14 Genesis Hockey Games Face Off in a Ranking Battle!

[@SecondStage1983]

"Mikey make his head bleed. Mikey! Mikey make his head bleed!" -Swingers

[@SquarePegs]

It's taken TWO YEARS to get this comment. You win the day, Second Stage.

[@SecondStage1983]

@@SquarePegs glad to have been of help! One of my favorite movies!

[@dddttt7989]

Well that's not the quote. Trent and Sue were playing, Mike couldn't make anyone's head bleed. "There it is, Mikey, check it out! His head's bleeding. Mikey, check it out, his legs, little Wayne's legs are shaking all over the place." - guy who's seen Swingers 100 times

[@clarkesuperman]

NHLPA 93 didn’t get a fair slice here. When you played playoffs, during your intermissions you would get to watch highlights from the other games. Some of them were really exciting. It was one of the few games that had blood for injuries. It also had glass breaking from slap shots. You’d actually get a Stanley Cup celebration in your season/playoffs. It was the best one.

[@94champs]

I prefer the gameplay of NHLPA 93 over NHL 94 and it's my "go to" hockey game. I play 94 also, but not as much. 93 is my favorite hockey game ever, and the theme song is sick! Plus it had blood AND fighting!

[@clarkesuperman]

@@94champs Same here friend! As a kid my father had both NHL Hockey 91 and NHLPA 93 for Sega Genesis. I liked NHLPA 93 the most for the reasons you and I both said - features and gameplay was absolutely superior. But the original ‘91 game had the team logos and the music was awesome!! Sometimes I would just plug in ‘91 to hear the theme song and then switch to 93 to actually play 😂 good times.

[@johnhancockretro]

Nice video! Love playing some Hockey games on the Genesis! Mutant League Hockey for me or NHL 94.

[@silverserpentor6710]

NHL 93 still led to one of the funniest scenes in the flick Swingers, "I'm gonna make Gretzky's head bleed for super fan 99 over here."

[@SquarePegs]

+1,000,000 style points for the Swingers reference. You are so money, and you don't even know it.

[@darrink6214]

NHL Hockey , NHLPA 93 and NHL 94 are the three best hockey games ever made! If NHL 94 ever had a season mode , it could be the best sports game ever created. Those games just felt right plus loved the highlights from other games. The same went for the Madden’s 92 and 93 which in my opinion are the best football games developed. It is a shame that neither NHL 94 or early Maddens had season modes.

[@SquarePegs]

I'm actually kinda glad they DIDN'T have season mode - I spent enough time on that as it was! I'd have never stopped playing! Thanks so much for checking the video out!

[@johnmedina5399]

Joe Montanas 94 was a real fun one too. It’s been like 25 years but I believe it had a season mode.

[@NJJ77]

NHL94 would have been better with fighting which IIRC 93 had but the NHL vetoed in the 94 game. Agree re Madden92, I still play that.

[@southbeachtalent]

Joe Montana def had a season mode, which was fascinating at the time. I just didn't think it was as playable as Madden was

[@thediesel387]

@@southbeachtalent I barely remember the season mode. Probably because it couldn't actually save anything, was it just a code to enter? What I do remember though is while the game was OK I couldn't help but constantly be thinking hey this game is just like Madden except Madden is a little better in almost everything which made Montana not really useful.

[@evenmorebetter]

So, thing about ESPN National Hockey Night that I don't know if too many have picked up on, a company called Park Place Productions was the subcontractor for EA producing and programming the original NHL and NHLPA '93 (as well as the first 2-3 Genesis Madden games, presumably after their ABC Monday Night Football computer game impressed EA in comparison with their OG computer Madden). After EA sniped I think at least one or two of Park Place's programmers after Madden/NHL were a huge success, Park Place split with EA but reportedly got to retain rights to their sports games' source code, and they wound up producing ESPN National Hockey Night for Sony Imagesoft after NHLPA '93. There's even a mode where you can flip from the horizontal Blades of Steel-style camera to a vertical EA NHL-style overhead camera (and you can even switch out camera styles between periods of the same game). I'm no Genesis hockey expert, but the feel especially in overhead mode seems similar to me on ESPN to at least the early NHL games, the player sprites are just bigger than they are in the NHL series, so the camera is "zoomed in" versus EA and you can kind of feel like you're not seeing enough at once. As I understand it, once Park Place, fresh from their EA success, started doing a lot of contract work and WAY overextended themselves, the company started to implode and Sony hired away a lot of their staff to work on sports games, some of whom would wind up working on the NHL Faceoff series on PS1 (which personally, I had a pretty great time with). So ESPN National Hockey Night is this interesting transitional middle ground between the the early Genesis NHL games and the PS1 NHL Faceoff games.

[@darshia33]

Aside from the nes hockey games. NHLPA 93 was the first 16 bit hockey game I owned and the theme song is still in my head

[@94champs]

The theme for NHLPA 93 is one of the best in video game history!

[@Danielwastakenn]

My personal favorite is NHLPA 93

[@vinceniederman]

Nice and I Love How U Can Make a Guys Head Bleed in The Game!

[@94champs]

Mine too. I prefer it over 94.

[@the.disrespected.sports.gamers]

NHLPA '93 best hockey game ever. Period. 😏

[@94champs]

Agreed! I prefer it over 94 because 93 had fighting and blood! I liked the gameplay better in 93 too, and the awesome intro theme!

[@marksretrogames9297]

NHLPA 93 is my fav on sega mega drive spent many a hour playing it I still play it to this day classic

[@94champs]

It's mine too! I prefer 93 over 94.

[@grep67]

Same here... and definitely not slow and clunky like the next few games... it was fast, HUGE hits and just all around chaos! haha

[@jaspajones7045]

Sega is my childhood. Nhl by ea is the reason I bought sega back in 91

[@charleybarley7148]

1. Mutant League Hockey 2. NHL 94 3. NHL 96 4. Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars 5. Mario Lemieux Hockey IMO, no reason to play any other hockey game on the Genesis.

