NHL ’96 (SNES) Review

Foreword

To preface this review with something, I’d like to say that I have a lot of history with this game in particular. I have memories dating back to the early 2000s of me jumping on this game the second I got to my aunt and uncle’s house whenever I’d come over to their house. I soaked hours into this game. I’m not kidding when I say that. I guess you could say that it’s one of the roots of my interest in retro gaming as a whole (there are others that are, in and of themselves, reviews of their own). The point I’m trying to make here is that I might be a little bit biased with this one. I’ll try to remain as objective as I can. Enough nostalgic dribble, on to the review proper!

Graphics

This game was released in September 1995 for the Super Nintendo. Considering its time of release, I think that the graphics look quite nice. The overall design looks neat, this entry going with the hockey rink aesthetic that would be copied and pasted to the two sequels to this game, NHL ’97 and ’98. Here though, it looks appropriate instead of lazy, though. The teams and logos are accurate, except for the Nordiques, who’d already moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche by the 1995-96 NHL Season. At worst, it’s an annoyance to purists. It doesn’t bother me much personally. In-game, the action looks clear and fluid enough, as does the HUD. Not much else to say there. The pause menu takes the form of a scoreboard (as was the case for all of the 16-bit NHL games). It looks a bit more organized then ’95 3-panel pause screen, and that’s pretty much it. All in all, I like little details, so what they did here was just fine by me.

Audio

I could end the audio section right here by saying that it’s beautiful and leave it at that, but I know that it’s best if I go into a little detail. You know that song that seems to be everywhere in regards to sports? Yeah, well it’s called “Get Ready for This”, and it’s the menu theme. Yup. The thing that really blew me away back when I was younger, though, was the announcer. This little addition boosts the game over its Genesis counterpart for me. Team matchups would be announced at the beginning, as well as penalties incurred (icing and off sides as well), and the winners of the game. What can I say, I’m a detail guy.

Gameplay

On the gameplay front, things are pretty good. Along with the usual things, 5 minute majors for returning fights are issued. Double minors supposedly return (according to Wikipedia), but I haven’t seen them personally yet. The usual Exhibition, Season, and Playoff modes are there. That’s about it, really.

Summary

I know that this game has flaws as does every game, but here’s the thing: nothing really comes to mind aside from lack of depth compared to modern games, which is a bit of an unfair comparison. I really can’t think of anything. Ultimately, I think that this is just a really good hockey game all around.