NHL 98
		by barrys@panix.com (DJ Powerslave)

  Well I have been a fan of the NHL series since its inception. This year
is my first on the playstation. Prior to now my game experience has been
on Sega Genesis where money plays were abundant and errors were plenty.

  It took me 10 games on Rookie to realize that that level was far to easy
and way to annoying. It seems as soon as you score the computer scores one
back. The games are close but the scoring is not realistic with final
scores of 9-8 and the likes. So I made the switch earlier this week to the
Pro level where I am playing my favorite team, The New York Islanders.
While the level of play is much better and the scores are much more
consistent with the NHL it is still fairly easy. I am 13-2-2 with the
Islanders and in first place in my conference. 

 This game does seem to have a few flaws however. It seems scoring is much
more common from the Left Wingers. So if you want your players like Palffy
or Hull to score more often you have to place them on the left side. 17
games in Zigmund Palffy has 2 goals and 4 assists where has Bryan
Smolinski has 11 goals and 4 assists.

Graphics - A Huge difference from playing on other systems. The game flows
a good pace, and the animation is smooth. I just wish every player didn't
look like Paul Coffey. The ice seems rather dull from the get go. I rather
it gradually become duller over the course of a period, but one can't be
too picky. One thing which annoys me is when a player is in the penalty
box his stick sometimes pass through the boards as if they didn't exist.

Sound - The in game sound is perfect. I wouldn't change a thing here. I
love the clank of the goal-post when it is struck, and the blades cutting
through the ice, the puck hitting the tape of stick is great. Even the
penalty box door closing and the goalie slapping his stick to the ice when
a Penalty is just about over is represented. The announcers are good and
they call the came well, however the rink announcer mispronounces a lot of
player names wrong. I suggest EA contact Mike Emmerick for a copy of his
yearly book on the pronunciation of names. This book is the standard for
all NHL announcers. The out of game sounds are pretty pathetic. The menu
music repeats itself far too often and isn't composed very well. 

Gameplay - The great thing about this game is even if down by 2 goals you
aren't totally out of it. I have come back from down 2 goals to win 4-2.
The strategies are set up nicely and adjusting your strategy for certain
teams seems to be helpful. One gripe is that it seems your offense comes
from rebounds way to often. I would say about 80% of your total offense
comes from rebounds. The replay value is great especially in season mode
as you have a different opponent just about every game til the playoffs. 
The one flaw here is if you let the computer control your bench and what
lines are sent out. It seems the computer AI seems to favor your second
line. At the end of the game you can see how much ice time your players
have logged, and my 2nd players seem to be playing 2-3 extra minutes per
game compared to the 1st line. 

Overall - This game is a great addition to the NHL family as by far my
favorite of the series. Whether that be from the added graphic capability
of the playstation or the statistic tracking (shots, body check, ice time,
goals, assists, ppg, shg, PIMs, +/- etc.). I can't see how EA can make a
major improvement next year other then cleaning this version up a little.
The best factor is there are NO money plays. The worst factor is the menu
music. I wish EA sports would create a mailing for for game owners based
on platform so roster updates would be simple. Imagine how great it would
be to get e-mail updrates on roster moves/trades/new player info. 

Graphics - 9 (would be a 10 except for small flaws)
Sound - 7  (4 for out of game, 10 for in game)
Gameplay - 9 (If your own AI was better it would be a 10)
Overall - 8.5 (just needs some minor tweaking for a 10)