[@SquarePegs]

Solid list!

[@swebber1981]

You missed EA hockey. It came out the first year as NHL Hockey in 1992. BUT! It had countries, not NHL teams. and you talk about the slow speed of NHL hockey, EA hockey was much faster in terms of skating and shot speed. Great game. Please do a review of it when you find a cartridge

[@SquarePegs]

I'll keep an eye out when I'm at my next gaming expo! Thanks for the heads up!

[@RoXolid]

Breakfasts come and go, Jay, but Hartford, "the Whale," they only beat Vancouver once, maybe twice in a lifetime.

[@SquarePegs]

I will forever upvote a Brodie Bruce quote.

[@RoXolid]

@@SquarePegs Damn Right Steve-Dave!

[@toddwilliams8128]

Mutant League Hockey felt good to play, and the setting and quirky humor put it over the top. Most importantly, you just wanted to play it and play it some more. Let's go Pens

[@SquarePegs]

I agree with everything here except that last sentence. 😉

[@toddwilliams8128]

@@SquarePegs well, congrats to Geno becoming #2 on the list of Russian-born goal scorers last night, passing Federov, who was an absolute beast of a player.

[@bluetarantulaproductions6179]

I picked up NHL '95 earlier today for $10.00. Other than Blades of Steel on NES, NHLPA Hockey '93 was my first into Electronic Arts Hockey game's. I actually recommend NHL 2002 on Game Boy Advance

[@Davidjon1946]

Trades!!! Create a.player nhl 95 was flawless for a kid

[@BrandonViani]

NHL ‘02 on the GBA is exceptional!

[@fnregistration]

Try NHL Hitz 20-03 on the GBA. Crazy fun

[@fleapitflicks5212]

I always felt that '94 and '96 were the two best of the NHL franchise. I would have them as S tier with '95 at A. Great video!

[@mattm7798]

Agreed. 94 set the foundation and IMO 96 perfected it.

[@eastvanisfun]

nhl 96 on snes with the spinorama shoulder buttons and insanely fast clock speed is almost unplayable to me after nhl94

[@felixfranzen7318]

You should play the NHL 2001 for the GBA, it's a port of NHL 96 for the SNES (with updated rosters of course). Only it plays about four times faster than 96.

[@mbh9566]

That’s funny, the Penguins are my favorite team. And I loved using them in NHL ‘94, which is my favorite team sports game of all time. I still play it to this day. The combination of Mario Lemieux & Jaromir Jagr is to this day my favorite in any hockey game. Great video!

[@SquarePegs]

Jagr is my all time favorite player, so my dislike of the Pens is begrudging at best. :) Thanks for watching!!

[@mbh9566]

@@SquarePegs Yeah, I just discovered your channel last night and was binge watching a bunch of your videos. Great stuff! Also, he’s my favorite player of all time too. I guess he did land on your favorite team for a short stint. He played for so many teams after he left the Pens.

[@davidb69]

I didn’t like the Mario game because of the penalties for fighting made no sense, I’m still trying to figure out what they were thinking with losing fighter gets a 3 minute penalty and then you had another fight and other side got a penalty, then a goal scored with 2 guys in box and a guy got out ? This doesn’t happen in hockey , it’s crazy. I love the old nhl games, what changed with me was in 94 one timers were introduced and that ability to preload made the action and control perfect and then in 95 they added more then sadly from 96 they lost it . I have 97 and 98 on Saturn and ps1 but controller of choice was Saturn and I loved 97 and 98 on Saturn when I was younger over ps1 but I have grown to learn that it was just a better series to play on ps1. Playing 1 game of a series and comparing I get what you are saying with speed, I think you need to play about 5-10 games to adapt and adjust to the speed. My scores would be close to yours but not exactly the same opinions on a lot of these, historically and game play wise

[@gregory06]

NHL All-Star Hockey 95 does have one-timers. I wouldn't rank it as bad as you did as well. It's probably a C- for me. Also neat little trick - if you take any left-handed shooter that has a decent shot to the center ice area right up against the player boards to the right and take a shot... it will ALWAYS go in, bouncing off the back boards and hitting the goalie and in.

[@SquarePegs]

Good to know! I'll take another look at it - thanks for checking the video out, I appreciate it!

[@thediesel387]

The game looks bad. Only slap shots? LOL, cmon dog.

[@gregory06]

@@thediesel387 Dude the game is from nearly 30 years ago. Not sure why the lack of a wrist shot would bring that much more depth to a top down hockey game. Like I said: C- rating for me, especially for that time. It's below average still.

[@TitusDafox]

Mario lemieux Hockey was a by far and away my best hockey game on sega that I have ever played. As u said the faceoff is the best ever and the controls are on point. The gameplay is fun and accurate and the difficulty levels challenging as u improve which always brought me back to playing it again and again. Underrated this game for sure. Loved your reviews and really glad that u bumped it up to an A rating.

[@SquarePegs]

Thank you, Titus!

[@vinceniederman]

@@SquarePegs I’m Remember Playing That Game Back in The Day and I Plan To Get That Game For My Mini Sega Someday!

[@tonyp9313]

You ranked NHL 96-97-98 all different rankings. They are the exact same games with maybe the signature moves that are in 97 & 98. Gameplay wise it's totally the same game.

[@SquarePegs]

Either way, that's how I felt when I played them.

[@tonyp9313]

@@SquarePegs Yeah back then when you couldn't look up KZbin vids & hoping the games were good. I pretty much like all of the nhl games on the Genesis.

[@JH-so5kt]

Your initial rankings were much better. I hold the exact opposite view on the Genesis NHL games. I loved '95 and '96 as a kid, but I think they're completely unplayable in 2022. The gameplay is comically fast, I greatly prefer the pace of NHLPA '93, which is the best in the series, but I understand why anyone prefer '94.

[@94champs]

BINGO! NHL 95-98 were WAY too fast! NHLPA 93 is my personal favorite, but NHL 92, 93 and 94 were the best games!

