Now, the NHL Hitz series - and it's predecessor, NHL Open Ice - relied on 3-on-3 play, not including goalies. It's worked well for the past couple of years, but in order to stay fresh, Midway has changed gameplay to include 5-on-5 play. How did this affect gameplay? For the better, in my opinion. There's a little less room on the ice now, forcing players to come up with quicker passes and shots and generally turning up the heat a few notches. The AI is a more intense challenge on the higher difficulty levels, chasing down loose pucks and delivering big-time hits like there's no tomorrow. The Xbox version provides a steadier and smoother framerate than the PS2 version, and that's a huge boon to gameplay as well. There are a multitude of options and sliders available to tweak gameplay to your liking. Rules can be left on or off, you can change the AI, puck physics, nearly everything in the game to create the style of game that you prefer. When I said that this game evokes feelings of the NHL 94 Genesis classic, I wasn't kidding - this is the closest I've come to bringing those days back to life. It plays great at the default settings, and the power is put squarely in your hands to change whatever you desire. The polish put into the core gameplay shines through.

The fighting engine has been revamped for the better. Now, instead of madly pounding on random buttons to clutch and punch your opponent, it employs a somewhat DDR-style of play. Four grey icons sit on either side of the screen for each player, representing the face buttons on the Xbox controller. Each one will flash momentarily, then one will light and stay lit. The first person to tap that button and fill their meter will be treated to the sight of their pugilist feeding freshly baked knuckle sandwiches to their opponent. Get three in a row and you'll be victorious while the other guy spits his chiclets on the ice and considers a new line of work. It's a novel idea, and it works quite well. To be fair, EA Sports' NHL 2004's fighting engine is still the most realistic on the market, but what's on offer here in NHL Hitz Pro is close behind.

Graphics on the Xbox version of NHL Hitz Pro are sharp and detailed, much better than the PS2 version. The lighting effects are great, the camera work is second to none, especially during the game introductions and post-goal celebrations - it shudders and shakes as if you're really down on the ice, hearing the thundering crowd. Speaking of sound, the effects used here are clear as a bell, and bring the rink experience home. Players grunt, glass shatters, the slap of the puck and *ping* off the crossbar are all here and sound great. Commentary from the two-man team is pretty standard, and some of the comments supplied seem to be recycled from last year's NHL Hitz 20-03. Like I've said before, Don Cherry would be a natural fit for this type of game - go hire him now!

I do have a few gripes, however. Player faces are generic across the board, with only a few bearing a greater resemblance to their real-world counterparts other than race. After seeing the individually modelled faces in Sega's ESPN NHL 2K4, for example, this is a bit of a let down. There's a strange bug involving the HD soundtrack as well - for some reason, the music will play during gameplay, not just during breaks in the action or when the game is paused. It's not a major irritant - I love hearing Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" as much as anyone, just not when I'm playing. Keep the music limited to the pre-game skatearound, before the whistle is dropped, and during the pause menu, and I'll be happy. Many of the more esoteric options from last year have been removed from NHL Hitz Pro, like mini-games and the huge number of unlockables. Here's hoping that they're reinstated for next year's version.

The biggest faux pas - and the one that really keeps NHL Hitz Pro from hitting that vaunted A- grade - is the lack of online support on Xbox. Having spoken with members of Midway's production team, it's something they wanted to get in for this year, but it looks like it'll have to wait until next year's version. The PS2 version has online play and it rocks, I can just imagine how cool it would have been on Xbox Live. Maybe next year.

Overall, NHL Hitz Pro has the gameplay to keep you and your buddies glued to the screen for months. It's easy to pick up and play, but there's enough depth and customization here to make this the only alternative to the more simulation-based hockey games available. For pure hockey fun, you won't beat NHL Hitz Pro this season.