NHL '94
For an entire generation of hockey fans there is only one correct answer to the question of which hockey game is the best: NHL '94. This game from Electronic Arts, released in 1993 for the 1993/94 season, became such a legend that it is still mentioned by modern films to this day and fan communities keep it alive through their own mods.
NHL '94 brought fundamental innovations that pushed the whole series forward. Official player licenses appeared for the first time thanks to a partnership with the players' association, so you were playing as real stars. A key innovation was the one-button pass, which made the game control incredibly smoothly, and the ability to perform a so-called one-timer — a direct shot off a pass without handling the puck.
It was precisely the smoothness and pace that made NHL '94 the benchmark. Matches run briskly, goals are scored spectacularly, and the battles along the boards have the right punch. The movement of a player named Jeremy Roenick became proverbial, his accuracy practically a legend among those who remember. The game offered both fast arcade action and enough depth for the more demanding.
Its cultural impact was underscored by the 1996 film Swingers, in which the characters carry on passionate arguments over this very version of hockey. That scene made NHL '94 the definitive cult title, remembered as the peak of the whole series, and many fans still consider it unsurpassed.
Multiplayer was the heart of the experience. Duels between two players at a single console, often accompanied by hollering and laughter, are among the strongest memories of the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo era, where the game came out in both versions. The community around it lives to this day and holds tournaments.
NHL '94 is not just an old sports game — it is a piece of gaming history. Its perfect balance between accessibility and depth made it the measure against which all subsequent hockey titles were compared. For a great many players it remains the best hockey game of all time.
Why play it: For its perfectly tuned pace, legendary one-timers, and hockey that those who remember still consider the best there ever was.
Game 96 of 151 for SEGA Mega Drive
The same title elsewhere (1)
The SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis version is the one fans usually call definitive - one-button controls for shooting and passing made it feel faster and smoother than the competition, and it also included on-ice fights between players. The Super Nintendo version played noticeably slower and left out or heavily toned down the fighting, reflecting Nintendo's stricter content policy on violence at the time. The SNES sound chip, however, could produce richer, more melodic music than the Genesis chip, so the console's audio side had the more pleasant soundtrack. For fast, raw hockey action, go for the Genesis version, still widely regarded as the best; pick the SNES if you'd rather have nicer-sounding music.