[@JH-so5kt]

@@94champs Absolutely. '94 is a masterpiece, and I understand why anyone ranks it number one. '92 is the most underrated in the series, and the third best of the Genesis era. NHL 96-98 are so damn fast that you have to play '98 on the slow speed setting for it to be even playable. It's the only NHL genesis game in the series with a speed setting. NHL '95 is definitely better than '96, but it plays way too damn fast, and I think it aged terribly and it ultimately ruined the classic series imo. I don't understand why EA didn't take NHL '94's gameplay and just nerfed the one timers and the hot spots where slap shots usually go in, and then added a season mode and maybe some classic teams. In the 90's EA was almost too ambitious. Madden '95 ruined the amazing '94 by adding an entire new engine. It's so funny how much EA has changed throughout the years.

[@94champs]

@@JH-so5kt Sometimes "less is more" and that's something EA didn't understand back in the day. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! I remember laughing with my friend about EA's slogan "If it's in the game, it's in the game!" when 94 came out. Oh yeah? Well where's the fighting then? THAT'S IN THE GAME!!! NHL 95 revamped the graphics and gameplay when all they needed to do, literally, was add a season mode, bring back fighting and maybe revert back to the more fun gameplay style of 93 where slapshot power actually meant something. That's it! But nope, they just had to change everything and mess it up! I remember buying NHL 95 without renting it first and being so disappointed. Lesson learned! 😂

[@JH-so5kt]

@94champs I was a dumb little kid back then so I liked 95 & 96 at the time, but now I'm just like...ugh. I dream for a time in the late 90's where EA didn't worry about polygons and made a more sim like NHL '94 and NBA Live '95 for the original Playstation. Imagine a Genesis Live game but with post ups, slower and less arcade game play. Would have been amazing haha. Only NFL GameDay really made a smooth transition to polygon graphics.

[@crazyclimber80]

Can't remember if it was NHL '96 or "97 that let you input a TON of letters for your customized character name, but that's what I really enjoyed-- and of course, they were dirty names. But they put me in stitches when a big marquee would show them as PLAYERS OF THE GAME for the entire arena to see. And also, one-timers were crazy fun. My brother and I lived for them.

[@SquarePegs]

Can't put a price or a ranking grade on memories like that. :) Thanks for sharing those memories!

[@crazyclimber80]

@@SquarePegs You bet!

[@supercommando440]

ESPN Hockey Night; I have it, its fun, great game but I REALLY REALLY REALLY wish the camera was zoomed out, like in Mario Lemuix. I LOVE SIDE camera angles.... However... it really bums me that Mario has only a tournament mode, and no cumulative tournament stats. I'm very curious about Gretzky.. any season mode, stats? Good stuff.. btw my alltime EA fav is NHL 97. Love all the record keeping and stats. For sideway cam, my goto is ESPN but look an Gretzky or Mario for now. BTW.. one thing I like about ESPN; one-timers are not so easy, like in many others.

[@thegreatone9923]

I think nhl 95 got everything just right with game play. It was a little bit better than 94 with graphics and speed only thing the game lacked was a big one fighting was taken out..kinda ruined an otherwise perfect game

[@Dlabelmard]

No fighting in 94 either The fighting mecanic was in NHLPA 93

[@dimdimone]

NHL 96 (EA Sports) BEST EVER 🔥🔥🔥 Still playing in 2021 🤘😎

[@vinceniederman]

For Some Reason That Game Does Not Work on My Mini Sega!

[@EzekielMessenger]

I spent countless hours playing NHL 95 with my Japanese counterparts guarding a forlorn ordnance compound in Southern Japan. I remember specifically appreciating the speed pickup from 94 at the time, but now I agree with you so I do think player age might be a factor when comparing these two (18yr old me loved the speed .... you can't go back all the way).

[@SquarePegs]

I'm very much the same! I remember loving it when I was younger, but now it's something where it just feels a bit off. Still an absolutely spectacular game!

[@duckfield2520]

NHLPA 93 a C is ridic man.

[@SquarePegs]

I'm glad you feel strongly about it. I did, too - of everything I played for this video, this is one of the games I felt was a lock for top tier. But by my own vaporous standards playing it today and ranking my experiences today, it nets out to being an average game at a C level. Honestly, I don't think that's a bad thing for a nearly 30 year old sports title.

[@94champs]

93 is the best of them all. I like 94 but no fighting or blood puts a big time dent in it for me.

[@thomastripp9002]

Great video!!!! I love the NHL series on the Genesis, with NHLPA 93 and NHL 94 being my favorites. I also really like Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars!!

[@SquarePegs]

You, sir, have impeccable taste in games! :) Thanks so much for checking the video out!

[@thinkingwisedawg2508]

​@@SquarePegswhere is tecmo hockey

[@SquarePegs]

@@thinkingwisedawg2508 Eh, I forgot it. 🤷‍♂️ It happens.

[@thinkingwisedawg2508]

@@SquarePegs it's cool

[@supercommando440]

I'm curious if any other GOOD hockey games came out on SNES that didn't make it to Sega Genesis

[@Crash88]

I've been playin EA's NHL '21 career mode and franchise. Yeah I know they have newer ones but until they fix some issues I won't buy new ones. In the career mode you HAVE to pick 2 positions and you play your second choice for at least a full year. Second, you can't see your full roster or any other teams. You get no notices of league info like trades, which I don't think even happen or injuries. It's just so annoyingly basic for a game in 2021. I played these games on this list but spent more time trying to hit folks than score goals, they were really fun so thanks for bringing back some memories.

[@Y2Jay99]

You can put the speed in 98 to low. Way better

[@SquarePegs]

I'll try that out!!

[@chibully]

Great video! NHL All-Star hockey 95 is what I’ve been warming up to. It’s playable, I wouldn’t rank it quite as bad. The players do really seem to move like they’re on a track, and it does feel like a cheap imitation of the EA NHL games. I also found it really hard to score without doing a one timer.

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks so much, Charlie! I appreciate you watching!

