NHL All Star Hockey(Saturn) and NHL Faceoff(P.S.), comparison.
I'll try to be as in-depth, yet as accurate as possible.
I own both games, and have compared them by playing each game at the
same time..with switching the video input..when needed.

Graphics:

Player jerseys/uniforms: 

Faceoff has all the logo's on the player's jerseys and the correct
one's. Their rendered in very nicely and are very colorful and you'll
even notice some nice "real" life details on the uniforms.  

All Star has no logo's just the "generic" colors, and three
team's(Caps.Isles.Nords) have the old uniform colors.

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Player Animations:
Faceoff has more player animations and much realistic looking 
animation shots, skating realism, great goalie animations, and great
checking animations. In Faceoff the players move so "realisticly" and
animate so fluidly, it's a joy to watch, let alone play. 
All-Star has "frozen" moving players, with very few animations, they
don't skate realistically, and the checking is just horrible. 
The players move with a "herky-jerky" animation, and this just
throws any kind of potential "realism"... out the window.
However, the goalie animations are very well done.
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Player Details:
Faceoff has all the correct jersey logo's on each players jersey.
The players are well rendered with the correct colors for each team.
The players are rendered in "true" 3-D, are very colorful, and 
are detailed superbly. You'll notice some nice details on the
players skates,pants(shorts),jersey, and helmets. 

All Star has "flat" looking players..ie..like animated playing cards
Why Sega put in 2-D "flat" players is simply..mind-boggling.
No logo's on the jerseys, just the "generic" colors, and
three teams have the "outdated" one's..ie.Nord..Caps..Isles.
And these uniforms/jerseys are very pixelated and rather bland.
Both games suffer from alot of player pixelization..up close,
but that's normal,since mip-mapping is not a feature of 
these 32-bit machines.
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Rink Details:
Faceoff has all the correct logo's at center ice, and their well
rendered. The goal net, on-bench players, on-screen
ref, and boards are all nicely rendered. The boards are are decorated
with billboard ads. and they even switch while playing. 
There are spectators who are nicely animated. Most have their arms
waving and even some bang their arms against the glass.
With the aniamted spectators and billboard ads, it adds a nice
atmostphere to the game.
The ice has no pixelation on it, in fact it even has some nice
"lighting" effects. However there is no goal light.
Also some of the center ice "circle" seems to have distortion
problems...when moving to a new angle.
All-Star has most of the correct logo's at center ice(wrong Isles,Caps
logo's and has Quebec..instead of Colorodo), which are also well
rendered, but also have added "special" rink writing on center ice.
The goal net, on-bench players, on-screen ref, and boards, and goal
light are all nicely rendered. No distortion problems with anything.
However there is only a "generic" non-animated "crowd", and there
are no billboards,or any details on the boards.
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Puck:
Faceoff has a more detailed and larger puck with various
animations..ie..spinning in the air, and has a larger 
"symbol" to separate it from the rest of the ice.
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Control: 
Faceoff control's are as smooth as silk, and are as easy to learn as
any E.A. 16 bit game. Shooting accuracy is almost perfect and it's
easy to put the puck in any part of the net. Checking is much easier,
and passing is much "crisper" then is All-Star.
Faceoff has 3 different checks..poke..cross..body, one-timers,
"dekes" of goalies and players, slapshots,wristshots, 4 different
player controled goalie saves..kick/left..kick/right..blocker..glove
save , speed bursts, sudden stops, and "dumping" the puck..
All these controls are easy to do and takes little time to "perfect"
them.

All-Star controls terribly, as it has a very steep "learning curve" to
even get the shooting controls "down", let alone perfecting them.
Checking can be an adventure as the players are so "flat", and the
passing is at best.. only decent.
All-Star has 2 different checks..poke..body, one-timers, "dekes" of
goalies and players,slapshots,wristshots, 2 different goalie
saves..glove. and a button that does "computer" designed saves, 
speed burst, sudden stops ,"dumping" the puck, and droping to
block a puck(nice idea). 
However, some of these controls take a long time to "perfect".

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Gameplay:

Faceoff plays as smoothly as it controls and looks. It's easy to
shoot,check,skate with ease, pass,ect. And the checks look "real" and
are not overly done as in the 16-bit E.A. versions. You have a much
better viewing angle and you always know where the puck and you're
teamates are...the only flaw is that the puck sometimes gets  "lost"
when the opposition does score...this is very minor since if the goal
is scored who cares if you cannot see it "perfectly".
The computer A.I. is very good and you will notice even on the easy
mode the computer will find your net very often. Also since the action
is very fast, do not expect to have the same amount of breakaways
as in the E.A. series.
The puck will fly into the stands, go high up in the air, and moves
very realistic to a "real" hockey game. Also the playing views are
very nice...especially the low or high  camera verticle angle, these
angles make you feel on the ice and you can spot your teamates easily.
You can change lines easily, and "pull" you're goalie.
There is really only one minor problems with Face-off, as the computer
never pulls it's goalie...even in the playoffs.
As a whole the atmosphere is great as it controls great, has a
realistic puck "physics", and with the waving crowd..it really
feels like being in the rink.
 
