''NHLPA Hockey '93'' is a 1992

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

game developed by Park Place Productions and published by Electronic Arts Sports Network for the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

and

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

. It is the second installment of the NHL series, following '' NHL Hockey'' (1991) and the first to be released for the Super NES. Although considered to be the second EA Sports NHL game, the game was not licensed by the NHL; however, it did receive licensing permission from the NHLPA. Because of this, all teams are referred to only by city (the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

were referred to as "

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

") with no use of the team name itself. Additionally, no NHL team logos or NHL emblems are seen anywhere in the game.

Gameplay

The game includes a single-game exhibition mode and a playoff mode (single-elimination or best-of-7), wherein the winner collects a trophy similar to the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

. The game includes mostly complete rosters and all 24 teams from the

1991–92 NHL season The 1991–92 NHL season was the 75th regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 22 teams with the addition of the expansion San Jose Sharks. A ten-day players' strike was called in April, delaying the final weeks of t ...

, including the expansion of the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

and

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

. The Genesis version also included

EEPROM EEPROM or E2PROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) is a type of non-volatile memory. It is used in computers, usually integrated in microcontrollers such as smart cards and remote keyless systems, or as a separate chip d ...

saving, which allowed one to save lines and the ongoing Playoff, while the Super NES version uses

passwords A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services ...

to save progress.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' approved of the game's use of real NHL hockey player names and teams, and concluded that it was "just about as realistic and detailed as one could hope a cartridge game to be ... two red and blistered thumbs up". Power Unlimited gave the SNES version a score of 70% summarizing: "The action and sensation are also very much present in Electronic Arts' hockey game. Unfortunately, the sound is often very poor, and the screen is often overcrowded and therefore confusing. Thanks to the two player mode, it really becomes worthwhile." Former video game publication

AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...

also praised the realism that had been included in the game, specifically the addition of injuries and shattering glass, but expressed disappointment at the lack of a season mode. Criticism was also given to the lack of challenging AI, stating that "scoring goals is still too easy". In 2001, ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

'' ranked it the 20th best video game ever made. The staff praised the game's depth and strategy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nhlpa Hockey '93 1992 video games EA Sports games Electronic Arts games Ice hockey video games set in Canada Ice hockey video games set in the United States Multiplayer and single-player video games Park Place Productions games Sega Genesis games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in 1992 Video games set in 1993