[@matthewstarr9887]

If you pass the puck at the net in NHL All-Star hockey 95, it can be effective as an alternative to the slap shot.

[@kylekostamo1880]

hit the ice on the SNES was awesome. used to be one of my fav sports games to play back in the day, me and buddies would have a blast playing against each other.

[@jimlomas6712]

I do actually remember playing Hit the Ice in the arcades and it was much better than it looks on the Genesis

[@chrisanderson5974]

Wish the Sega CD version of NHL 94 was in here! I found it to be even better then the Cart Version! :)

[@SquarePegs]

I've honestly never played it, but I need to correct that immeditely! Thank you for letting me know of its existence!!

[@chrisanderson5974]

@@SquarePegs Adds in a bit of multimedia, and stuff being the early CD days. (also think the gameplay my have a crowd mechanic added in... )

[@BaronLector]

You hated Mario Lemieux for the same reason us 80's-90's Knicks fans hated Michael Jordan.

[@whataboutrob442]

Yes sir. I can attest to that.

[@JimMorrisonsBathtub]

NHL 94 is my favorite hockey game from this era which probably makes it my favorite hockey game of all time because of the roster. I still love modern hockey but the guys just aren't as cool as guys like Cam Neely, Adam Oates and Ray Bourque. I really wish there were 1970s NHL games because that would be awesome if you could play as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Derek Sanderson (my favorite), Terry O'Reilly, Stan Jonathan and so many more guys from back then that I could list off the top of my head. My only problems with NHL 94 are that my team's goaltender is always a complete idiot that lets in almost every shot whereas the other team's goaltender is always Ken Dryden in 1971 and I have to turn offsides off or my teammates will almost always skate like madmen so they can cross the blue line half a second before I do. Also, what evil spirit possessed you and made you play as the Canadiens? And yeah, I hate the Penguins too. They're my second least favorite hockey team. They've always been full of pansy little crybabies like Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby and scumbags that take cheap shots like Ulf Samuelsson and Brooks Orpik. They're an affront to the greatest sport in the world. I hate the Penguins so much.

[@SquarePegs]

I really feel like I've found a person who just gets me based on your comments, Jim. If you're looking for an old school hockey game, while it won't give you the players you're looking for (and really, I don't think we have the processing power to create the buzzsaw excellence that is Terry O'Reilly in digital form), check out Bush Hockey League - I know it's on the Switch, and it might be on other platforms as well. It's a 70's set game with made up teams, but the gameplay is really solid and reminded me a lot of '94 and '95.

[@ingolfrvargr]

The only hockey games I have on the Mega Drive (Eurooean here) are NHLPA '93, NHL 95 and NHL 97. Love them all, but I prefer 95 out of these three. I'm always on the lookout for other titles, but hockey is pretty much non-existent in my country so it's very uncommon to see hockey games 'out in the wild'. I saw 'Elitserien 95' on the Mega Drive, which is the Swedish league. Regret passing on it, that would have been an awesome obscure gem to have (I assume it's just a reskin of NHL 95) Thanks for helping me with deciding which ones to keep an eye out for and which ones to pass on. You're not that bad for a Bruins fan 😄 Also, awesome jersey collection. And LET'S GO PENS!

[@SquarePegs]

While I can never forgive you for being a Penguins fan, you've brought to my attention the absolutely insane fact that there's a Swedish Elite League game out there, *and I must own it*. The Swedish and Finnish leagues were so influential in the evolution of the NHL back in the 90's. Thanks so much for watching!

[@ingolfrvargr]

@@SquarePegs After a quick Google search it seems that there were only Elitserien 95 and 96 made on the Mega Drive and 2001 PC only. I think I'm officially on the hunt for them now 😄 Also, hope the Bs kick some Long Island butt tonight, I'm still bitter about that first round loss 😂

[@asylum1166]

The best reviews for games especially when it comes to sports is getting the review from someone who truly loves that particular sport! I’m not a true hockey fan I only played nhl 1995 and 1996 but your reviews allowed me to make a good choice to play some retro hockey games mutant league and Mario lemieux is the choices for me

[@SquarePegs]

Thank you so much for those kind words! And those two games will do you just fine - Mutant League is a masterpiece, and Mario Lemieux is an honest to god surprise of quality!

[@momoney9700]

dope video, outside of sega genesis I think 2 on 2 NHL Open Ice & NHL Hitz 2002 are my favorites

[@SquarePegs]

Hitz 2002 is legit, great choice!

[@TampaTec]

S: NHL 94, NHL 95, A: NHL 96, NHL 97, NHL 98 Wayne Gretzky game looks good, I need to try it.

[@ToddCrispies]

Your assessment of the NHL series is a bit off. NHLPA 93 is easily a B +. You make no mention of fights or blood. The only thing holding it back is no one-timer. NHL 94 is the only one you got right but still failed to even mention the series changing aspect of one-timers. The exclusion of fighting and blood is also not mentioned. NHL 95 is a B. The skating is way off. I don't get the feeling I'm on ice anymore. The agility is too much. NHL 96 is an A+. Skating is much improved and scoring variety is broadened. Fighting is back but with option to decline a fight by not dropping the gloves. How you can make a video on this subject and fail to mention any of the things I said makes one wonder if you even played these games for more than 5 minutes. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul.

[@SquarePegs]

Two things: 1) 9:47 regarding your statement about one timers. You should actively listen before writing a manifesto. 2) I'm sorry your views don't align with my own. I encourage you to make your own video on the subject and put it out there so others can wax philosophically and make moronic claims about your experiences with the series.

[@ToddCrispies]

@@SquarePegs don’t get testy because your review on the series sucks. And as for you mocking my “manifesto”…..You are the one who made an 18 minute video on the series and still didn’t cover all the basic yearly changes in the series. Maybe if you tried as hard on your 18 minute video as you did with your forced witty reply telling me how moronic I am, we wouldn’t even be having this exchange.

[@SquarePegs]

...it took you 10 months to come up with that?

