Best hockey game ever?

MadbaLL said:
it works on win 11, but the problem is interface and its IE integration. i could not get interface running in full screen mode with nhl 04 rebuilt even with vod's launcher which was a dealbreaker for me.

also, i'm not fan of modern season in any major sports, i wish they continued developing retro seasons instead focusing on current ones.

currently, i'm playing nhl 2002 and 2005 on my win 11 pc, 2002 is really fun game. and both games' interface runs in full screen mode without any issue.
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How are you playing those games (2002 and 2005)? I can almost never get any of them working on Windows 11.

I'm like you - I prefer the older seasons, and particularly would like 2002 as I am a lifelong Red Wings fan and that team was stacked with Hall of Famers.
 
Silverdome94 said:
How are you playing those games (2002 and 2005)? I can almost never get any of them working on Windows 11.

I'm like you - I prefer the older seasons, and particularly would like 2002 as I am a lifelong Red Wings fan and that team was stacked with Hall of Famers.
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using correct dxwrapper for each of them, dx7.games wrapper for nhl 2002 and dx9.games wrapper for nhl 2005. but 2005 is no where near 2002 or 2001 (which i also can play on win 11).
 
FCDallas_Fan said:
I'd say NHL 14 on PS3 is the best I've played. For management, Eastside Hockey Manager is a solid title.
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I'd agree that 14 and Legacy are the best overall games. I haven't played a title post-PS3, but from the sound of things, a lot of people say the series peaked then and hasn't reached the same heights since. I keep trying to get into previous versions of Franchise Hockey Manager, but it hasn't grabbed me yet. I should try EHM because of its proximity to FM.

PES4eva said:
I'll leave this here
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Funny enough, I have been on an 16-bit bender, playing all the Genesis NHL titles and Tecmo Bowl, and those games still hold up. NHL 94, of course, is a classic, and I remember many late nights battling with my older brother and his friends, and my mom making me go to bed.

NHL 94 is still great - it has its flaws, sure, but it is just a banger of a title. I think the more I play it, I see more varied goals from myself and the CPU (I don't do the across-the-crease cheat unless it's a realistic opportunity). NHL 95, I think, is a touch better - improved AI, a full season mode (where you can control all of the teams!) - but the pacing of 94 is better. 96 has it all and is the most polished, but I wish I could slow down the gameplay.

97 and 98 could be so good, especially 98, where you have the option to change the game speed, but the AI is hyper-attacking, but in the worst way possible. It shoots at every opportunity from inside center ice, so it takes all these pointless wasters and never lets its offense set up, and you end up distributing all the time with your goalie. It also has the two-line pass, though there are mods that remove it, which stifles a lot of the fun.

94 is a bit like PES 6 for me - fun and easy to play, but not my all-time favorite, and it has a ton of different mods available. Pretty much every season is available on NHL94.com as well as Olympics/Canada Cups/European leagues.

Tecmo Bowl - well, that's another thread, but god damn that game is fun.
 
Id go NHL 2k series, especially NHL 2k8.
When it comes to EA, NHL 14.
It's very hard to replicate hockey, at least realistic hockey since it's quite tough playing the game on broadcast cam, takes a lot out of the realism playing an above the ice cam.
But those two games stands out for me
 
rockstrongo said:
Id go NHL 2k series, especially NHL 2k8.
When it comes to EA, NHL 14.
It's very hard to replicate hockey, at least realistic hockey since it's quite tough playing the game on broadcast cam, takes a lot out of the realism playing an above the ice cam.
But those two games stands out for me
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That's true about the cam but personally, I'm always going to favour fun over realism. I watch hockey now and again. I'm from England so although it has it's followers here it's not what I would say is a high priority sport in England. However, if football never existed it would probably be the sport I would follow full time. I enjoy the end to end action. This thread has actually rekindled my interest in it again. I was part time following the Bruins (no idea why I just like them 😀) so I might start watching again.
 
PES4eva said:
That's true about the cam but personally, I'm always going to favour fun over realism. I watch hockey now and again. I'm from England so although it has it's followers here it's not what I would say is a high priority sport in England. However, if football never existed it would probably be the sport I would follow full time. I enjoy the end to end action. This thread has actually rekindled my interest in it again. I was part time following the Bruins (no idea why I just like them 😀) so I might start watching again.
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Hockey used to be my main sport as a kid, played it til i was 17, and from the age of 7-8 pretty much daily, either on a rink in the winter time or street hockey in the summer, pretty much our national sport then, football is bigger now but still massive here.

