NHL Hockey (EA Hockey)

Le jeu

NHL Hockey (titled EA Hockey outside North America) is an ice hockey video game by EA Sports. Released in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, it is the first game in the NHL series. The game follows in the footsteps of Electronic Arts' John Madden Football , being the first in what would become an annual tradition of the company launching North American licensed ice hockey games for home consoles. EA Hockey (Genesis) It was also the first game to use official NHL licensing since a 1979 NHL Hockey hockey game for the Intellivision. EA have recycled the 'NHL Hockey' name on several occasions, including a Sega Game Gear NHL Hockey (based on NHL 95 ) and a DOS version (based on NHL 96). NHL Hockey takes a top-down approach to the sport, with a vertical rink that scrolls depending on where the puck is. It features all 22 NHL teams of the era and 500 players. Like several of EA's Mega Drive sports games, NHL Hockey was a big success and led to a string of yearly sequels for the platform up to and including 1998. Virtually every 2D hockey game released by EA is thought to stem from this game, and many just consist of aesthetic and line-up changes. The company was unable to obtain a full NHL license for its immediate successor, NHLPA Hockey '93, which although has officially licensed players, does not have officially licensed teams. Likewise EA Hockey (which uses unlicensed national teams) was sold outside of North America instead of this game. EA Hockey is the overseas version of the late 1991 North American exclusive game, NHL Hockey. EA Hockey does not have an NHL license, instead using national teams (Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, Soviet Union, Sweden, USA and others) with fake names. The game is, however, largely identical outside of this feature, and is frequently confused with NHL Hockey. EA Hockey received a second outing in the form of EA Sports Double Header, and would be brought to the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear as Championship Hockey. Its successors, starting with NHLPA Hockey '93, retained their NHL license when brought overseas.