Line #37 VideoGame/NHLHockey


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nhl_logo.png]]
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3	->The game boasts an improved AI system that will allow the computer to adapt to your tendencies, meaning it will take three shifts for it to realize you've been using the same "swoop down the wing, spin around in the corner and then blindly throw it out front for a one-timer" move since NHL 94.
4	-->--[[http://www.downgoesbrown.com/search/label/nhl%20review Down Goes Brown]]
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6	EA Sports' ''NHL Hockey'' series of video games are an ultra-popular line of games created by [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA Sports]], and since 1991 (under the title ''NHL Hockey'') have been popular with fans of Canada's national winter sport. The games are notable for their realism in capturing the fast-paced action of the ''UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague'', fights included. While there are newer editions of the NHL games, one game has garnered popularity even over 30 years after its initial release: ''NHL '94''. The game's so popular, that in fact, there are [[GameMod ROM hacks]] for ''NHL '94'' that update it to reflect the current NHL rosters and teams. ''NHL '14'' in particular featured an [[MilestoneCelebration Anniversary Mode]] which used [='=]''94''[='=]s controls, physics, and soundtrack, but modern graphics with various effects such as blue ice and star-shaped player markers.
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8	While the series has always had NHL teams and the pre-requisite international teams, recent titles in the NHL series have added teams from the American Hockey League (the NHL's development league), European leagues, and even the Canadian Hockey League (a junior hockey league).
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11	!!The EA Sports NHL series contains examples of:
12	* AddressingThePlayer: Not only in the "Be A Pro" modes, but within exhibition games (starting with ''NHL '12''), where a player will be given a highlight package of their best goals or hits.
13	* AnnouncerChatter: Almost a prerequisite, really.
14	* AnnualTitle: Starting with ''NHLPA '93''.
15	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The features introduced in ''NHL 16'' are player morale in Be A Pro, online 6v6, a reimagining of the EASHL... and dynamic beard growth.
16	* ArtisticLicenseSports: The same player can fight three times or instigate twice and not be ejected.
17	* BrandX: You can play an International Tournament with national teams which is modeled on the Winter Olympics.
18	** The holders of the naming rights to various stadiums occasionally refuse to license their brands to EA forcing them to use a generic "[Insert City] Arena" name. Partially subverted by the United Center in Chicago as they use "Chicago Stadium" which was the name of the UC's predecessor.
19	** Zig zagged with Goalie Masks, some goalies in game have a generic mask provided by the team/equipment provider, others, like Martin Brodur, have their signature touches and even names on their masks due to working with the actual equipment provider for their Mask designs. (Examples being Brodur's wings on the Jaw line in NHL 14, Jonathen Quick having his name on the jaw guard and the silver designs, up to NHL 21, Carter Hart's Orange Flyers mask and Rask's Bear Mouth mask.)
20	* BribingYourWayToVictory: The online Be A Pro mode has some extreme requirements to unlock all the bonuses, which are of course very difficult to accomplish without said bonuses. But this is EA! Of course you can buy an all-star!
21	* CharacterCustomization: Though players can make their own players, there also exists a way for them to create NHL players that were otherwise passed over by the game.
22	** ''NHL '12'' now allows for female players to be made.
23	* CreatorCameo: One title in the series allows you to basically create members of the EA development team if you input their names in the Create-A-Player option.
24	* CreatorProvincialism: Some accuse EA Canada of {{Nerf}}ing Team USA. For example, in ''NHL 09'' they neglected to add Patrick Kane, the previous year's Calder Trophy winner and one of the highest-rated American players.
25	* DarkerAndEdgier: Around the mid-late 90's, debatably between ''NHL 97'' and ''2000'', the intro videos, menu music, and general menu interface had a grittier feel to them.
26	* DownloadableContent: Recent titles in the series allow for players to download updated rosters and added improvements to gameplay.
27	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: ''NHL '09'' introduced the "Be A Pro" mode, where you're tasked with accomplishing various objectives to help your team win the game.
28	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c071yZBOfQ here]] when EA released an official trailer for the game mocking one of the glitches from that game.
29	* GameMod: ''NHL 2004 Rebuilt'' is a massive fan overhaul of the much-loved NHL 2004, featuring consistently updated rosters, improved graphics, etc.