[@pedroandresmansalve5237]

Hit The Ice me gusta mucho... (una pena q solo obtuviera una "F") pero admito q es por nostalgia, desconozco el resto de juegos de Hockey 🏒 pero luego de ver este top, intentaré conseguir alguno de los mejores nombrados aquí. Thanks for this video ^^

[@robertgodlewski8553]

Mutant League Hockey for a collector should get an A+, for a gamer it should be an F. The controls are horrible. The gameplay an abomination. I really wanted to love the game but it's horrible! Even the devs claimed the game was rushed and unpolished. They really should make a remastered complete version. In deciding to divest from all things “Mutant League,” it meant that there wouldn’t be a basketball game, and this change in gears forced “Mutant League Hockey” to be rushed. Mendheim explained that what should have been about a 14-month development cycle was instead squashed down to about six months. ” … I know what Mutant League Hockey was supposed to be and could have been, so I was always sad and disappointed with that project,” Mendheim told Brett Weiss.

[@SquarePegs]

Going to have to disagree with you on this one. I think the game plays perfectly for what it's intention is - it's built off a solid engine and tweaks it to great effect. Thanks for watching!

[@Kruz8er]

Great video, great walk down memory lane. I still play many of these games today and love 16 bit hockey! Thanks for sharing this video. NHL 98 gets a DQ from me simply because of the 2 line rule. NHL 95 is amazing, the only setbacks are the season mode has a horrible save glitch and the passing is atrocious. NHL 94 is pound for pound the greatest playing game of hockey of all time when it comes to the multiplayer aspect. It was a proven formula that wouldve only been better if it had a season mode. 93 was great for its time but it was obviously the stepping stone for 94. NHL 97 was horrible end of the day, if it was the only one you played back then, youd love it, but comparatively speaking, it was the most inferior on the ice, due to weak shots and passes and wonky animation, the devs treated 97 like a red headed step child. For me though, whether its nostalgia or playing these games almost 3 decades later, NHL 96 is IMO the best one ever made. The AI is tough on the mid and high difficulty levels compared to any other 16 bit hockey game and thats a good thing, goals arent always so easy to come by and cheap goals are almost non existent, which is also great for longevity. The speed of the game is just right and you still have the ability to set up plays and passes, you just have to be really good at the game and put in the time and if you do that it has the best payoff. NHL 96 is easy to pick up but takes time to master, its gameplay is deep and intertwined with the games movement. As far as the season mode with stat tracking, it is the 16 bit game with the greatest longevity when combined with its other pros, as unlike 95 there is no season breaking save glitch. NHL 96 was the last hoorah, coming from 94 and 95, 96 took the series to its pinnacle and the devs did it without using their resources on 32 bit consoles, 96 had their full attention and it shows still to this day!

[@aceassn716]

I agree with you 96 is my favorite on the Sega Genesis as well To see all post season awards Byng Selke Hart Vezina Stanley Cup team photos Create a player, best fighting mechanics too! Only reason I have 98 is because im a Detroit Red Wings fan an that was the break through year!

[@laserbeak3551]

Love the nhl series! NHL 94 to me and nostalgic its 92❤️

[@Opie1229]

NHLPA '93 & the NHL Series of games are the reason I am a rabid hockey fan to this day. I was at a party and my best friend enticed me to play with him. "I know nothing about hockey", I said. "Don't worry", he said. I'll give you the best team in the game. The best team that year?...the one that had Mario & Jaromir! Still a rabid PENGUINS fan! Go Pens! 🐧

[@SquarePegs]

I'm by no means a Pens fan. I'll never forgive Samuelsson for ending Cam Neely's career early. But Jagr? I had a Jagr poster on my wall as a kid. One of my absolute favorite hockey memories is him suiting up for the Bruins as a playoff rental in 2012-13. Thank you so much for watching!

[@94champs]

@Opie1229 NHLPA 93 is how I got into hockey as well! I think that game, more than any other, created so many NHL fans! It was the first game with actual players and player stats which blew my mind!

[@Voltan96]

Arguably, NHL all-star hockey had the best fights out of all these. Too bad the gameplay sucked

[@The_Texorcist]

God… I can’t remember which game it was but I do remember around the early 90s myself and a friend were playing a hockey game on the Genesis and it got to a point where his player got into a fist fight with another player. I think it went into a side view and while he was fighting I was futzing around with my controller. In the background of the fight I saw my player zip past in the direction I was pushing. Suddenly I realized that I could control my player. We then spent the next 30 minutes trying to get to where I or he could interfere with the fight. The tough part was the limited view ya had to quickly and blind for the most part get your player into the right position. All of that in the quick amount of time the fights usually took before they ended. Finally it happened, he got into a fight and I luckily got my guy behind the opponent and I pressed to swing and he did hitting the opponent. I can’t remember what happened next because him and I were losing our minds we did it but most likely both his player and mine were benched in the penalty box. God I wish I could remember what game it was.

[@SquarePegs]

Ooooh...I need to do research. At first though, I believe that's Mario Lemieux Hockey, but I could be crossing that with another game.

[@Projectwolfie21]

The NES version of Hit the Ice is way better, not the best but the concept is interesting. There's a complete version just laying around in the Gigaleak's email attatchments, and it's worth digging up because it is completely unlike the original arcade source.

[@SquarePegs]

Oh wow, that looks really interesting! I'll see if I can't track that ROM down and give it a go - thanks for letting me know, and for checking the video out!

[@felixfranzen7318]

Have your ever played the European version of the original NHL Hockey on a Genesis. It's PAL optimized so it plays 20% faster on a NTSC console. My main gripe with that is actually the fighting (which everyone seems to love for some reason), it seems two fights (or more) break out every minute.

[@SquarePegs]

I haven't! It's definitely one of my grails to find - we sadly get so few PAL release games appearing over here that it's kind of a pipe dream. But I've got a Europe trip planned next year to Ireland and the UK, so hopefully I can get lucky and find one! :)

[@danehill917]

The gameplay and balance of NHL95 is the best, superior even to NHL94.