Agree on the fun/realism take.
No need to be super realistic, but core game play needs to be there.
Like in football I need to see dribbling, long rangers some unexpected moments etc.

Think the main problem with modern games is that CPU is way to pingy.
I really enjoy my NHL 19 GM mode, still lots to be wanted but a good enough game for sure, stopped buying NHL after 21, pretty much as my FIFA games, last one there was 20.
Glad you enjoy it, make sure to watch the Olympics, it's going to be a great hockey tournament.
I always watch the under 20s world championships every year, usually around xmas-new year so you'll be off from work and can stay up late.
This year Sweden won it, first gold since 2012 I think
 
rockstrongo said:
Hockey used to be my main sport as a kid, played it til i was 17, and from the age of 7-8 pretty much daily, either on a rink in the winter time or street hockey in the summer, pretty much our national sport then, football is bigger now but still massive here.

Agree on the fun/realism take.
No need to be super realistic, but core game play needs to be there.
Like in football I need to see dribbling, long rangers some unexpected moments etc.

Think the main problem with modern games is that CPU is way to pingy.
I really enjoy my NHL 19 GM mode, still lots to be wanted but a good enough game for sure, stopped buying NHL after 21, pretty much as my FIFA games, last one there was 20.
Glad you enjoy it, make sure to watch the Olympics, it's going to be a great hockey tournament.
I always watch the under 20s world championships every year, usually around xmas-new year so you'll be off from work and can stay up late.
This year Sweden won it, first gold since 2012 I think
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Yeah I will catch it in the Olympics for sure. ITV4 (free TV channel in the UK) has apparently got a deal with NHL to show selected NHL games too so I'll catch up with some of those as well.
Cheers
 
PES4eva said:
Yeah I will catch it in the Olympics for sure. ITV4 (free TV channel in the UK) has apparently got a deal with NHL to show selected NHL games too so I'll catch up with some of those as well.
Cheers
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Fin fact, was watching Sabres v Kings while answers g you yesterday, great game and the Sabres are to most in form team atm,
 
rockstrongo said:
Hockey used to be my main sport as a kid, played it til i was 17, and from the age of 7-8 pretty much daily, either on a rink in the winter time or street hockey in the summer, pretty much our national sport then, football is bigger now but still massive here.

Agree on the fun/realism take.
No need to be super realistic, but core game play needs to be there.
Like in football I need to see dribbling, long rangers some unexpected moments etc.

Think the main problem with modern games is that CPU is way to pingy.
I really enjoy my NHL 19 GM mode, still lots to be wanted but a good enough game for sure, stopped buying NHL after 21, pretty much as my FIFA games, last one there was 20.
Glad you enjoy it, make sure to watch the Olympics, it's going to be a great hockey tournament.
I always watch the under 20s world championships every year, usually around xmas-new year so you'll be off from work and can stay up late.
This year Sweden won it, first gold since 2012 I think
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The NHL rebuilt author says he’s a former semi pro player and that 04 is by far the most realistic hockey game ever made. As someone who’s never played the game, I have no way of evaluating this.

I’ve played soccer (albeit American) at an amateur/semi-competitive level for nearly 40 years so I feel like I’ve got a pretty good basis there of how it “feels” but NHL 04 looks arcadey to me whereas NHL Legacy looks very realistic.
 
Hello everyone! Hockey is a rather rare topic on EvoWeb. Since hockey is quite interesting to me, I'll express my opinion on the best hockey game on PC. NHL 2004 is still the best! Although, it's undeniable that there are very few hockey games on PC. NHL 2004 is something like a hockey equivalent of PES6. NHL 2004 has good gameplay and a fan base capable of creating high-quality modifications.

As a bonus to this post, I suggest you check out the interface for the original NHL 2004 season. It's based on the ESPN interface. I created this adaptation a couple of years ago for myself. I'd be happy to share it with you. Also, give NHL 2004 a try if you haven't played it yet.

https://zippyshare.day/tmIFhclBPmRbZVm/file

1) Install NHL 2004
2) Unzip the files to the game's root folder.
3) Play.
 
SHAR said:
Hello everyone! Hockey is a rather rare topic on EvoWeb. Since hockey is quite interesting to me, I'll express my opinion on the best hockey game on PC. NHL 2004 is still the best! Although, it's undeniable that there are very few hockey games on PC. NHL 2004 is something like a hockey equivalent of PES6. NHL 2004 has good gameplay and a fan base capable of creating high-quality modifications.

