Ice Hockey (video game)
Ice Hockey is an NES video game developed by Nintendo and published in 1988, based on the sport ice hockey (as the name implies). In the game's 1 player and 2 player modes, there are 6 playable teams, each based on countries: United States, Sweden, Poland, Canada, Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia. Besides differing uniform colors, the teams are all statistically identical.
[edit] Gameplay
The basic rules of hockey are used in the game, but several rules have been changed. For instance, even though there is a center red line and two blue lines, the referee (who is invisible outside of faceoffs and penalties) will not call offsides or two-line passes, essentially making the game wide open. Icing is enforced, however.
Other rules that are omitted are virtually all penalties; the game does not penalize players for any type of bodycheck or for scuffling. The only time a penalty is called is when a fight breaks out. Fights happen when two players scuffle for so long that the other teammates jump in and a brouhaha ensues. The players merge into a sort of violent pile, and periodically a player will be knocked out, only to rejoin as soon as he gets up. The fight continues for about five seconds before the referee breaks it up. The team that was more violent (in this case, knocked out more players from the opposing side) is penalized, although it's for a two-minute minor. In fights, it behooves the player to rapidly hit the buttons, as this causes more of his own players to be knocked out.
Teams can only have no more than two players in the penalty box at any given time. If the opposition scores a goal on the powerplay, as in real hockey, the penalized player returns to the ice.
Unlike real hockey, the goalie plays an extremely limited role. He is forced to remain inside the crease at all times, however he also is technically the fastest player on the ice, making it easier to save the puck. The player maintains control over the goalie at all times, even when controlling a skater, which forces the player to choose between defending and goaltending, depending on the situation. Unlike other players, the goalie cannot be scuffled with or checked, and will automatically check down any player that he touches. The goalie does not participate in fights.
Furthermore, the goalie is unable to freeze the puck when he holds onto it long enough. Instead, after five seconds, he automatically passes it out. The goalie cannot be changed out for an extra skater, either.
In between the 2nd and 3rd periods, the ice is resurfaced by a brief zamboni show.
[edit] Strategies
Due to the limited gameplay of Ice Hockey, most strategies are limited in depth. There are some basic tricks, however.
For one, keep in mind the roles of all the players on the ice. Fat players are great for clearing the front of the net on defense and crashing the net on offense. Skinny players are useful for winning faceoffs and can be used to exploit holes for breakaways. Neutral players are usually best for setting up plays as they can easily shake off skinny players.
When not holding the puck, the player can call the skaters to fall back onto your goal if you tap the A & B buttons. The player will probably find this useful as AI skaters tend to skate into the offensive zone whenever the player has the puck, regardless of where the puck is.
A useful move is the fake-shot/pass, which is accomplished while controlling the player with the puck. Tapping the A button does this, and it can throw off the opponent, but only if it is a human opponent. The AI is unfazed by this.
