Ice Hockey (Atari 2600) review "When it comes to sports, I have always been a big fan. I have enjoyed many sports over the years. However, I have never really been a huge hockey fan. Needless to say, I still played hockey and watched hockey on television from time to time. My all time favorite sports team (Pittsburgh Penguins) is a hockey team. But, I just have not gotten into the sport of hockey as much as I expected. "

When it comes to sports, I have always been a big fan. I have enjoyed many sports over the years. However, I have never really been a huge hockey fan. Needless to say, I still played hockey and watched hockey on television from time to time. My all time favorite sports team (Pittsburgh Penguins) is a hockey team. But, I just have not gotten into the sport of hockey as much as I expected.

So, when I fished out under my bed and re-hooked my old Atari up in my room, I did not really think much when I put Ice Hockey in the console and fired it up. I was not expecting to be blown away by the game or anything. After all, it was just another hockey game. I had played enough of them, and most of them were actually kind of boring.

However, this is far from just another boring hockey game. In fact, this is one of my all time favorite sports games now. You may take a look at this game and ask ''what the hell is this guy smoking?'' but let me explain myself first, and why I think this game is so much fun to play, and superior to a lot of the hockey games out there.

It is really not that complicated at all. One of the major problems I have with sports games nowadays is the fact that they all seem to be way too complicated and jammed with statistics and numbers and such. I think that developers of sports games nowadays are generally guilty of making the game too stat-intensive, without worrying about the actual game and how fun it is to play. And that is why I like this game, there are no statistics or anything to even worry about.

It is just so much fun to play. There really is not that much to do in this game, but for some reason it is strangely addictive and fun to play. It is especially enjoyable when played on multiplayer mode, as you will have a blast trying to move your guys around against your friend, trying to score goals. It really is fun to play.

Now onto my quick rundown of the game.

For an Atari 2600 game, these graphics are actually kind of impressive. Now, granted, you will not see NHL 2001 like graphics, but the graphics here get the job done. Basically there is a black screen, with a white box, and in the box are your players and the goals. The goals look like crap, and the players animate rather poorly, but at least everything can be made out clearly. The graphics are perfectly acceptable for an Atari 2600 game.

As in most Atari 2600 games, there is no music featured in the game. Sound effects are barely there, as all you really hear is the sound of the puck moving around the ''rink''.

Gameplay is where most Atari 2600 games, and Ice Hockey, shine. Control in the game is solid, as it is really not that complicated at all. You use your directional pad to move the players around, and you push the red button to shoot the puck. Yep, that is it. No fancy passing and variations of shots in this game.

The actual game itself is not like other hockey games, in the simple fact that it is not really that deep. All you get is two teams, two goals, two players per team, and that's pretty much it. However, there is something strangely fun about this game. I cannot really say what it is, but let me just assure you that this game is a blast to play. I spent about fourty five minutes playing this game last night when I couldn't fall asleep, and I loved every minute of it.

The replay value is not up to par with some other Atari 2600 games, but this is still an addictive and fun game to play. I would spend many hours playing this game if I didn't have better things to do. Hell, I played the game for 45 minutes, so that alone should tell you that the game has some decent replay value.

I cannot really comment on the challenge level of this game, mainly because it is a pretty challenging game, but the quality of the players on the other team varies from game to game, so there is no set challenge.

It is a blast to play, and is one of the better hockey games I have ever played. Some people may be turned away by the simple fact that it is an Atari 2600 game, but stick with it and you will discover one of the finer hockey games that ever was created.

Community review by psychopenguin (March 08, 2005) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.