Ice Hockey

Ice Hockey is a sports simulation video game originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1988, developed by Nintendo's Research & Development 1 division. The game simulates a simplified five-on-five ice hockey match, featuring national teams from the United States, Canada, Sweden, and the Soviet Union. Each team consists of three skaters, one defenseman, and a goaltender, with no substitutions or penalties. The game is presented from a top-down, vertical perspective, with the rink scrolling vertically to follow the puck. The objective is to score more goals than the opposing team within a three-period match, each period lasting two minutes and thirty seconds. The game is notable for its exaggerated character designs, including a large, slow goaltender and smaller, faster skaters. The puck physics are simple, with a single bounce off the boards and no icing or offside rules. The game supports both single-player against a computer opponent and two-player competitive modes.

Gameplay is controlled using the NES controller. The D-pad moves the currently selected player in eight directions. The A button performs a pass to a teammate, directing the puck toward the nearest teammate in the direction of the D-pad input. The B button executes a shot on goal or a slap shot when held briefly before releasing. The player closest to the puck is automatically controlled by the user; switching control occurs when the puck changes possession or when the user presses the A button without the puck to switch to the nearest teammate. The goaltender is controlled automatically by the computer, but the player can manually control the goaltender by pressing the A and B buttons simultaneously, which locks control to the goaltender until the puck is cleared. The start button pauses the game. There is no turbo or speed modifier. Face-offs occur at center ice at the start of each period and after every goal. The game does not feature a save function; matches must be completed in a single session.