Intellivision hockey

[mr_me]

I thought today would be a good day to post comments on Intellivision NHL Hockey and Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey.

 

Intellivision NHL Hockey is a fun game, they got some things right but they got some things not so right. One thing they got right is the hitting. I know the instructions mentions tripping but substitute the word 'hit' for 'trip' and everything makes sense. You can hit the puck carrier anytime, but hit someone not in puck possession and you might get a penalty (the referee can't see everything). And don't hang on to the puck too long or you might get hurt, just like the real thing, and the sound effects lets you know it. What's wrong with this game? The players can't skate. On skates you can stop and change direction at full speed quicker than on foot but on the Intellivision this is frustrating. The goalies have no trouble skating. They are quick and aggressive, good puck handlers, always keeping the puck in play, and sometimes making a great pass. The goalies are awesome, although somewhat injury prone. Your linemates could be better, always seems one of the guys is standing in one spot; maybe its due to limited processing power. I have to compare to NBA Basketball where the computer players are so much better at picking up passes. No curved corners on the far boards, maybe they couldn't spare the bits/bytes. We use to play this on a 14" television and the play area seemed too small, thought it could maybe use a little side scrolling, but its not so bad on a larger television. Overall a fun game but far from their best sports game.

 

I wasn't expecting much from Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey, just wanted to play the game I liked against the computer. Yes, they added the computer opponent, and the ability to handicap a strong player in two player mode. They also went to olympic size ice and more room behind the net. I'm not sure if the wider Ice surface makes the game better but I like the extra space behind the net. Unfortunately, this game is unplayable because of the shooting bug <http://atariage.com/forums/topic/241473-slap-shot-super-pro-hockey-buggy-shooting/>. They added keypad passing, but you lose half the precision using it. Am I suppose to use both the keypad and the side buttons? Some other minor problems like the home/tan team control player is red instead of brown and the tan goalies switches to orange when resting. So the home team has four players on the ice and sometimes in three different colours. Why are the blue lines green? And instead of fixing the corners on the far boards they removed the curved corners on the near boards. And there is a bug that lets you score from behind the net. This game could have been a nice improvement over the original but instead it might be the only one that is worse.

 

 

Edit:

The Mattel box cover is great, I always thought that was Ken Dryden in a green sweater. Anyone recognize the other players?

Edited October 7, 2015 by mr_me

[+the1hatman]

Nice write up! Little sad to learn Slap Shot isn't so great though. I'll still get a copy when I have a chance but little bummed to hear the original is better. NHL was the sports game my dad and I played together the most so it holds a special place for me.

 

Maybe some of the homebrew wizards out there will churn out a fixed version of Slap Shot or even their own better version? Would be cool to see a hockey game made for Intellivoice the way World Series is too!

[atarifan88]

Love this game but wish Super Slap Shot had curved corner to make the puck movement a little livelier. As Mr Me mentioned, a side scrolling game would make this much better (see World Cup Soccer). I know it might be asking too much, but the addition of fighting would make this game really fun! I have been able to overlook the bug about scoring from behind the net as I usually play the computer and it never comes up. In conclusion, this game was really the icing (pun intended) on the cake of the Intellivision sports games, IMO.