Rule the Rink
- NA release: 30th September 2002
- EU release: 25th October 2002
- NA release: N/A
- Developer: EA Canada
- Publisher: EA Sports
- NGC Magazine Score: 64%
- Mods Used: Widescreen Hack
A lot of Ice Hockey video games are altered to make it more playable. One very common change is the size of the rink itself, often made smaller in games to push players into making more tackles. As a result, the rinks in NHL 2003 seem massive compared to the other Ice Hockey games I’ve played. Playing this, I can understand why some games make them smaller – even at the fastest speed, NHL 2003 still feels slow.
Despite that, though, it’s still fun to play, and there’s a bit more room to focus on the tactics involved rather than a mad dash towards everything. There are a lot of modes, although the create a team option is very limited as there’s only two pre-named teams that you can assign players to. The “achievement” like system where you have to perform certain tasks in matches is a great addition. All-in-all, an enjoyable ice hockey game.
Fun
To start with, 2003 is significantly slower, and this is made to feel much worse when the ebb and flow is broken up with needless replay cutaways, high-five cutscenes and inane jabber from the ‘amusing’ commentators. On more than one occasion we found ourselves hammering the buttons in a frustrated attempt to get back into the action. Not bac, but for all its pretentions, EA’s hockey sim bogs itself down into being rather less than the sum of its parts.
NGC Magazine #75
Remake or remaster?
Other Ice Hockey games are more interesting.
Official Ways to get the game
There is no official way to get NHL 2003.
Europe
Japan
North America
GameCube Games by Date
2002: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2003: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2004: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2005: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2006: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
