NHL Breakaway 98 Review

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script> (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-47423994-1', 'fortunecity.ws'); ga('send', 'pageview'); </script> <center> <br> <div> <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.broadcaststation.net/ads/show_ad.php?width=728&height=90"></script> </div> </center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Funplay Allday</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Funplay Allday"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>NHL Breakaway 98 Review</B>   |   <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="All Star Baseball 99 Review"><U>All Star Baseball 99 Review</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="NFL Quarterback Club 99 Review"><U>NFL Quarterback Club 99 Review</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="International Superstar Soccer 64 Review"><U>International Superstar Soccer 64 Review</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="N64 MiniReviews"><U>N64 Mini-Reviews</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=398 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>NHL Breakaway 98 Review</I></div> <div> Acclaim's first hockey game falls flat on the ice.</div> <bR> <div> Graphics- 5/10</div> <div> The player models do look acceptable, but when Acclaim's other excellent sports titles (Quarterback Club, NBA Jam, and All-Star Baseball) you have to wonder why Acclaim went with a lower resolution here. Also, the framerate is slightly uneven. But, at least the animations are ok.</div> <bR> <div> Sound- 2/10</div> <div> Can you believe a title released in 1997 would have no play-by-play commentary? I can't. Without television-style play-by-play, a 32-bit or 64-bit sports title loses a lot of its fun factor in my opinion. There is a PA announcer that announces goals and penalties, but he is barely worth mentioning. The menu music is acceptable, but nothing awesome.</div> <bR> <div> Gameplay- 6/10</div> <div> The controls are ok, as can be expected with the excellent Nintendo Sixty-Four controller. Also, the game runs at a fast pace, so the sport of hockey is portrayed acceptably here. But, no extras such as commentary or great graphics make gameplay unexciting. Worse, on easier levels of gameplay, getting goals is much harder than in EA Sports' hockey series and on the harder levels it is close to impossible. As far as options go, there are the normal modes: exhibition, season and shootout among others. What's interesting about the season mode is a point system in which you can get enhancements for created players, stadium add-ons and better coaches. Too bad this system wasn't implemented in a better game, however. Also, the usual hockey options are there, such as penalty levels as well as various audio volume settings.</div> <bR> <div> Miscellaneous-</div> <div> This game requires a memory card to use, but does not support the rumble pack or the RAM expansion pack. This game is rated E for everyone.</div> <bR> <div> Overall--4.3/10---4</div> <div> In closing, the lack of a play-by-play TV style commentator, muddy graphics and only average gameplay lower the value of Acclaim's first hockey offering for Nintendo's 64-bit powerhouse. Nintendo Sixty-four owners should try EA Sports' NHL '99 or Konami's Blades of Steel '99 instead for simulation-style hockey gameplay.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>