[@SquarePegs]

A lot of people lean that way! I personally prefer 94, but I can totally see why folks would prefer 95. Thanks for watching!

[@CHE5T3R]

My brother and I thought the same thing growing up. 95 is our preference

[@94champs]

95 gameplay is awful in my opinion. That's why it only lasted 1 year. Fans of the series HATED NHL 95 when it came out.

[@twfchamp02]

Your first ranking is very decent although I’d probably rank 97 over 95 but 95 has that fantastic score at the menu screen and in-between periods.

[@SquarePegs]

I appreciate you watching!

[@Nelbroth]

I love NHL 94 on Genesis but Ice Hockey on 8-Bit NES is still my all-time favorite. While it's not a 100% faithful translation of the sport, it's fast, exciting, and wildly addicting, especially in 2-player mode. Sorry, I realize this is a Genesis discussion but the hockey genre isn't exactly a behemoth.

[@SquarePegs]

This is a hockey safe space and ANY discussion on my favorite sport is welcome and endorsed, even when it's divergent from the topic at hand. :) Love Ice Hockey. Absolutely one of my favorites of all time and still the best pure arcade experience in a two player setting. Have you tried Super Blood Hockey on modern consoles? It's very much the descendent of NES Ice Hockey and is a fantastically fun game.

[@graspfire9764]

NHLPA 93 & Mutant League Hockey for me. 94 being damn close

[@SquarePegs]

Can't find fault with any of those choices. :)

[@Davidjon1946]

Nhl 95 as a 13 year old kid life got not better !! Create a player trade players !!! Well at the time we thought the graphics were amazing!!! Nhl Was ground breaking!!!

[@SquarePegs]

Indeed it was! Thanks for watching, David!

[@wavyamar]

The only bad thing about this video is that you're a Bruins fan lol 😆 *Leafs fans tears 😢 😭 *

[@SquarePegs]

I can respect that! 😂

[@MoneyHoneyBunny]

The start of this video mostly is a pretty good Tier list. NHL 93 I think is below 95 due to it not having a one timer, and it just wasn't as well put together as the later games. Thats all I'd swap honestly. But yeah Mutant League Hockey, honestly, it's a bad game. But nostalgia wise ITS THE BEST HOCKEY GAME EVER! It's a meme game. Its hard to control, hard to score, hard to play. Its a shitty game, and it's 1 of my favorite games in history still so, I'd put it behind 94 and 95 and NHL All Star Hockey still and easily give it an A for all the meme player/team names and the using weapons and shit! I dont know how All Star is an F, if Mutant League isn't an F too. These are 2 of my favorite sports games of all time, but I think you're just going all nostalgia on that one. It's the same thing here, they're kind of bad games but, the fun things about them stand out from ALL the other games on genesis. It has a lot of issues like Mutant League but, the ways it shines make it special! I would spend hours just simulating games trying to get the worst teams in the league in the playoffs (which was hard) lol. And it had full team bios as well in the options menu. It's different for sure. It's a pure arcade hockey game, and the way you attack the net is different, different things work to score in each NHL game and you probably didn't play this enough to learn these mechanics, to give it a fair rating. Its all opinion though. Mario is probably the worst on this list to me. But you liked it, so, different minds different opinions! 96-98 are all like the same game too so, weird to not have them ranked the same.

[@SquarePegs]

100% respect for this comment, because you're spot on with Mutant League. It's score is heavily influenced by the nostalgia and meme factors. I do still think 93 falls a bit behind 94 and 95, but we're talking minor increments of excellence here and not some gaping chasm of quality. Appreciate the comment, and appreciate you watching!

[@MoneyHoneyBunny]

@@SquarePegs Thanks! Ijust found these videos of yours and am loving them. I was born in 87 so I grew up on Game Gear, Genesis, and Saturn sports games especially, and the PC NHL ones. If you don't have a Game Gear sports list, WE NEED IT LOL! i had to go back and update my comment lol cause I commented forgetting the video wasn't over after NHL 98. I was shocked you didnt find any enjoyment in All Star Hockey 95! I put that in the same category as Mutant League like I said, a 'you had to be there back then' game, that you need to be able to really play and learn unique mechanics that are different than every other game on this list. And then, it's fun!

[@ColdSteelKid]

I will say the one game that had the ice rink at an angle was much more visually appealing than the others which were straight on. I did have to laugh when I saw that there was one with a fighting minigame. That was awesome! The other one with the skill challenges did look interesting. I would probably have more fun doing those than playing hockey. Keep up the good work sir.

[@miamimagicians]

Are all these games garbage on the SNES? Yesenia’s is a nightmare for hockey games.

[@SquarePegs]

NHL 95 is not a great experience on the SNES, but I'm honestly unsure on the others - it's been awhile since I've played them.

[@digitalworms]

Mutant League hockey and football are both so awesome!

[@jordonpeters6343]

Just started watching and love your content! I was saddened that NHL All Star Hockey 95 was in the F tier! Played it all the time as a kid, but was the only hockey game I owned!

[@SquarePegs]

The thing of utmost importance in this regard is that this is completely an opinion piece, which doesn't make it any more right or any more valid than your opinion. What you love is important to you, and far be it for me to say that's wrong. :) It's not - it's just different than what I think. Thank you so much for checking the channel out and giving it a shot. I hope I can continue to entertain in some small way and earn your time and views. I appreciate you being here!

[@Inferno539]

Nhlpa 93 is the best

[@94champs]

It's also my favorite and I prefer it over 94.

[@94champs]

NHLPA 93 is not slower than NHL 94. If anything, it's a bit faster. It's basically the exact same game engine as NHL 94 but to me, it's more fun. The AI is better and the lack of one-timers forces you to be more creative with scoring. Slapshot power actually means something in 93, unlike in 94. You can blast the puck by the goalie. Can't really do that in 94. 93 also has fighting which was taken out in 94. Lame! You could knock out the other teams best player in a fight LOL! I prefer 93 over 94 for these reasons.