All-Star plays simply awful. It's annoying to skate fast and also
control the player at the same time. Shooting takes quite a while to
get used to, and if your player is just touched...he falls to the ice.
The viewing angles are never balanced between player closeness and 
being able to spot your teamates. It's eithier smaller players with
good rink coverage or large players with very limited rink coverage.
The puck moves much to "slick" as it moves faster then a "real" nhl 
puck..ie..throw the puck down the ice and it's always an icing and
sometimes comes to center ice!.
Also the puck is too small and can get easily lost in all the action.
The computer A.I. is good but sometimes too good..simply because if a
computer player touches you, you're wind up flat on the ice. 
Often times you'll be "searching" for the exact button to
press..ie..shoot,.pass,.check,skate fast, that just when you
think you got the right "combination" to work...you simply touch a
opposing player and "decked"..and it's all for nothing.
The gameplay in All-Star....well..it's pathetic.
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Sound  and Music:
Faceoff has many crowd chants and various "organ" tunes and the the
sound effects of the player getting checked, is very "crisp".
The crowd goes "nuts" when you score and give a "oohh" when you
barely miss...or if your "stoned" by the goalie.
However there is no announcer, and that is probably Faceoff's biggest
flaw.
All-Star has a vast amount of crowd chants..even including the "let's
go Ranger's" chant in M.S.G. And it has even more "organ" tunes then
Faceoff. Also there's a annoncer who does certain announcing of when a
goal is scored..as he'll anounce the names of the scorer and assists,
also he'll make a few different phases as "the nets off it's morings",
and even have announcements before the period starts..
There is no play-by-play, however it's real nice to have an annoncer
sometime during the game.
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Gameplay View:
Faceoff has only four...low cam,verticle,diagonal,and side view,.. but
there all easily contollable,highly detailed, and the low-cam angle
and verticle views are simply superb. In the low-cam view, you feel
like you're on the ice..not hovering over it, and it's done with great
smooth scaling. The players are the largest in this mode, yet you 
can easily tell where you're teamates and puck are. 
This is probably the best low angle view of any 32-bit sports game.
The verticle view is very simular to the nhl -16 bit games, as you'll
get smaller players...then the low-cam, but you're see a greater view
of the rink. Both views are great , it's just a matter of preference.
Now, there is only one minor problem with this low-cam, and that's
you cannot switch ends at will, as you're stuck with eithier going up
ice in the 1st period and down the ice in the second(away..this is
visa-versa at home).

All-Star has ten angles, but only three are worth mentioning. 
The first is the low rail cam(side-view) view..it's nice
graphically..but very hard to control/shoot,in it. The other two are
the verticle kind..ie..e.a. hockey, but it's eithier the low zone cam
angle..with large players and very limited  ice coverage..,or its the
mid-zone cam..with small players and good ice coverage.
Niether is the "ideal" angle, and you'll find your'self switching back
and forth, as each does one thing well but the other terrible.
Niethier view is anywhere as good as Faceoff's low-cam or verticle.
And the scalling in the low zone-cam view, is really choppy as you
move through center ice. You can switch the zone angles at will, which
is a nice feature,,ie..switch from skating down ice to skating up ice.
All-Star has a nice game playing view called, players view. However,
it's so uncontrollable..."twitch" the pad in a diagonal direction and
you'll miss all the "action"..twich it in a few quick directions 
and you'll get tottally disoriented..plus at the same time you must
press the skate,use the pad, and any/all the buttons...it's really a
useless and uncontrollable view.  And it's a shame because this view
is as close to the ice without playing a "real" game.

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Replay Views:
Faceoff has 18 total replay views..6 goal views, 8 replay views, and 4
game views.
There all great views...however, it would have been nice to have 
a free cam view.
All-Star has the best replay views ever done on any system. There are
13 replay views in all, but where this really shines is in the Free
cam mode...is this mode you can see any replay from any angle on the
ice...even below it!. The player view and puck view(from the eyes of a
puck) are also superbly done and with great realism.
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Other small items:

Load time to play a game:
Faceoff-5-6 seconds   All-Star- 25-35 seconds

Up to date rosters:
Faceoff: up to Sept. 95'   All-Star- up to Feb. 95'

Time in the game:
Faceoff: about 2 times as fast as "real" time
All-Star:  same as "real" time.

Trading/releasing/creating  players:

In Faceoff you can trade for anyone,no matter their "rating". Plus you
can trade any position player for a different one ..ie..a forward for
a defenseman. You can release any player. And you can create you're
own player's with a 100% rating..if you wish.

In All-Star you can only trade one player for another if they play the
same position...ie..forward for forward. Also you cannot trade a
"great" player for a "decent" player,as the trade will be "rejected".
You can only trade players of "close" ratings.
You can only release any player by trading for a "created" player.
Also you can create a player of 75% rating...and 100%, but you'll
need a special "cheat"..to do this.

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The stats,standings,and season-playoff options are about the same 
for each game.
Also in Faceoff you get a "player card" photo for each player. 
There may be some other features i did not cover, but they are
minor..

Overall:

NHL Faceoff:

Faceoff has the great graphics, good detailed arena's, great player
animations/details, great puck "physics", superb gameplay, superb
control, solid sound effects and crowd chants...that all add up to a
Hockey game that is has as good control/gameplay and has better
graphics then any other Hockey game, on any other system,16-or 32 bit.
It is a tremendous first generation 32-bit hockey game. However, 
maybe in it's next version an announcer can be added.

NHL Faceoff Rating: 92%


All-Star Hockey:

All-Star has some nice on-ice rink details, superb crowd chants and
"organ" tunes,an announcer, and great replays...however the control
is poor-decent and it's shooting control has a "steep" learning curve,
gameplay is terrible, playing angles are never "right", puck "physics"
are just not "true", and the "flat" player renderings and lack of
animations,are pathetic.
Hopefully, the next version will improved on these "necessities".  

NHL All-Star Rating: 58%
 


Later,

            Phil

btw: With Faceoff, i could care less about E.A.'s Hockey 96' , being
cancelled.