This has got to be the best PC sports game EVER. It's smoother than I ever expected it to be, and apparently I can put my own MP3s in?
I've played it a few times on the easy mode, and all of the old Sega Genesis experience kicked right in. This game makes me proud that I wasted 4 years of my life playing the various NHL titles on Genesis daily.
I hope the Dreamcast version is this good. I hope they release it... it's the last DC game slated to be released.
"This game makes me proud that I wasted 4 years of my life playing the various NHL titles on Genesis daily."
YES. NHL 95 ruled. 97 also good. 94 and 96 not so much.
The last one I had was 99 for the PS1. It was pretty awesome. I won't go into the story of acquiring ECW Hardcore Revolution, which I've yet to forgive myself for, but that game was part of the transaction.
If I played hockey a bunch, this would be the game I would play.
The only annoying thing (and this may be a PS2 thing) is once you did one of those Madden Point Tasks, you couldn't get credit for doing it again ever and that seemed screwed up.
Also, it seemed like it needed more modes - I don't recall it having a franchise mode like Madden stuff does, and that's the best part of games. To me. Often.
It is freaking awesome and the music ROCKS wasting your time with your so-called friends have I lost all my self-control. I just wish it was easier to score with moves~! and harder to score with slappers.
So you know I make a CD for my friend Mike with all the cool bands that I only saw on MuchUSA (back when I had much USA) and he digs the Matthew Good Band and the Treble Charger (and not the dance pop music I stuck on there to annoy him OR King Of Spain, but then not everyone can be as cool as me) but he's like 'if they were really good, I'd hear them on the radio' and I say 'uh uh' and he says 'what about Sum 41! They're Candian' and I'm shut out.
THEN WE PLAY THE GAME AND HOLY CRAP IT'S TREBLE CHRAGER.
I recorded some MP3's of my own and put them into the game - oh MAN, what a trippy feeling to hear my own music (bad as it might be) blaring away just before a face-off during a Leafs vs. Habs game!
I love this game. They fixed the major control flaws from NHL2001 (Yes, no longer can Cory F'n Cross score from the Red Line on Martin Broduer for the only shot of the game in the last 10 seconds), and they did other things to make it even more fun to play. My only problem is that once you get good on All-Star, the challenge is gone. And that you can only control a team for 10 years. Free-agency and drafting isn't that good either. Ditto for a minor league system. Actually, to be quite honest, I could name MANY things that would make the NHL series the cream of EA's crop.
Until then, I'm leading the obscenely-good New Jersey Devils to the cup; something the REAL Devils should try. ::heavy sigh::
...Some fear the Pink... ...But many fear....THE MOUNTIE! (He's handsome, he's brave, and he's strong, you know)
Brew, you fucking stud, I have NHL 2001 and I ripped your Goon mp3 into the menu ditties directory so it's constantly playing while I'm setting up the game.
It's bad fucking ass.
I miss saying fucking so much.
Anyway, for you who have both, besides the Madden-style cards, how much better is 2002 than it's previous incarnation?
I *heart* 2001 and played the fuck out of it until I found that I'd completed the 10 year career mode.
And here's some Major Props to Zed for going non-team specific on the sports talk. As a Die Hard L.A. Kings Fan (the only *real* Kings in CA... ha ha, banned) I was afraid to venture into a folder for the... gasp... Sharks.
I hate you, Guru, with every single last living breathing fiber of my being. DAMN YOU! DAMN YOUR ATHLON! My Pentium 266 MMX weeps with processor envy! My Voodoo3 flounders at the power of GeForce. GRRRRR...
Well, to be fair, I did win the motherboard and processor from the Athlon XP Performance Roadshow...
HardOCP was posting the locations of the Roadshow sites, and San Diego came up. My friend in Calgary emailed me at work and told me to get to Frys parking lot before 6am the next day... I did it, and ended up winning one of 50 mobo / processor combos given away that day.
I never win - there were about 2 - 3000 people there from my friends estimate. I know there were a lot of people there... even if it was 1000 it was a 20 - 1 shot.
The thing doesn't really boot right, but that's ok, cause it was free. I'm not complaining.
Brew, you fucking stud, I have NHL 2001 and I ripped your Goon mp3 into the menu ditties directory so it's constantly playing while I'm setting up the game.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA - that's AWESOME!!! I am honored, sir - that bit of info totally made my day.
Don't forget the Nordiques! That had to suck, their first year out of Canada and they win the friggen cup! The get Patrick ROY!! Of all people! If the Nords stayed in Quebec City then Patrick Roy would have gone ELSEWHERE!