So, has the gameplay held up to modern-day standards? Unfortunately, no! It’s clunky, unresponsive, and painfully disconnected. However, it’s fantastic if you want to jump into the action, and simply start playing a game. This is exactly how NHL ’94 Rewind is constructed, which makes for a poor experience if you want to delve deep into the team makeup, and feel you can make a difference with player knowledge and tactical nuance. Effectively, you could pick your favourite team, select from a few game modes, and compete against a friend locally, or against the usually unbalanced computer opponent. Unlike modern day sports titles, the early attempts were very basic. This added to the original feeling, and fuelled the retro nature. EA retained the basic control system, and allowed for both classic and modern advertising to be used in every game. On a smaller screen the harsh pixelated imagery may not have looked so bad, but on anything that is 40 inches and above, it not only hurts the eyes but also the soul. My first impressions when I loaded into this retro sporting classic, was a nostalgia fuelled joy that quickly changed to a realisation that it had aged as badly as I have. With all the recent remastered and reimagined games that have been unleashed on the market, it was both a shock, and a pleasant surprise that EA added NHL ’94 Rewind in its original state. In its heyday it captured the feel and the atmosphere of the fast-paced nature of the sport, allowing avid fans to transport themselves to the ice, hoping and praying that they would get through the season playoffs, eventually lifting the pinnacle that is the Stanley Cup. Having been developed by EA Vancouver and published by Electronic Arts, this sports title has long been considered one of the greatest hockey games to have existed. Possibly it is, but I downloaded NHL ’94 Rewind to relive a classic title that I played when it was first released, and hoping EA would somehow modernise the gameplay to be more palatable for the modern gamer. You probably think that there is little merit in highlighting its positives and negatives, and giving you an insight into my experiences with the title is a waste of both of our time. Now, you may think it a little strange that I’m reviewing a game that has been out for 26 years.
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