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Still my favorite game


joetberry

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Over the weekend I was playing a friend in both NHL 94 and NHL 95. We usually play 95 but gave 94 a shot. The main thing that we noticed was that the game was way too slow. Our defense is too good to allow anyone to get close to the net because of this. You can see a break away coming for a mile and all you have to do is grab anybody on defense and pound C until you catch him. This doesnt happen in 95 because of the speed.

Control is also much better with 95. Nothing is worse than taking control of a player getting close to the puck but never getting it because I turned slightly the wrong way and was by the puck before the turning radius would allow me to adjust and get it. I'm sure people that play this one all the time would get used to the controls and adjust, but its still not as good as 95 in my opinion.

Our games have intense up and down the ice action at all times, very few times when a game is boring. 94 was like watching paint dry as we could easily see what was coming and defend it. I would still rather play 94 against the computer since there are less ways of easily scoring, but against another human I would rather play 95 every time. 95 is like 94 on speed.

Just thought I would give my two cents

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've heard this 1 before but my argument is that nhl94 is better coz its slower its much more rewarding timing a well executed charge/tackle and practicly feeling the hit you've just inflicted on an opposing player. And its not that slow or hard to score! you've a number of ways to score and you do get a reasonable amount of breakays or 1 on 1's for chnaces of scoring too. But don't get me wrong NHL95 still is a good game its an update of the great NHL94 but never managed to outshine its predesescor which is why were all still raving about this game after 12 years :(

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  • 1 month later...

I have to agree with Joetberry on this one. Although I am new to this board, I get together with buddies of mine (7 to 9) and play an all-night tournament twice a year, so I'm no rookie to classic video hockey.

But anyway, my point is that Joetberry is bang on in his critique of '94.

NHL 95 is superior, in my opinion, because of the speed and the control. I've played this game for 5+ years - religiously - and the depth of the control is staggering. It's better than every other video hockey game because of the similarity to the real game. There is always an opportunity to score - or defend against a score - on almost any play, but you have to learn how to play like a real NHL team.

In the real NHL, you have to be able to defend against high percentage opportunities at high speed. This is where most of the complaints come against '95, it's too easy to score. But I can tell you firsthand, once you learn how to defend against the easy opportunities (like picking up the trailer, or tough play near the net) it's a much more rewarding game to play than '94.

Great to see this site is running a board for these games - thanks!

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I have been having some really fantastic games of 95 lately. It's nice having a real season mode too. I am not oging to say which I enjoy more but I do have fun with them both for different reasons.

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Thanks, Joetberry - it's nice to see there is still a forum for these games. What happened to the Nosebleed Section site? Maybe a lockout casualty? It took me a while before I happened on this site. I've been here before but didn't notice a forum section.

Yes, our little tournament changed servers to www.theunholygrail.com, which is probably why you had lost the original link. I've been in quite the slump lately at the events, haven't won (or even made the finals) in the last three tournaments. I tried to boost my defensive play for the last few tournaments and it hurt my scoring too much. But everyone else plays defense to the max in that tournament, so I've decided to go with my all-out firewagon offence next time.

Thanks for visiting the site, next time I'll try to get an extra t-shirt printed up and send it your way - don't worry, there won't be an invoice attached (hehe) I get a few extra printed up each time - be sure to email me your address if you want one..

My theory is the more you play it, the more defence-oriented it becomes - you don't get easy wrap-arounds and one-timers against good defensive players. It's not as good a game vs. the computer, you really need to play other people to appreciate it. Maybe that's why the game gets trashed so much.

I don't want to say anything bad about '94, especially on this board, because it's definitely harder to beat the computer in that version - which isn't a bad thing. The only thing I'll say is once I started playing '95, '94 seemed really, really slow and seemed to have less player control. The players slide around too much, unlike '95 where you can really control your player.

But it still is a great game. I guess everyone has their preference.

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I do enjoy a good game against the comp too. I find the games can really be different form one to another. Some games are blow outs and sometimes the comp plays a strong game.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

NHL95 is by far my favourite NHL game. I used to run a league at a local bar(Kitchener Ontario) with 20 guys during the first lockout. We had a draft,regular season,playoffs and a trophy(Guy Hebert Cup) After 10 years I am down to myself and 4-5 friends.

