In the United States and Canada, ice hockey is one of the most popular sports. The National Hockey League is part of the four major league sports, along with baseball, basketball, and of course, American football. So, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that the NHL has licensed a plethora of, rather successful, hockey games using their brand. Let us take a look at the best of the best games, licensed by the NHL.
NHL 2K2
NHL 2K2 is the 2002 game, licensed by the National Hockey League, and released for the Dreamcast console. The game was developed by Treyarch and published by SEGA, and involves a single player mode, in which players can pick a team, and go through the NHL season, competing for the number one spot. It also involves a multiplayer mode, in which players can compete among each other, and test their skills against friends or strangers online.
NHL 2004
Developed by EA Black Box, NHL 2004 is oft considered one of the best ice hockey games licensed by the National Hockey League. The game is available for a plethora of consoles, namely the GameCube, the original Xbox, the PlayStation 2, and it is even available on PC. It was the first in the series to introduce three other leagues, which included the German Hockey Liga (DEL), the Swedish Elitserien (SEL), and Finland’s SM-liga.
The cover of the game features Dany Heatley, one of Canada’s most beloved players. For those of you who’ve been playing at Canadian online casinos, you will know that ice hockey is one of Canada’s favorite games, both in terms of watching and wagering on. The game is Canada’s national sport, and deeply ingrained into Canadian culture.
NHL 09
The 17th game in the series, and another that is considered in the top 5 best NHL games, NHL 09 was developed by EA Canada, and published by the company proper. Released in 2008 in most of the world, the game is available for PlayStation 2 and 3, Xbox 360, and a PC port was also made available.
Apart from playing a team in the National Hockey League, NHL 09 featured the ability for players to create their own hockey player, and form a team for online play. The online multiplayer includes a 6-on-6 teamplay mode, and players can join online teams of friends or strangers, in order to take their team to the top.
NHL 2010
The 2010 edition of the NHL series is considered by most fans and players to be the best of the EA NHL franchise. It is the 19th installment in the series, and it was the first to introduce a dozen new features, among which, the most popular were the intimidation tactics, precision passing, and the general manager mode, for those who are interested in the business aspect of sports.
Though not the best NHL game, NHL 2010 is widely accepted as the best of the “Electronic Sports Era” of NHL licensed games. Like 2004, NHL 10 also features a few other leagues, outside of the NHL and AHL. Among these, the ones included are the Swedish Elitserien, the Finnish SM-liiga, the German DEL, and the Czech O2 Extraliga.
NHL ‘94
Finally, we come to the cream of the crop of NHL-licensed games. Released in 1993, NHL ’94 was the third game released in the series. Available on Genesis, Super NES, and the SEGA CD, the game was also the first of the franchise to be released for PC. Developed by Electronic Arts and published by EA Sports, the game featured a 2D arena, and included four different game modes. It is certainly one of the best NHL licensed games, if not the best one, for fans of the sport.