NHL Championship 2000

• Release Date: October 04, 1999
• Genre: Sports
• Style: Hockey
• Similar Games: NHL Breakaway 98 (Nintendo 64), Blades of Steel (Game Boy), NHL Breakaway 98 (IBM PC Compatible), NHL Breakaway 98 (PlayStation), Blades of Steel (Nintendo Entertainment System), Blades of Steel (Arcade), NHL 99 (PlayStation), NHL 99 (Nintendo 64), NHL 99 [CD-ROM Classics] (IBM PC Compatible), Blades of Steel (Commodore 64/128), NHL Blades of Steel 2000 (Nintendo 64), NHL 2000 (Game Boy Color), NHL FaceOff 2000 (PlayStation), NHL 2000 (IBM PC Compatible), NHL 2000 (PlayStation), NHL Blades of Steel 2000 (PlayStation), NHL Blades of Steel 2000 (Game Boy Color)

Game Description

Radical Entertainment's NHL Championship 2000 is the first hockey title in the Fox Sports franchise. It features all 28 National Hockey League teams in addition to 18 international clubs. Because it comes with full NHL and NHLPA licensing, the developers were able to incorporate actual hockey stars, players, and statistics into the game based on the 1999/00 season!

Since NHL Championship 2000 was developed under FOX Sports' watchful eye, there are a few odds and ends that the television company has included. Most notable is the FOX TRAX technology; this gadget allows players to see passes and shot opportunities via a streaking red-comet line that follows the puck. Fighting has also been made possible! If a certain player is giving your team beef, sacrifice some time in the penalty box and unleash an uppercut or a rabbit punch!

There are a variety of gameplay options including the Head-to-Head Exhibition, Season, Playoffs, and World Tournament modes. The Head-to-Head Exhibition game is a simple game of hockey with a computer-controlled or human opponent. Because winning or losing has no effect on the team, this mode is a great way to learn controls and the rules of hockey.

The Playoffs mode simulates the post-season tournament for the coveted Stanley Cup. This saves you the time and hassle of taking a team through an actual NHL season. If you'd rather play through an entire or shortened season, you have the option! The Season mode is everything a hockey enthusiast could want; players are given complete control over the team including formations, substitutions, trading and creating players, signing free agents, and other managerial agendas! Additionally, the World Tournament is a ladder-based competition between any and all teams that sign up.

NHL Championship 2000 also features real-time commentary from John Davidson and Kenny Albert. Not only will they call the action play-by-play, but they'll offer up a pre and post-game analysis of players, statistics, or extraordinary shots. Additionally, players can select a variety of options including strictness of referees and period length.

Roots & Influences

NHL Championship 2000 is the first title in FOX Sports' hockey franchise. It bases the graphical and gameplay aspects on FOX's NHL hockey broadcasts by incorporating the FOX TRAX technology and actual commentators. Because the developers programmed the ability to fight, it is also reminiscent of Konami's classic 8-bit Nintendo game Blades of Steel. Recent influences include EA Sports' NHL 2000 and 989 Studios' NHL FaceOff 2000.

Review: Overall

FOX Sports Interactive and Radical Entertainment have created a real winner. NHL Championship 2000 is an excellent console version of one of the most exciting sports on Earth -- hockey. Because this game is so true to life, players will actually feel as if they're watching a hockey game on live television!

The play-by-play and commentary of John Davidson and Kenny Albert is nothing short of wonderful. They did an excellent job of immersing the player in an actual NHL game; the comments are very much on target. You'll here everything from standard calls such as "He passes to Brian Leetch" to the more ecstatic "That was an awful call. You have to realize that these guys are playing a contact sport out there!" My only complaint on the commentary is that they're occasionally behind a few seconds. However, this is probably due in part to the limitation of the PlayStation than anything else.

If there's something NHL Championship 2000 should be applauded for, it would have to be the gameplay. I haven't played such an exciting hockey game since EA Sports' early NHL titles. Not only do the players move with fluidity and behave realistically, the response times on shooting and passing the puck are incredible. With the addition of the passing arrows that surround the puck-carrying player, you'll always know where to aim your passes.

Slap-shots are truly exciting; you'll always know the speed of the puck thanks to FOX Sports Net's radar feature. Though not a problem, scoring goals are difficult as the goalies have been preparing for everything you're going to throw at them. On the negative side of gameplay, I had a problem with checking. The player response on contact is too slow and the play may have already move on by the time they're knocked over. This seems like a glitch in the coding.

Additionally, the instant replay feature has its share of ups and downs. After an excellent play, an automatic replay will be shown on the screen. Because two different views of the play are shown, you'll have ample opportunity to see what happened. The downside of this is that parts of the spectacular plays you'd like to see a replay of are often not shown automatically. For example, if you wanted to see another replay of the goal you scored, you may have a problem doing so; not enough of the play is stored into memory. You'll end up seeing only the players celebrating the goal rather than the goal itself.

Options are a real high point for NHL Championship 2000. There is a wealth of cool features including creating players, trading players, starting tournaments and playing through the playoffs. Although there are no restrictions on statistic creation (created players can execute 177 mile-per-hour slap shots), you can really get yourself into the game. The World Play Tournament is one of my personal favorites though I lost to Switzerland in a double overtime 2 to 1 classic the first time I played.



Other extras include home, away, and alternate jerseys (players can choose a jersey of their liking), a match-up screen that shows a team's ranking in the league, and a rival bar that will activate if there's an intense rivalry between two teams. Rivalries incorporate a more heated game of hockey with a much better chance of fighting. As opposed to EA Sports' NHL series, the fighting is exhilarating. It feels as if you're playing an actual fighting game for a shot period of time; the idea is to fight until one of the players is knocked out. And in my case, it's usually me...

So with the little complaints aside, NHL Championship 2000 is one of the best hockey games I've ever played -- bar none. If FOX Sports Interactive and Radical Entertainment keep this quality up, 989 Studios and EA Sports have finally seen a true competitor. Hopefully they'll be able to keep the good games coming!

Review: Enjoyment

Take my word for it -- you haven't played a hockey game this good since the early 16-bit NHL games.

Review: Graphics

Everything looks great with realistic player movements and detail.

Review: Sound

Thee commentary is great. Additionally, the organ and FOX Sports sounds are great extras.

Review: Replay Value

With an extensive list of options, players will come back to the season and tournament modes for months to come. The multi-player aspects also add to the replay value.

Review: Documentation

The instruction manual fills players in on how to control the action and initiate line changes.

Production Credits