30	* GuestFighter:
31	** ''NHL [='=]09'' features the Montreál Canadiens Centennial team, featuring players like Henri Richard, Jacques Plante, and other Habs legends.
32	** ''NHL [='=]12'' features an All-Legend Team, made up of NHL greats like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe, Ray Bourque, among others. You can even put them on your favourite teams, presenting interesting situations all around.
33	** ''NHL [='=]13''[='=]s crop of Legends include Hall-of-Famers Doug Gilmour, Jarri Kurri, as well as Dominik Hasek and Olympic Women's Hockey legends Hayley Wickenheiser and Angela Ruggiero, who become the first female players featured in the franchise.
34	** ''NHL [='=]20'' features a historic team lineup for each of the 31 NHL teams, including Vegas- who had entered the league just two seasons before- and various franchises who had moved to other cities (Whalers, Nordiques, etc.).
35	* HelloInsertNameHere
36	* ItsUpToYou: The "Be A Pro" mode, where your created Pro is tasked with helping your team to win games.
37	* LastOfHisKind: With the retirement of Niklas Lidstrom, ''NHL [='=]13'' will only have three players: Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne, and Roman Hamrlik remaining from the roster of ''NHL [='=]94'' which is widely considered the greatest entry in the series, if not the greatest sports game ever.
38	** And now, as of ''NHL '15'', Selanne and Hamrlik have retired as well, leaving Jagr as the last remaining player from ''NHL '94.''
39	** Finally, as of NHL 19, Jagr has moved on from the NHL to the Czech Extraliga, meaning there are no longer any active players in the NHL from the NHL 94 roster.
40	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The commentators in recent games sometimes have lines of commentary that make it sound like they're addressing the player.
41	* LighterAndSofter: ''NHL 2002'' and ''NHL 2003'', which added elements such as a goofy colour commentator who'd crack jokes during the game, and cards that could change things like give players big heads, make the announcers' voices high-pitched, and even change the size of the puck.
42	* LoadingScreen: Which features relevant information to the upcoming game, like starting line-ups, player stats, and controller directions.
43	* LongRunner: Started in 1991 with ''NHL Hockey'', and still going strong, with ''NHL [='=]24'' being the most current title.
44	* LoudnessWar: An example of this trope hamstringing a game's feature: recent games have allowed players to upload their own custom soundtracks. Unfortunately, the dynamic range compression applied to the pre-existing in-game audio means that imported audio is much quieter. You can turn the volume up to hear your imported tracks, but run the risk of the pre-existing audio ending up stupidly loud.
45	* MissionPackSequel: Practically the same principle as with the other EA Sports titles.
46	* MultiPlatform: For recent games, Platform/{{Xbox 360}} and [[Platform/PlayStation3 PS3]] at least. EA has snubbed [[Platform/{{Wii}} both]] [[Platform/WiiU generations]] of Wii for as long has either has been around. Also, they have elected not to release ''NHL [='=]14'' on Platform/XboxOne and [[Platform/PlayStation4 PS4]]; ''NHL [='=]15'' marks the series' debut on those two consoles.
47	* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: While the game has often been the most critically acclaimed amongst EA Sports' offerings, it gets much less attention from EA than its contemporaries like [[VideoGame/MaddenNFL Madden]] and [[VideoGame/FIFASoccer FIFA]], and ''NHL [='=]14'' even got snubbed from a [[MediaNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames next-gen]] release[[note]]with a completely new engine[[/note]] in favor of a revival of ''NBA Live''.
48	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The first title in the series, ''NHL Hockey'', had players referred to by their jersey numbers, because they didn't have the NHLPA license for the game. The next game, ''NHLPA Hockey '93'', had the actual players, but because EA couldn't secure a renewal of the NHL license in time, team names and logos were omitted.
49	* PaletteSwap: The 16-bit Era NHL games use the same player and goalie sprites, and just swap the colours around to reflect each NHL team.
50	* PlayerTic: Few players can resist the urge to hit opposing players after the whistle, even with penalties handed out for excessive roughing.
51	* ProductPlacement: Given the nature of the game, this comes in the form of actual equipment that players can use in-game, made by real world hockey equipment manufacturers like CCM, Bauer, Reebok, and so on.
