One of the last great classic hockey games was NHL ‘95. Basic mechanics from NHL ‘94 remain the same. Scoring was made a bit harder and you couldn’t deke your way to a goal everytime. On Sega Genesis, unlike other versions, this version featured improved player animations and graphics over NHL ‘94.

Slightly more detailed crowd noise and animations. The ice surface and controls became more slick and the players moved faster. If you played NHL ‘94, then the slick ice was an improvement and a detriment. You liked it because it felt more like ice, but you hated it because the slower players moved faster to the point of there being little difference between skill players and defensive goons.

Still, the improvements were enough (just enough) that NHL ‘95 on Genesis was a worthy purchase. The “just enough” formula for EA Sports would be their MO from here on out. Gone were the major improvements and overhauls, now there were just minor tweaks and updates to the franchise with major changes every few years.

The formula works, but unlike today’s super powered games, there’s no need to upgrade from NHL ‘94 to NHL ‘95 and so on, unless you were a die-hard hockey fan. Factor in the lack of player movement in the real NHL and you didn’t really need to buy a new game just for the roster updates. NHL back then wasn’t the parity filled, free-agents in a salary cap era. In fact, there were no salary caps. So unless you were a fan of a rich team (i.e. Detroit Red Wings), you had even fewer reasons to upgrade every year.

But here, the smoother graphics and better overall sound made upgrading a tough choice. NHL ‘95 to some is a dark horse hated game. Too much over-tweaking and the tightening up of the “The Move” made this game a little tougher to pick (read: harder for buddies to come over and play against). Take out the fighting and now you had more reason than ever to hate on this game. In an era where realistic graphics were nowhere to be found, it didn’t matter that the visuals were updated. Hockey was a game of pace and action, and while NHL ‘95 brought it, it just didn’t bring enough to get you to trade-in NHL ‘94.

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