Summary
Surprisingly fun to play.
The Good
The attention to detail in reproducing the feel of network sports really floored me. Maybe I haven't been playing enough sports games in recent years, but the camera angles, wipes/fades/dissolves, occaisional stats that pop up, and the targeted announcer commentary were impressive.
The basic controls were simple to figure out. You can play entire games with just button A for passing and button B for shooting.
Finally, the puck had a darkish halo around it, which was a nice computer-game touch that made it really easy to see where the puck was (
unlike real hockey broadcasts).
The Bad
While the basic controls were easy to figure out, the more complex ones, such as a third button for player selection and a fourth button for "special", were unclear as to how they worked exactly. For example, the instructions clearly stated that the third button selected the player closest to the puck, but repeated pressing of this button kept switching the active player all over the place. And after a good 30 minutes of playing, I stlil haven't figured out what "special" does.
Another "disappointment" was fighting--more specifically, the lack of it. I played with a friend for over an hour and there was just no way we could get into a fight. I know that in real life, fights are uncommon, but it still would have been nice to specifically cause one.
The Bottom Line
Considering that this game is now $14.99 at Best Buy, I'd have to say that it is, indeed, a "best buy". It's surprisingly fun, even for non-sports-fanatics like myself.