52	** Interestingly averted in the exact place where you'd expect it to be played straight. The boards of nearly every arena in the real world are covered in ads, but for many years EA simply used generic placeholders.
53	** Recent games feature product placement for Honda (with on-screen graphics even citing Honda as "The Official Car of the EASHL"), and Verizon Wireless (which "sponsors" ''NHL '12''[='=]s Be A Pro mode.)
54	** In recent games, if connected to the Internet, the boards will have updated dynamic advertising, like an advert for that week's real-life nationally televised matchup on NBC. Furthermore, you can choose to watch ads in the menus for free Hockey Ultimate Team coins.
55	* PurelyAestheticGender: Female players can be just as good as males.
56	* RelationshipValues: Some titles in the series have "Line Chemistry", which can positively or negatively impact a team's line combinations if a certain group of players are put in a given line.
57	* RubberBandAI: More prevalent in recent games, where the CPU team will be more wont to make an amazing comeback if the player doesn't take care of the defensive side of their game.
58	* SecretAIMoves: Notice how fast the puck travels when the CPU team's players bank it off the glass during a penalty kill. Try and do the same, and it's not as fast as the CPU player's efforts.
59	* SeriousBusiness: With the advent of the EA Sports Hockey League in ''NHL '09'', this has become the case with the online crowd.
60	* ShapedLikeItself: The description for the Aggressiveness modifier states "Aggressiveness affects how aggressive you are."
61	* ShoutOut: The premade custom teams in the NHL titles from the late 90s to the early 2000s, the EA Blades & EA Storm, have jerseys lifted straight from the Charlestown Chiefs from Film/SlapShot.
62	* ShownTheirWork: The more recent games have presentation that make it feel like you're watching an NHL game, with announcers discussing how a player's doing in a game, or pointing out what a team is doing right or what they're messing up with. ''NHL [='=]15'' and its sequels even feature Doc Emerick and Eddie Olczyk in recorded cutscenes discussing the preview of the game as though it were a live performance.
63	* SportsGame
64	* StoryBranching: The expanded version of Be a Pro in NHL 14, call "Live the Life" which factors off-ice decisions such as post-game interviews and endorsement deals into your overall stats using [[KarmaMeter Karma Meters]] that rate the quality of your relationship with your teammates, the coaching staff, family, and the fans. You can be a self-obsessed superstar who's hated by the rest of the team, a wise, respected leader who won't say two words to the media, and everything in between.
65	* TauntButton: ''NHL 2000'' and ''NHL 2001'' had a button where you could hear a fan taunt the other team after your team scores a goal or wins a fight.
66	** In ''NHL 2002'' and ''2003'', after the player scores, they have the option for their players to execute a celebratory animation using three of the four face buttons on the controller. There are more than three celebrations and the rest can be unlocked and later mapped in the games' options menus.
67	** {{Subverted}} with the PC taunt text file from NHL 2000-NHL 2003, which, though explicitly named taunt.txt, was often used stategically by players (such as "pass it here" or "shoot!") instead of as another method of taunting.
68	** The custom celebrations in ''NHL '11'' and ''NHL '12'' work in this manner, and presents many opportunities for players to really rub it in when scoring a goal.
69	* TeamShot: The final part of the Stanley Cup victory sequence ends with your team posing with The Cup.
70	* ViolationOfCommonSense: In the online modes, the games uses an accelerated clock to keep the games shorter. However, to make penalties actually meaningful and avoid {{Griefer}}s, the clock slows down while one team is on the powerplay. What this means in practical terms is that a team which is losing late will sometimes deliberately draw a penalty with one of their defensive-minded players to buy more time ''and'' have the advantage of being able to keep a cherry-picking forward up ice without risking an icing call.
71	* WhatTheHellPlayer: Some of the commentary lines in recent titles have this in mind, calling out players for playing badly.
72	* WouldHitAGirl: With the inclusion of female created players in ''NHL '12'', this is now possible.
73	* YouAllLookFamiliar: Given the game's nature to reuse player faces for non-prominent NHL players and various others, this trope is a definite likelihood.

Context VideoGame / NHLHockey