NHL '94 (Sega CD)

[Melf]

Electronic Arts' NHL series is highly revered by gamers, and given the longevity it has seen (rivaled only by that of EA's other juggernaut, the Madden games), something is obviously right with the series. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the 1994 edition of the franchise, which turned out to be the only game in the series to receive a Sega CD version. In 1994, Sports fans needed no other reason to reconsider a purchase of the add-on once this baby was released, and Sega-16's own resident sports guru, Alex Burr, is ready to body check you with a full review of the game. Enjoy!

[Alvatron]

Awesome game. It didn't matter if you had the Genny version or the Sega CD version, this was the best hockey game around. Great review.

[McMasters]

Thoroughly surpassing Blades of Steel, this game became the greatest hockey game of the 2D era. Even though the Sega Cd version only adds better sound and FMV, it is still worth it. Great review.

[M4R14NO94]

Posted for being such an awesome intro for a sports game

[streetsofrage]

good game but the music was better in nhl93

[todd]

I've been playing NHL '97 more than anything the last few days.
Being a longtime Rangers fan i never knew Messier had such blinding speed. lol
I really missed playing this stuff!

[Disengage]

For the record, that's Mark Fitzpatrick in the load screen.

[The Sports Guy]

How do you know that? It just looks like a generic goalie with a butt ugly EA Sports jersey.

[Disengage]

How do you know that? It just looks like a generic goalie with a butt ugly EA Sports jersey.

The mask.

[Baloo]

So I went and started playing this version in Retroarch, compared to the Genesis one on real hardware. I am not sure of this is because of Retroarch, but does NHL '94 play faster on Sega CD? It seems the framerate is better on the Sega CD version.

It's a shame Ron only recorded dialogue for the opening screen, I would have loved to seen him do play-by-play calls during the game, not like that would have been out of the ordinary compared to other Genesis sports games of the time.

Also, I am having a real blast with this game but I have such a tough time scoring goals one-on-one. Only ever get one in on the one-timers and it seems the CPU is quirky about receiving the puck compared to much later iterations of NHL.

[Team Andromeda]

NHL 94 on the SEGA/MEGA CD is still to very day the best Ice Hockey game ever made.

[profholt82]

So I went and started playing this version in Retroarch, compared to the Genesis one on real hardware. I am not sure of this is because of Retroarch, but does NHL '94 play faster on Sega CD? It seems the framerate is better on the Sega CD version.

It's a shame Ron only recorded dialogue for the opening screen, I would have loved to seen him do play-by-play calls during the game, not like that would have been out of the ordinary compared to other Genesis sports games of the time.

Also, I am having a real blast with this game but I have such a tough time scoring goals one-on-one. Only ever get one in on the one-timers and it seems the CPU is quirky about receiving the puck compared to much later iterations of NHL.

It does seem to run a bit smoother than the Genesis counterpart. I'd have to sit down and do a back to back comparison for details, but in my memory of the two, I prefer the SCD version. Beyond some presentation features and sound upgrades, they're supposed to be the same gameplay-wise, but it could be a case of some tweaks and such made between the two. That's sometimes the case with SCD versions.

As for help scoring, yes, the one-timer is a great strategy. Just make sure to set up your guys on either side of the goalie when doing so. Also, a popular move is to skate either straight down or up (depending on which direction your team is facing that period), and then cutting laterally across in front of the goalie, shooting as you pass in front of him. If you use a fast wing for this, you'll beat the goalie most of the time.