NHL 96

ABOUT THE ORIGINAL GAME

NHL 96 on Genesis gets its hooks into you quickly because it still treats hockey as a fast, scrappy arcade sport. The diagonal 2D rink view keeps the puck and developing rushes in sight, while the expanded move set gives you more to try than simply skating straight at the net. One-timers, give-and-gos, drop passes, dekes, and fake shots make a clean scoring chance feel earned rather than accidental.
This is also a sturdier package than a quick exhibition game suggests. You can run shootouts, fight through playoffs, or commit to an 82-game season with trades and created players in the mix. The season structure is more restrictive than NHL 95 because you choose one team to carry through the schedule, but being able to simulate games or jump to the playoffs keeps a long campaign from becoming a chore. For a Genesis hockey game, it remains a sharp, feature-rich trip to the 1994–95 NHL.