roberto "Robert" Crown (SP), others. I was totally obsessed. I could still go into the lineup screen right now and optimize Boston's lineup. I had situational lefties and everything.

Also, I loved NFL Blitz and that insanely difficult Wayne Gretzky hockey game for N64 where no matter how good you were, the computer team came back to make it tight at the end. Every game was like 9-8.

Gretzky 64 still shots still creep me out, so here's one:


And to celebrate you not throwing up, here's Gretzky's daughter:

BAD NEWS BASEBALL!!!

That's crazy, I didn't realize Wayne Gretzky's daughter was every 20 year old girl currently alive.

girls mode

does she not have a nose? wtf

this is the best baseball game ever.

Japan vs. Arizona the way god intended.



You know, I'm picking the team with the most fat guys.

Can we talk about checking for a minute? Why does it feel so RIGHT?

I was talking to Burton about NHL 94 today and one of the things he mentioned is that even with such limited resources the developers combined sound, animation and control to create such a visceral experience that modern games struggle to match. We were talking about this is in the context of one-timers (and how RIGHT it feels to pull one off) but an effective body check triggers the same feelings.

My thinking (and indulge me in the cliche) is that the creators of the game were so limited by the technology that they had to work to perfect every aspect of the game to achieve the right FEEL. In other words; less is more.

To a certain extent this is bullshit. If an 11 year old kid today played NHL 94 he would probably fumble with it for a minute or two, slam his controller down and talk about how ancient and primitive it is.

I mean that's how I feel when I try to play an Atari game that someone 10 years older than me has fond memories of and will swear is one of the greatest games ever created.

So maybe I can try to downplay the nostalgia aspect of my love of NHL 94, but I can't escape it.

But let's be honest. On a purely objective level, a body check takedown in NHL 94 feels better than pretty much anything else you can expect to regularly experience in a video game.

ESPECIALLY in these two special cases:

1. Checking a dude and knocking him over the boards and into the bench
2. Injuring a dude

Seriously, the way you bounce off an injured player after a check is just incredible.

And the way the sound of the hit, the gasp of the crowd and the referee's whistle combine is pure magic.

It all just comes together so perfectly.

Dudes I love this game.

I'm sorry guys it's been a long day.

And by day I mean week.

And of course by week I mean month.

Can I just get a hug bros

And something else I've been meaning to discuss is how FUCKING TERRIBLE NHL 95-98 are.

This is something that will probably destroy my "less is more" line of thinking above.

But the subsequent games are just fucking terrible. And it makes no sense. They had the pitch perfect framework of NHL 94 in place. All the had to do was update rosters, maybe add a couple of features and make some small incremental refinements.

Except it appears that what happens is this: for every release after NHL 94 they just farmed the work out to a shitty developer like THQ who made some horrific changes that destroy the game's playability and make me want to murder someone.

And look I worked at THQ for upwards of 3 months. Fuck everything about those guys. I wouldn't trust them with a Gameboy Color port of a Garbage Pail Kids trading card game.

Ugh can someone please just post more pics of Wayne Gretzky's d

elightful Nintendo 64 game

a little late, but here's the hug you requested, joey.

plug that shit in dudes

really itching to get back into some NHL 94, dudes. the past two couple weeks have been a little crazy. need some roenick acti