Don McDonald CIS 587 Computer Game Design Dr Maxim Game Title NHL 99 Company EA Sports Type of Game Sports Price 50 Hardware Nintendo 64 Quick Overview NHL 99 is the first EA Sports Hockey game for Nintendo 64 both the Playstation and the PC have NHL 2000 available Every team in the NHL at the time of the game production is included along with complete team rosters This game is the next generation in a continuing yearly game update which includes up to date rosters and new rankings for both teams and players Player Role The single player mode has control of one player of the chosen team at a time The player is allowed to switch from one player to the next using a button on the controller The player is also automatically switched to the player with the puck The goalie can either be automatically controlled where the computer controls the goalie until he has control of the puck or manual where the player is responsible for switching to the goalie when it is time to make a save In twoplayer mode each player controls one person from each team in a head to head battle Game Play There are Rookie Professional and All Star levels of difficulty The player action is much slower in the rookie level The All Star level has very intense and aggressive play where goals are extremely difficult to come by The level of hooking and checking increase dramatically at this level of play The goalies also become more aggressive and are actively in behind the net chasing pucks down The first option to start the game is Beginner which essentially represents a single game at the beginner level The next option is for exhibition season which simulates the exhibition season with several games The next option is for Regular season with simulates a regular season with 82 games The player can either pick or choose teams to play or stick with one team throughout the entire season The next option is for New Playoffs which randomly seeds the teams for the playoffs The player then selects the team that they want to be and start the playoffs The player does have the option of reseeding the teams before starting the playoffs The next option is for a new tournament and the final option is for a new shootout With the shootout the player is allowed to select the players that will be involved and the goaltender Play alternates between the two teams giving a penalty shot to each and the one with the most goals wins Each multi game option has the ability to simulate the next game and post the results This allows the player to skip contents that they are not interested in or to speed through the play Scoring Scoring is just like a normal hockey game Artwork The 3D graphics have improved greatly from the first iteration of the Game for Sega Genesis in 1993 The graphics in the original game were only 2D The crowd is not very realistic in appearance but the trade off between good graphics and improved play performance was chosen wisely The rink boards include various company logos to simulate the team sponsors that clutter the current rink boards Each arena has the logo of the team under the ice in the middle of the rink Each of these logos looks as if they were below the ice Each player looks about the same but each player has their individual number on their back The colors of both the home and away uniforms are accurate When a player is penalized they will sit in the penalty box and complain throw their arms up in the air The goalies have very detailed movements When a puck is on the glove side the glove will extend out wide to snag the puck The leg pads of the goalie can be seen to extend out side to side to make a save In some cases the goalie will actually dive forward to pounce on the puck When a goal is scored against them they will bang their stick on the ice in disgust There are several camera angles to chose from including the classic view from the original game a press box broadcaster s position a couple of overhead views a scoreboard from directly over center ice a chase angle and an ice level angle The scoreboard camera is extremely confusing to follow the action as the camera rotates on a swivel the as the play goes underneath The camera rotates in an attempt to keep up with the action and creates a dizzying affect The overhead views are the easiest to use as the camera is fixed at one end of the rink and the action alternates from going away from the view to going towards the camera The press box and broadcast views are the same as the one seen from TV broadcasts of hockey games They take some getting used to since the direction to shoot cannot be seen well Sound and Music The sound effects are extremely good and realistic The first sound effects heard are of the announcer which is a real ESPN announcer The announcer for the most part has game appropriate things to say If a couple of actions occur in quick succession the announcer will only acknowledge the first action The announcer will make interesting comments throughout the game action including when the goalie makes a save the guy is a wall out there huge save great save he s a human wall out there Nice try but no goal and so on When a player is checked you could here his bones rattle heading north bound on the south bound freeway got hit by a freight train woo woo The crowd noise is very realistic and well timed If the away team scores a goal the home crowd will grow silent until the home team does something that warrants some noise If there is a particularly hard hit or a goal is scored the crowd will be louder They have realistically simulated the typical crowd noise The crowd will chant Let s go Red Wings for the Wings or the appropriate name of the home team There is even a rink announcer to announce penalties and goals The players are announced with their team names and number They could have included the announcing of the players name and not just the number In the humorous side of the game the rink announcer started the classic joke a train is leaving some lace heading west bound and a train is leaving some other place heading eastbound then he says Oh forget it as the action starts again Special Feature Every teams roster is completely changeable including the first scoring line the second scoring line the third scoring line the checking line the 3 defensive pairings the extra attackers 2 five man power play units 2 four man power play units 2 four man penalty kill units and 2 three man penalty kill units This theoretically can be done for all
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