[@SquarePegs]

And you're certainly entitled to hold that opinion! It just feels like a slower game to me playing them back-to-back, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned - the one-timer significantly adds to the pace of the game in my eyes. Neither one of us are wrong, it's just opinion on something inconsequential - as long as we both love hockey, who gives a damn about the rest? :)

[@94champs]

@@SquarePegs Amen! I love 94 too and it definitely has it's advantages over 93. Goalie control, team logos etc. it all comes down to preference at the end of the day. There is no right or wrong answer here. I just prefer the way the puck bounces in 93 more than 94. It's more unpredictable and fun to me. Great video, thanks for covering these classic hockey games!

[@SquarePegs]

@@94champs Thank you for watching! Hope you have a great holiday season if you celebrate, and I look forward to seeing you all in the playoffs this summer!

[@Shatamx]

Still have my NHL 96 sega copy. I loved how fast it was as a kid. It was kid crack for me in the 90's.

[@TimBitten]

Man! I was also a HUGE Cam Neely fan back in the day!! Him and Adam Graves of the Rangers were my favorite players. (And Theo Fleury.)

[@SquarePegs]

Loved Graves as well! Man, watching Theo Fleury play was like watching the physical embodiment of the Tasmanian Devil from the Looney Tunes on the ice. Dude was SO incredibly gifted.

[@shingcow]

NHL 95 is so much better than 94. The breakaway deke doesn't work all the time like it does in 94, the half slap shot is gone and every player does a full slap shot, the goalie glove hand slap shot also doesn't always go in. It is easier for a player to stop in 95 compared to 94 when you are trying to deke. There are trades which which could help to update rosters, trades can be declined and the full season mode that keeps all the stats. I will give credit to 94 as I believe it still has fighting, gives updates of other games with highlights during intermission and the soundtrack on the genesis version is fantastic. The gameplay and all the trades and season mode makes NHL 95 the clear cut best game in the series.

[@SquarePegs]

I will say my views have evolved since making this video. Right there with you, despite so many people taking 94 and 95 to task for fighting being removed.

[@shingcow]

I don't get the hype behind 94 seeing that there are very minimal changes from the two games prior. NHL 95 is when the game changed for the better with gameplay, controls, the trades, season and stats. I haven't played in a while so I am probably missing some other things as well. Again, I will give credit to the 94 soundtrack at least on the genesis version the sensational. Thank you for you response.@@SquarePegs

[@SquarePegs]

You're most welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@bowlsbeersbrawls]

Hit the ice was cool in the arcade

[@SquarePegs]

I wish what we'd gotten on home consoles was 1/3 as much fun as the arcade version.

[@RE-vy4wn]

Well, I have to admit that I don't disagree with a lot on this tier list. I feel like the NHL series from 1996 to 1998 became interchangeable and really lacked a lot of sound ground improvement i.e. from NHL93 to NHL94 and from NHL94 to NHL95 when EA cared enough about the 16-bit games on both SNES and Genesis. One of my hidden gems was the ESPN National Hockey Night and you're right, it had no right to be as good as it was with the ESPN branding on it. My favorite thing about the game was the ability to flatten everyone, from the opposing winger, defenseman, and goalie to your own teammates lol. Fun stuff, and a fantastic video of the best sport and the games that graced the Genesis. BTW, a little interesting tidbit, "Mario Lemeiux Hockey" was entirely renamed as "Super Slapshot" on the SNES. I remember seeing the game known as Mario Hockey on Genesis and thinking this one looked similar to it, except in "Super Slapshot" you got to play as international and vague city named teams. Have to tell you, nothing better than working Team Egypt to a win over the mighty Team Canada! 😂😂🤣🤣

[@SquarePegs]

Hey, thank you so much for watching! I'm officially adding Super Slapshot to the wishlist - Team Egypt FTW! 🤣

[@RE-vy4wn]

@@SquarePegs Have you done a hockey games on the SNES video and I just missed it? If not that would be awesome!

[@SquarePegs]

@RE-vy4wn I have not - I'll put it on the list!

[@RE-vy4wn]

@@SquarePegs Why thank you, good sir!

[@jeffsan4996]

Mutant league hockey deserves a sequel the way mutant league football got one. As a fan of the dungeons and dragons theme and hockey I think the game would be perfect if there was a create a team and create a player feature similar to NHL hitz franchise mode

[@chiefjay6559]

Jersey changes were amazing btw

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks, Chief! :)

[@michaelcorcoran8768]

I would go 96 first since it had full seasons, stats etc. .... Then 94.

[@SquarePegs]

I can't argue that at all, great point!

[@norriszappa25]

You forgot tecmo super hockey

[@SquarePegs]

You are correct! Thanks for letting me know - I'll make sure to add it to the 'I screwed up and forgot these games' ranking video that I'm doing in a couple months. :)

[@marineblade909]

Did he do a list of sega football games? I'm curious about that list

[@SquarePegs]

I haven't yet! But the season starts next month, so stay tuned. ;)

[@stephenkayes8981]

NHL 94 had the Sega vacuum. Score every time. L R L R shoot.

[@SquarePegs]

I've never heard it described as the Sega vacuum before - that's absolutely fantastic.

[@twfchamp02]

I’m sure 97 had the Skills as well.

[@Marc_Araujo]

Mutant League Hockey is criminally underrated and is def the most fun of all the 16-bit hockey games. In terms of traditional hockey games, most people will say NHL 94 (with the Sega CD version in particular), but NHL 95 is my favorite. P.S. If NHL 95 had the fighting that they added in NHL 96, then it'd be perfect.

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks for watching, Marc!

[@NS-fc9rs]

Just watched this vid again. great job. My rankings of EA games: 95 the Peak with season play, trades, create a player, you could play a full season as every team at once, controls are so tight, they changed the angle on ice that is jarring at first compared to the first 3 gams. No fighting 94 is the Populist pick, so much charm, the apex of that game engine with one-timers, but no season mode, trades etc hurt it. First time removed fighting 93 is the Hollywood Darling in Swingers, the blood and fighting, but no onetimers or manual goalie 92 Originator of this wonderful series, 96 Jockjams music as intro! was so pumped but game lost all it's charm from the following 4 iterations. Also could only play as one team in season mode and they had that 2 line pass 97 no jockjams not charm 98 cashgrab for kids who didn't get a ps1. but the mini games were cool. I think this one had special moves you could do like a lindros check with puck.