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  • 4 months later...

NHL 95 was and always will be regarded as a piece of s**t by most fans of the EA series. Obviously, there are a few exceptions on this thread (this is afterall a 95 forum so its to be expected).

NHL 92-94 is not too slow, but rather 95-98 is TOO DAMN FAST. The controls are like trying to hang on to a greased rat. And the graphics? Cmon you gotta admit they are just God awful compared to 92-94. Sound is also horrible.

I challenge you to play 94 for 2 weeks, without playing 95. Then you will indeed see 95 is too fast, not that 94 is too slow. Once you get adjusted to 94's speed, you'll find it to be much more rewarding than 95-98.

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NHL 95 WAS WAY TOO FAST AND THE SPINORAMA WAS CRAP. EA WENT SOUTH AFTER 94 HAVE YET TO RECAPTURE ITS MAGIC. GAMEPLAY IS EVERYTHING AND 94 HAD IT. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS MAKE BETTER ANIMATIONS MORE PIXELS AND UPDATE ROSTERS EACH YEAR........ :):rolleyes:

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  • 3 months later...

Just joined the board and was snooping around.

My buds do 2 tourneys a year, the New Years Tourney and the Midsummer Classic on the 95 and I would have to say it's my fav of the series since that is what I'm used to.

So were can I download a ROM of 95?

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  • 5 years later...

A few other things that NHL 95 has over 94 in addition to the things mentioned in this thread.

Manual Goalie - Manual goalie on 95 can overcome any glitch in the game. For over a decade we use to frown upon the "Cut Across" move. We'd play NHL 95 on and off over the years. During one of our "on" times in our late 20's, we started having extremely low scoring games because we started using Manual Goalie in zone the whole time rather than on just prime scoring chances and nobody could score. Then the cut across move became a legit move as it was the answer to beating the manual goaltending in zone and we legalized it. We thought it was sweet that no matter how good we got at the game, there is always an answer to your opponent's style.

Passing - In 95 you can have a great passing attack where is in 94 many of the passes go off target or to the wrong guy.

With that, I enjoy 94 and I think it's cool that one game from the series has survived to be considered the top game and has guys still playing it!

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....the cut across move became a legit move as it was the answer to beating the manual goaltending in zone and we legalized it. We thought it was sweet that no matter how good we got at the game, there is always an answer to your opponent's style....

I wanted to comment that this holds for ninety flow, too. I believe the natural progression is toward goalie/defense control being on, line changing being on (not auto, as fatigue is key), penalties being on and all possible action (except pausing on breakaways and other COMPLETE bullshit) being "legal" in play. ....that and an eventual switch to SNES NHL '94 from whichever inferior game you are nostalgic for.

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Having recently played both games, I have to agree with the OP here. 94 is just a bit too slow and NHL 95 seems to be the better game. I won't argue that 96-98 are too fast, though. NHL 99 seems alright but I dunno 95 has to be one of my fav of the series

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  • 3 weeks later...

Still love this game. 92-95 are my favs. 96-98 are pretty decent too.

They all have pretty cool elements to them. Too bad we couldn't combine the best parts of each. WOW - imagine that?!

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Digging all the 95 love lately.

From my experience, I played the earlier versions of the game at friend's places but did not own a game until 95. I remember playing it initially and thought "this is a little different" with the more overhead view and the tighter controls. But once I started playing a season and finished a couple of them I could love no other game more(well maybe Tecmo Super Bowl) I remember getting 96 the next year and did not like the changes, I am sure that is the same as the 94 guys thought when they got 95. Now we are kind of conditioned to buy the next versions of the games each year for Madden, NHL, NBA. And Madden for instance I don't really compare the versions from year to year I just get used to the next version and play it.

Anyways love the NHL series and it is by far the best series to come out of the 16 bit era, I don't see Madden94 or NBA95 message boards floating around and when you can get guys in their 30's (see below pic) to take time to play NHL 95 so many years removed from its release date, you know this game has a lasting effect.

post-679-085239500 1305299488_thumb.jpg

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