NHL '94

About NHL '94

NHL '94 (1993) is EA Sports' ice hockey game for the Genesis, SNES and PC, the first in its series with both NHL and players' union licences, and widely considered the greatest hockey game of all time.

NHL '94 in Depth

The game keeps the series' vertical camera, which gave advantages over side-view hockey games, and NHLPA '93's 2D sprites with new animations. Its rosters reflect the 1992–93 season, including that year's expansion teams, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers. The key addition is the one-timer, shooting the puck straight off a pass, along with manual goalie control and the ability to save team and player records. Modes include exhibition games, single-game and best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoffs, a shootout and a demo, with both all-star teams but no international sides.

Team-specific organ songs play at the start of periods and after goals, such as the Hartford Whalers' "Brass Bonanza", "When the Saints Go Marching In" for the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks' "Here Come the Hawks", recorded by Los Angeles Kings organist Dieter Ruehle. Fighting, present in earlier games, was removed as part of the league licence.

Making NHL '94

After NHLPA Hockey '93's success, EA planned a sequel with only the players' union licence, and producer Michael Brook meant to keep fighting, which the NHL had opposed. Lesser programmed the Genesis version, focusing on the camera, scrolling, puck control and speed, while EA's Canadian branch made the SNES and PC versions from his code. The team favoured accessible play over strict simulation, and Brook turned Kuperman's ratings into the game's numbers with extra statistics and a random factor; Kings coach Barry Melrose gave feedback on a development build. Late on, an agreement with the NHL brought official team names and logos in exchange for removing fighting.

It launched to acclaim in 1993. Computer Gaming World praised its "playing environment that is flush with realism, excitement and credibility", GamePro gave the Sega CD version a perfect score, and Lesser recalled it outselling the million-selling Madden '93. EGM ranked it 61st among the best games of all time in 1997, and it inspired leagues and tournaments such as Toronto's King of '94.