NHL 2002
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''NHL 2002'' is a
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
released by
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...
in 2001. It is the predecessor to '' NHL 2003''. The game's cover man is
Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...
superstar and owner
Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux (; ; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984–85 NHL season, 1984 and 2005–06 NHL se ...
, who had just made a comeback after being retired for three and a half years. It was the first installment of the NHL series to be released on
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
. NHL 2002 was the only game in the series to be released on the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
. This version is an updated port of '' NHL 96'' for the SNES, and contains many features from that past title. Bill Clement is replaced by Don Taylor for ''NHL 2002''. Taylor's quirky and often
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
commentary style drew mixed reception from fans of the game.


Reception

The PlayStation 2 version received "universal acclaim", while the rest of the console versions received "generally favorable reviews", according to the review aggregation website
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
. Jim Preston of '' NextGen''s December 2001 issue said of the PS2 version, "Only frustrating defensive controls mar another brilliant effort from EA Sports." The magazine later said of the Xbox version in its final issue, "the only real issue we have is that the game's defensive AI is rather flawed, somewhat marring an otherwise incredible experience." In Japan, where the former console version was ported for release on February 7, 2002, ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' gave it a score of 29 out of 40. Kevin Krause of ''GameZone'' gave the PS2 version 9.1 out of 10, calling it "A landmark release in that it is the first PS2 game to support Dolby™ Pro Logic and DTS™ sound. These surround sound technologies allow for realistic environmental surround sound like you've never heard it before." Kevin "Biff" Giacobbi gave the PC version 9 out of 10, calling it "A great game, but true hockey fans that buy the latest and greatest that EA gives us each year will not see a whole lot of changes." Christopher Allen of '' AllGame'' gave the same PC version three-and-a-half stars out of five, however, saying, "Despite the unwise decision to hire Don Taylor, ''NHL 2002'' will appeal more to the arcade action camp than the purist. While most of the new additions don't work as well as planned, it is encouraging to see fresh ideas implemented. ''NHL 2002'' is fun to play, but isn't particularly true to the sport, which may disturb true hockey fans with its slip away from realism." Will Abner of '' Computer Games Magazine'' gave the same PC version a similar score of three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "while some features are better, the most important part—the AI—has received little attention. While it's still a fun game, it's not much of an improvement over last year's edition." Air Hendrix of ''
GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' said of the PlayStation 2 version, "While the PS2 competition from 989 Sports and
Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
won't hit the ice until November at the earliest, ''NHL 2002'' plays so well that it's this year's front-running favorite. If you're interested in hockey in the slightest, this is the game to buy." He later said of the Xbox version, "An excellent package of slick graphics and topnotch sound complete ''NHL 2002''s impressive outing." He also said of the Game Boy Advance version, "If fast, playable hockey sounds appealing, you won't go wrong with ''NHL 2002''." The staff of '' Computer Games Magazine'' nominated the PC version as the best sports game of 2001, but ultimately gave the award to '' High Heat Major League Baseball 2002''. The game was also nominated for the "Best Sports Game" (PC version) and "Best Sports, Traditional Game" (console versions) awards at ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
''s Best and Worst of 2001 Awards, both of which went to '' FIFA 2002'' and '' NBA 2K2'', respectively. The PC version also received a nomination for the " PC Sports" award at the 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, but ultimately lost to ''FIFA 2002''. The game was also nominated at '' The Electric Playground''s 2001 Blister Awards for "Best Sports Game for PC" and "Best Canadian Console Game of the Year", but lost both to ''High Heat Major League Baseball 2002'' and '' NHL Hitz 2002''.


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External links

* * {{Authority control 2001 video games Budcat Creations games EA Sports games Electronic Arts games Game Boy Advance games Multiplayer and single-player video games NHL (video game series) PlayStation 2 games Video games developed in Canada Video games scored by Rom Di Prisco Video games scored by Saki Kaskas Video games scored by Stuart Chatwood Video games set in 2001 Video games set in 2002 Video games set in Canada Video games set in the United States Windows games Xbox games