NHL 2000

NHL 2000
Cover art featuring Chris Pronger of the St. Louis Blues
Developer(s)EA Canada
Tiertex Design Studios (GBC)
Publisher(s)EA Sports
Producer(s)Kevin Wilkinson
SeriesNHL series
Platform(s)Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Windows
ReleaseWindows
  • NA: September 15, 1999[2]
  • UK: September 24, 1999[1]
PlayStation
Game Boy Color
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

NHL 2000 is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released in 1999 and was the successor to NHL 99.

Gameplay

A season mode (later developed into a Franchise mode) with a retirement feature, drafting, and player trades were added to the series in this game, as well as the ability to use any photo for created players' faces, which is textured onto the head. Similar gameplay was used in this version, as well as the previous version, NHL 99.

Another mode in NHL 2000 is the Tournament mode, in which the user chooses 16 countries (only 18 countries were available in the game) to play a round robin. After the round robin, eight teams are eliminated and then the remaining eight have a "playoff," but instead of it being out of seven games it was single-elimination. Eventually, a winner is crowned gold in the championship match. There is also a third place match for the losers of the semi-finals.

The game has a total of 28 NHL teams, including the new expansion Atlanta Thrashers, which was the only team in the game that did not exist in the 1998–99 season. Online leagues of the game also became more organized.

Daryl Reaugh left the series as colour commentator in this game and was replaced by Bill Clement. Jim Hughson remained as play-by-play announcer throughout the series.

Reception

The PlayStation and PC versions received "favorable" reviews, while the Game Boy Color version received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[6][7][8] Jim Preston of NextGen said of the PlayStation version, "EA Sports once again proves it does hockey better than anyone else on the planet."[27]

Nash Werner of GamePro said of the PC version that "it's easy to overlook the flaws when everything else fits like a glove. If you're a fan of NHL '99, you'll love NHL 2K [sic]. It was worth the wait."[32][a] William Abner of Computer Games Strategy Plus gave the same PC version three stars out of five, saying, "In the end, NHL 2000 is more of a side step than it is a leap forward. While the super goalie problem is gone and the online play is compelling, the AI problems mar the solo game to the point that in order to have a good time you must put limitations on yourself so as to not destroy the computer opponent at will. And that's just not much fun."[33]

PC Gamer US nominated the PC version for their 1999 "Best Sports Game" award, which ultimately went to High Heat Baseball 2000. The staff wrote of the game, "Arcade-style hockey just doesn't get any better."[34] It was also a finalist for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' 1999 "Computer Sports Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to FIFA 2000.[35] The game was named the best sports game of 1999 by CNET Gamecenter.[36]

Said PC version alone sold 97,219 units in the US by April 2000.[37]

Notes

  1. ^ GamePro gave the PC version two 4.5/5 scores for graphics and overall fun factor, 4/5 for sound, and 5/5 for control.

References

  1. ^ "The Games Of 1999 ~ Europe". Gone Gold. Archived from the original on February 10, 2001. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  2. ^ Fudge, James (September 15, 1999). "NHL 2000 Ships". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on July 4, 2003. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  3. ^ "NHL 2000 Shipping Next Week". PSX Nation. September 15, 1999. Archived from the original on January 29, 2001. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  4. ^ "NHL 2000". Chipsworld. Archived from the original on July 11, 2002. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  5. ^ "THQ Ships NHL 2000 and FIFA 2000 for Game Boy Color". December 20, 1999. Archived from the original on April 16, 2004. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "NHL 2000 for Game Boy Color". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "NHL 2000 for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "NHL 2000 for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  9. ^ Cook, Brad. "NHL 2000 (GBC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  10. ^ Cook, Brad. "NHL 2000 (PC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  11. ^ Goldman, Alexander. "NHL 2000 (PS) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  12. ^ Goble, Gordon (October 21, 1999). "NHL 2000 (PC)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Hamilton, Lewis (October 22, 1999). "NHL 2000 (PS)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  14. ^ Todd, Brett (January 2000). "Too Much of a Good Thing? (NHL 2000 Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 186. Ziff Davis. pp. 120–21. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  15. ^ EGM staff (November 1999). "NHL 2000 (PS)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 124. Ziff Davis.
  16. ^ McNamara, Andy; Anderson, Paul; Reiner, Andrew (November 1999). "NHL 2000 - PlayStation". Game Informer. No. 79. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on December 4, 2000. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  17. ^ Higgins, Geoff (December 2000). "REVIEW for NHL 2000 (PS)". GameFan. Vol. 7, no. 12. Shinno Media. p. 96. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  18. ^ Leong, George (October 1999). "NHL 2000 Review (PC)". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  19. ^ Colin (November 1999). "NHL 2000 - PS". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  20. ^ Trueman, Doug (February 16, 2000). "NHL 2000 Review (GBC)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  21. ^ Ryan, Michael E. (September 20, 1999). "NHL 2000 Review (PC)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 15, 2003. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  22. ^ MacDonald, Ryan (October 8, 1999). "NHL 2000 Review (PS)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  23. ^ Bowen, Kevin (October 6, 1999). "NHL 2000 (PC)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 3, 2002. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  24. ^ Harris, Craig (January 28, 2000). "NHL 2000 (GBC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  25. ^ Blevins, Tal (September 29, 1999). "NHL 2000 (PC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  26. ^ Bhatt, Andy (October 1, 1999). "NHL 2000 (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  27. ^ a b Preston, Jim (December 1999). "NHL 2000". NextGen. No. 60. Imagine Media. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  28. ^ Kujawa, Kraig (November 1999). "NHL 2000". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 2. Ziff Davis. p. 135. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  29. ^ PCA staff (December 1999). "NHL 2000". PC Accelerator. No. 16. Imagine Media. p. 113. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  30. ^ Morris, Daniel (December 1999). "NHL 2000". PC Gamer. Vol. 6, no. 12. Imagine Media. p. 163. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  31. ^ Mowatt, Tom (April 14, 2000). "More value for your puck: NHL games pass on aggressive realism to hockey fans". USA Today. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  32. ^ Werner, Nash (1999). "NHL 2000 Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  33. ^ Abner, William (September 15, 1999). "NHL 2000". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 12, 2003. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  34. ^ PC Gamer staff (March 2000). "The Sixth Annual PC Gamer Awards (Best Sports Game)". PC Gamer. Vol. 7, no. 3. Imagine Media. p. 54.
  35. ^ "Third Interactive Achievement Awards: Personal Computer". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on September 3, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  36. ^ Gamecenter staff (January 21, 2000). "The Gamecenter Awards for 1999! (Sports Winner)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on June 6, 2000. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  37. ^ PC Gamer staff (April 2000). "PC Gamer Editors' Choice Winners: Does Quality Matter?". PC Gamer. Vol. 7, no. 4. Imagine Media. p. 33.