I want to first mention the only two negative things I’ve found about NHL2k2. First of all, the menu interface is inconsistent and downright confusing at times. For example, sometimes “B” takes you back a screen, sometimes you must select an “EXIT” bullet and press the “A” button, and sometimes you hit the Start button. I also will state that analog menu screens are evil! Analog is great for gameplay, not for picking from a menu. Also, you are sometimes locked-out of certain options – pause the game at a face-off and you’ll see what I mean, you can’t ‘get to’ all the options, which seems strange.

The other semi-negative aspect of the game would be the announcing (play by play and color commentary). The announcers’ comments are sometimes laughable, with many repeated, corny phrases such as “man, that had to hurt!” and “ohhh! He’s all over him!”. Now and then I’m impressed by the commentary but it’s a hit-and-miss affair.

I’m now done nitpicking and I want to talk about the graphics. NHL2k2 has drop-dead gorgeous ice. I have never seen better ice in a game! The ice is glossy and reflective, yet with skating scratches and marks in it and sprays of ice from fast-turning players. The arenas and players themselves are modeled very well, with good-looking details (including faces) that look good from all angles, and the animation runs at 60 FPS and is much improved over NHL2k. The crowd is 2D, but it’s the best-looking 2D crowd I’ve ever seen on the Dreamcast with none of the warping effect that was evident in NHL2k. You also see the players on the bench and the coaches. Note that the faces and the coaches don’t appear to be the ‘real faces’, but complaining about this is akin to asking for double-portions of icing on your cake. On a one to ten scale, NHL2k’s graphics earn a solid ten.

The sounds are very good, especially if you tweak the sound settings to bring out the rink sounds more and quiet those announcers a bit. Sounds are exactly what I expected, typical yet good hockey sounds of ice, skates, shots, player contact, and the sound of the puck ricocheting off the net’s frame. The quality and variety of a sports game’s audio has been set at a high standard over the years, and NHL2k2 boasts all the stuff you’d expect, including organ melodies, the often-repeating play-by play announcers, and the stadium announcer. However, NHL2k2 has also licensed two GREAT tunes that never get old and really boost the presentation of the game – Gary Glitter’s hockey anthem (sorry, I really don’t know the name of it!), and also “Y’all ready for this”, which you notice as soon as the game boots up. Licensing these two tunes was a great idea, much better than some average and generic hard rock tune.

NHL2k2’s gameplay is fast, smooth, and most importantly, fun. You’ve got a lot of control to add as much simulation and otherwise tweak things as you like, but the game is always fun. I played a few games on Rookie difficulty but quickly moved on to Pro, so my comments are mostly based on playing exhibitions and season games on Pro difficulty. Each game is filled with action, featuring lots of hooks, checks, and collisions going on as players try to get possession of the puck. NHL2k2’s gameplay, to the inexperienced player, seems to be like a version of Hungry, Hungry Hippos – you constantly try to scoop up the puck, only to get it stripped away from you. However, once you get more familiar with the game, develop some skills, and start using your players as a team , you can enjoy the great flow of skating on ice, passing confidently back and forth and planning one-timers into the net. Sega claims that individual players mimic their real-life counterparts; well, I wouldn’t be able to tell if they did, but it is easy to see that each player and team has their own strengths and weaker aspects.

The goalies are smart yet not unbeatable, which yields realistic scores in these games. My highest score on Pro was a 6-0 shutout with my Penguins defeating Ottawa. However, most of my games have been 0-1, 2-1, and other low yet realistic scores. Each successful score feels really great, especially when you are the home team and get the fanfare once the goal light goes off. You can also turn on coaching and manual line changes, and you are able to make your team play more defensively or more aggressively at any time. I’ve only begun to explore the different plays, not being an expert at this sport, but they do indeed change the positions and mentality of the players to set up different kinds of strategies. Visual Concepts and Treyarch have not skimped on the depth of their hockey game.

I’ll summarize a bunch of other random thoughts in this paragraph. Controls were initially confusing to me but it didn’t take long to get good using basic controls. I haven’t tried the advanced controls much, but you masters of hockey will probably use this setting for more precise control of the puck. (FYI, Advanced controls make use of the L and R triggers in conjunction with the ABXY buttons to give more direct control). Stats are pretty bare-bones and not the focus of the game. You have plenty of options to tweak the speed, difficulty, period length, and rules. You can modify the frequency of in-game commentary, penalties, fighting, and injuries. Game modes include exhibitions, seasons (you can shorten the season), playoffs, and tournament. You can pick 2 or 3 different jerseys for each team, NHL and international teams are included, you can trade with few or no restrictions, and you can create your own players to trade them to your favorite teams. I’ve noticed a few minor glitches now and then, nothing that happens consistently or ruins the game, though. Finally, there’s no franchise mode (I’ve yet to actually play a franchise mode, not my thing) and … no online (I hope nobody actually expected one, given Sega’s current situation).

NHL2k2 seems to be the Sega Dreamcast’s swan song, and as I’ve tried to state, I highly recommend this fast, fun, challenging, deep, and visually awesome sports game. Not only will this game provide hours of great gaming for you and your gaming friends, it also clearly shows the potential of next year’s NHL2k3 on the next-gen systems, hopefully with great online gaming as we’ve already experienced with many Dreamcast sports games in the recent past.