[@TheSonicsean]

I think NHL 97 and 98 were the first instances (in hockey at least, Madden had these as well) of the "roster update" release, where it's basically the same game as NHL 96 (or even 95 really, which included the season mode) but with updated rosters, for full price. I enjoy them, but I still pull down NHL 95 instead of 96, 97, or 98.

[@bobby_c07]

NHL 96 is on par with 94. Definitely better than 95.

[@SquarePegs]

I don't agree, but I respect your opinion on it. A lot of folks really dig 96, I'm just a 95 kid.

[@Dr.JHamilton]

NHL 94 is the goat, but I find it a tad easy at times. You can take an expansion team and win the Stanley Cup without too much difficulty. NHLPA 93 is more challenging. If you take a weaker team and try to beat the strong teams, it can be a struggle. It's just too bad the league didn't sponsor that one.

[@TadashiNazuka]

As a hockey fan and sports gamer from the 90s era, I cannot forgive nhl 94 for removing fighting from the game. No fighting put nhl 94 on my shit list 30 years ago and there it remains. All the real kids we just kept playing NHLPA 93. Probert Grimson Manson. Don't know who the morons are these days who play nhl 94. True old school hockey fans banished that censored game decades ago.

[@JasonWilshire]

NHL '96 for Genesis is the best 16 bit hockey game.

[@SquarePegs]

I have strong opinions about this, and while I personally disagree, it's not because '96 is a bad game. :)

[@nintendontbutdo5507]

Mutant league hockey is the holy grail of a sega hockey game. Loved playing this game with my cousin and also nhl 94 both very much great memories :)

[@Bryan-xe3pj]

NHL 96, NHL97, & NHL98 are the same game. NHL 95 was the best Genesis hockey game IMO, 94 is not better than 95. You are stoned. 92,93,94 are graphically simalar with 94 being the best version of those 3. NHL 95 was the best.

[@whataboutrob442]

I would never have known that ML hockey was good or bad because I just assumed that EA was the only one worth buying.

[@SquarePegs]

MLH is built on the NHL 94 engine. It's a bit choppier, but I still like it. :) I do admit that nostalgia brings its grade up a bit - it's probably closer to a B overall, but it'll always be one of my favorites from childhood.

[@whataboutrob442]

@@SquarePegs I was referring to Mario Lemieux Hockey. I knew about Mutant League from the football game.

[@SquarePegs]

@@whataboutrob442 ...this is what happens when I end up replying before my coffee is brewed. 🤣

[@whataboutrob442]

@@SquarePegs Funny thing is my first thought was that maybe I should type the title out instead of abbreviation. But I know what you mean about the coffee.

[@WithScienceAsMySheperd]

NHL 96, NHL 94, NHL 98... but SNES are my reference, BUT I will take a look since I'm getting the games on GENESIS !!! Will get back on here Super Blood Hockey is now in my top 5

[@bmon3100]

As far as snes, and MD, I think NHL 96 is the best. The playability feels smooth and although they had 1timers way before the 1-timers are awesome in this game to me (even tho ppl get tired of 1-timers idc. Its the best way to score in any NHL game to this day imho) one more thing, everyone sees the girl behind the net in the crowds tits in Mutant league right? It's not just me right? 🤣

[@caseyhayes4590]

Not a Genesis game and not incredibly authentic, but the game play on NES Ice Hockey is actually legit incredible to this day. It's aged better than most 16 bit sports games. Talking just "Ice Hockey" not Blades of Steel which I think has not aged well.

[@Discovery-Records]

I would agree for the most part. But if there was only EA NHL and EA NHL 93 and none were made after you would probably give them at least a B,Its just hard to compare them to 94,95 and on. Which I agree. but they are a B all day imo

[@mymusic3354]

Great video, I just picked up Mutant league hockey, it's over the top and comical and fun, from the fights to the coach flipping out about the team's not scoring goals and letting the other team score a lot, I've never been huge for hockey games aside from on NES but mutant league hockey is good, I'll probably try some others on your list too.

[@stevenlaroche7800]

As a HABS fan, I do not endorse this video. :)

[@SquarePegs]

I will say this as a Boston fan: at least we can stand united in finding it hilarious that Toronto thinks it's both of our main rivals. 😂 Eternal little brother syndrome, am I right? Also - I respect the hell out of your club. Hate with with the fire of a thousand suns, but I respect the hell out of them.

[@birdofprey70]

One of the first 32-bit versions of hockey I played was Power Play Hockey on the Sega Saturn. Maybe rank the 32-bit hockey games next?

[@captaindishman9126]

I put so many hours into Mutant League Football as a youngin'. The best strategy was to just kill all the opposing players and they would lose by lack of substitutions. I wish they made a good modern version of it.

[@theoutlaw1984]

Idk about 97 but on 98 you can in the options change the game speed. My favorite is 95, cause it has the season mode finally. Although I concede 94 has the best gameplay.

[@gkar42069]

Your rank vids are great man! If you would do the football games that would be fantastic!

[@SquarePegs]

Thank you so very much! I'll definitely get around to doing a Football one eventually. I think Baseball is next on the list just because opening day is supposedly happening soon (hooray lockouts!) - so look for Football towards the start of the season in September. :)

[@vinceniederman]

@@SquarePegs Since U Plan To Make a Football Sega Video in September Which NFL Team is Your Favorite? My Favorite NFL Team is The Philadelphia Eagles!

[@timecop808]

Tecmo Super Hockey?

[@SquarePegs]

Yup, completely missed it.

[@mtnbos]

IMO NHL 97 & 98 are the two best. The previous versions are too slow and the AI is awful.