"The Sega Dremcasts' little glowing, orange
triangle has faded but its presence is sure to stay with the community for years
to come. With Sega’s final release on the Dreamcast, there shouldn't be a dry
eye after reading this review."
Intro
When the Sega Dreamcast was born into existence, Sega created a side division of
their games for sports titles. While many console developers tried to do this,
only Sega managed to become successful at it. Sega Sports was created,
and the first big sports title on the Dreamcast was NFL 2K. Since
then, the 2K line-up had it's share of great releases.
After snagging an import of Shenmue 2, only NFL2K2 remained.
What the puck?
For Canadians and those living in the northern parts of the US, hockey is
probably more popular than Skittles. Being from the Atlantic coast, I never
really got into the sport. Sure, I'll go and watch a few Caps games here
and there, but to follow it? No way.
But, when it comes to hockey video games, it has to be one of the best party
games on the face of the earth. Probably my favorite ever was Electronic Arts
NHL series on the Sega Genesis. It provided endless nights huddled around a
glowing screen, drinking Mountain Dew and eating cheese curls giving our fingers
(and the controllers) a brilliant orange tint.
Anyway, two years after the initial (and lack lustered) release of NHL
2K comes the next and final release of the series. The first was a solid
title, but never hit home when compared to NFL 2K. For the most part
little has changed in the two year sabbatical. Sure there are minor refinements,
but overall the game looks and plays identical to the original.
What makes the game so rewarding is the control and depth of play. For most
gamers who want to play a hockey game, there has to be a great balance between
arcade action and simulation features. Blessed by the programmer’s guild at
Sega, this is was a perfect mixture of the two and the control couldn't get any
better. The control is for the most part automatic (such as the players
automatically face the puck) but you still feel in total control. You are
also given the option to control the goalie or simply have the computer control
it for you.
Shooting and passing is also quite flawless. Charging towards the goal, you can
aim the shot slightly by using the analog stick. This allows you to think on the
fly, and keeps the realism peaked. Let's say the goalie is faked by a juke you
pull out, you can aim for the opposite direction and hopefully sneak it
through its defense. For those who prefer to use the analog stick for your
primary control (as I do), simply "tap" the controller in the
direction you want the shot to go. Not only is the shooting and passing done in
this manner, the responsiveness is second to none. While many hockey games have
"slippery" controls, the feel of the player on the ice is done
perfectly. The physics and sensitivity keeps the action real, while not losing
the arcade "fun" of the game. This makes for an enjoyable experience,
without sacrificing aspects of either area.
Since Sega Sports mastered the basic controls of the game, they actually took it
to a whole new level. Once you become familiar with the basic controls of the
play, you can juice up the action by switching to the "advanced
controls". When switching to the advanced control set, you can
"tweak" the moves simply by incorporating the left trigger button.
This allows you to perform a variety of super-cool moves that step up the game a
few notches. For hockey fans, this should come as a welcome bonus to relieve the
humdrum boredom of simply passing, shooting and checking. You can
experiment with these moves by trying combinations of trigger/button actions;
but it is well worth to check out the manual which explains each move and how to
pull them off.
Lastly when producing a high-quality sports game, there has to be competent and
challenging AI. Luckily, the difficulty setting really provides a variety of
challenge levels. The rookie setting is more arcade like, and produces higher
scoring games. The pro setting ran my ragged, and I sat inches from the screen
cursing like a drunken sailor on the third day at sea. The normal setting is
where you should spend most of you gaming, which was a nice balance between the
two. I also noticed that each team and players have very unique attributes. Not
being up on the hockey scene, I was a few steps behind. But, if you are familiar
with current hockey trends, expect your picks to be better than mine. I was also
impressed to find that my team AI was fairly responsive and very reactive to every
situation. Right when I needed an outlet, my wingman was right there waiting for
the pass. There's nothing worse than having wondering teammates skating in
circles as you work your butt off...
Cool as ice...
As mentioned before, not much has changed in the way of visuals for the updated NHL
2K2. The player renditions are smooth as silk, and the contrast of colors is
done wonderfully. Comparing now-gen console graphics with the Dreamcasts
version, it is slightly rough. It's not bad, by any stretch, but not as detailed
as I would have expected. Probably the biggest lure of the graphics is the rock
solid performance as the game sails at a remarkable 60FPS.
Where the visuals really hit home is during the replays where you can see
everything from facial expressions dynamically changing according to the game,
to the spraying of ice fragments as a player grinds to a halt. The portrayal of
ice and the rink itself is still remarkable, but when compared to the detail of NFL
2K2 the graphics seem much duller. The same goes for the carbon copied
stadium and the fans hooting and hollering in the stands.
When comparing audio beside visual, the audio takes a backseat. I found the
audio and play-by-play to be flat and non-inspiring. The commentary was fairly
lively, but was always a few steps behind the action. Sound effects were also
not as dramatic as one would expect, but I did give "thumbs up" to the
crowd noise; which changed and evolved as the action on the ice progressed.
66 Says:
Well, from one perspective I was sad to play the last game released on the
Dreamcast. I was hoping for a better title (aka Shenmue 2), but for what
it is, the game is a blast to play. The multiplayer action really was a nice
adrenaline booster for the game, and I sat glued to my set just like in the old
days of the Genesis.
My other perspective, I am optimistic to see Sega Sports continue to develop and
release titles for other systems; and hope they continue to be successful. They
have an uphill battle since Electronic Arts really has the market for sports
games. When it comes down to it, the gameplay and fun-factor really make this a
solid purchase for any sports enthusiast. There are enough options and replay
value to keep this a steadily played game. The price is fairly steep compared to
other Dreamcast titles (25 clams), but it is sure to drop in the near
future. Sure I recommend the game highly, even though it is far from perfect.
I never thought the end of a great system would die on a game like this, but
coming from a non-hockey fan; this is a sure winner and a total blast to play.
8.2
