NHL '94
For an entire generation of hockey fans there is a game where just saying two digits instantly brings a warm feeling of nostalgia. NHL '94 is the title that many to this day consider the moment when the sports arcade on consoles definitively broke through into perfection. Fast, fluid, and incredibly addictive hockey made it the benchmark of the genre.
The gameplay tunes exactly that delicate line between accessibility and depth. Movement on the ice is fast, passes whistle by, and goals fall in bursts that please even the uninitiated viewer. NHL '94 is legendary in part for introducing the one-button attack in the form of the wrist deke and puck control, which gave the game an unmistakable rhythm. Battles along the boards and the ability to knock down an opponent gave the matches the juice that players loved.
Behind the series stands Electronic Arts and their EA Sports brand, which with this very installment launched its long-term dominance in the genre. NHL '94 came out simultaneously on the Super Nintendo and the competing Sega Mega Drive console, and both versions earned an enthusiastic reception. The game featured an official NHL license as well as the players' association, so you could take the ice with the real teams and stars of the time.
The cultural significance of this installment reaches beyond the boundaries of video games. Its fame was further amplified by the film Swingers, in which NHL '94 became a literal cult prop and the subject of one-liners between characters. For many players it is to this day synonymous with perfect retro hockey and appears at the top of countless polls of the best sports games of all time.
Dozens of annual NHL editions have been added since then, technology has advanced by light-years, but NHL '94 holds a special status as an untouchable classic. It is a game that veterans return to not for realism but for the pure joy of play, which later installments, with all their complexity, often struggle to match.
Why play: For instantly understandable, lightning-fast hockey that many to this day consider the most fun installment of the entire series.
Game 65 of 154 for Super Nintendo
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.