As a bonus to this post, I suggest you check out the interface for the original NHL 2004 season. It's based on the ESPN interface. I created this adaptation a couple of years ago for myself. I'd be happy to share it with you. Also, give NHL 2004 a try if you haven't played it yet.

https://zippyshare.day/tmIFhclBPmRbZVm/file

1) Install NHL 2004
2) Unzip the files to the game's root folder.
3) Play.
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thank you for sharing it ;)

so this is basically an addon for official game? no need for other files from nhl04modded web site?
 
I quite enjoy approaching sports video games by watching the play in front of me develop, anticipating what will happen next, instead of watching the ball (or puck in this case). I struggle with this on hockey games and basketball for that matter. Perhaps it’s because I’m not as good? Or maybe it’s the speed of the game and size of the rink/court compared to Soccer where it’s slower and there’s much more space.
 
MadbaLL said:
btw, file is being detected as a malware, could you please look it up?
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Everything works fine for me, but the antivirus might detect some files that I didn't write, some that I took from NHL2004 Rebuild modifications. If in doubt, don't use them.
 
SHAR said:
Everything works fine for me, but the antivirus might detect some files that I didn't write, some that I took from NHL2004 Rebuild modifications. If in doubt, don't use them.
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then it's because of the files your used from nhl2004rebuild ;)

are they neccessary?
 


A lot of people seem to like the NES hockey games. I've personally never played any of them and don't really have any nostalgia for the system as I was a Mega Drive kid. Anyone have any memories of these? (Or played them later on)
 
MadbaLL said:
are they neccessary?
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Yes.
Not recommended delete any files from this mod.
These files are essential for the stable operation of all functions.
If your antivirus detects these files, adding the game folder to the exceptions list may solve the problem. If you're concerned about malware, then avoid using this mod.

If you've used NHL2004 Rebuild mods, you know full well that they're quite technically demanding.

I can only say that this one works fine for me. I tested it on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
 
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SHAR said:
Yes.
Not recommended delete any files from this mod.
These files are essential for the stable operation of all functions.
If your antivirus detects these files, adding the game folder to the exceptions list may solve the problem. If you're concerned about malware, then avoid using this mod.

If you've used NHL2004 Rebuild mods, you know full well that they're quite technically demanding.

I can only say that this one works fine for me. I tested it on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Click to expand...

it's ok when you said you used files from nhl2004 rebuilt mod, they are false positive ;)
 
SHAR said:
Hello everyone! Hockey is a rather rare topic on EvoWeb. Since hockey is quite interesting to me, I'll express my opinion on the best hockey game on PC. NHL 2004 is still the best! Although, it's undeniable that there are very few hockey games on PC. NHL 2004 is something like a hockey equivalent of PES6. NHL 2004 has good gameplay and a fan base capable of creating high-quality modifications.

As a bonus to this post, I suggest you check out the interface for the original NHL 2004 season. It's based on the ESPN interface. I created this adaptation a couple of years ago for myself. I'd be happy to share it with you. Also, give NHL 2004 a try if you haven't played it yet.

https://zippyshare.day/tmIFhclBPmRbZVm/file

1) Install NHL 2004
2) Unzip the files to the game's root folder.
3) Play.
Click to expand...

Hi, I love ice hockey too. Some screenshots would be awesome!
 
badgerbadger said:
Hi, I love ice hockey too. Some screenshots would be awesome!
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SHAR said:
Hello everyone! Hockey is a rather rare topic on EvoWeb. Since hockey is quite interesting to me, I'll express my opinion on the best hockey game on PC. NHL 2004 is still the best! Although, it's undeniable that there are very few hockey games on PC. NHL 2004 is something like a hockey equivalent of PES6. NHL 2004 has good gameplay and a fan base capable of creating high-quality modifications.

As a bonus to this post, I suggest you check out the interface for the original NHL 2004 season. It's based on the ESPN interface. I created this adaptation a couple of years ago for myself. I'd be happy to share it with you. Also, give NHL 2004 a try if you haven't played it yet.

https://zippyshare.day/tmIFhclBPmRbZVm/file

1) Install NHL 2004
2) Unzip the files to the game's root folder.
3) Play.
Click to expand...
This is just an add on right, not including the original 2004?
Is the 2004 hard to get to work on W10/11?
And its a abandon game by now aswell, of not Mods can remove my Post.
 
@SHAR

do you have clean nhl 2004 in installer, preinstalled or .iso version? i have magipack's repack but it has "nhl 2004 rebuilt" mod preinstalled.
 
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