Think you know NHL Hitz? Think again…
- NA release: 25th September 2003
- JP release: N/A
- EU release: N/A
- Developer: Next Level Games
- Publisher: Midway Games
- NGC Magazine Score: N/A
- Mods Used: Widescreen Hack
NHL Hitz is an interesting game from a few aspects. For starters, this was a time where Midway were really struggling, and their yearly sports games were in a bit of an issue as other companies (particularly EA) were beginning to get exclusive licenses, cutting them out of using the licenses. So instead of a yearly title, we got “Pro” to signify that this will be the last for a while (although the Hitz series never returned).
EA had also purchased the developer of the previous Hitz game, Black Box. Luckily for Midway, some of the staff split off following the purchase to form Next Level Games, who Midway hired to make this for their first project . After working with Nintendo on-and-off, they eventually became a Nintendo first party studio.
As for the game itself, it expands to 5v5 ice hockey, but brings back a lot of fun that the previous game lacked. Tackling is great, the game is very fast and it’s easy to see what is happening. The core gameplay is really good and extremely action packed. I’m not a fan of the new fighting system (wait for a button prompt to pop up and then mash), but for the most part it’s a lot of fun.
The fun bonus teams and stadiums, however, are no more and the team creation tool has been stripped out. We do have a 3v3 mode called “Pick-Up Hockey”, which has some regular joes instead. One of these is a roller hockey, which is neat, but still plays the same way. If it had those extra bits of fun, this would excel Hitz 2002, but without them it’s not quite there.
Fun
NHL Hitz Pro is all games to all people. It will not disappoint hockey fans, and it shouldn’t disappoint those who love Midway Sports. What it boils down to is an action-packed experience that rekindles memories of old Genesis NHL sessions. Addictively fun as a multiplayer game, and tricked-out with enough new modes and Franchise options to make the single player experience enjoyable, Hitz Pro delivers on its promise.
Chris Carle, IGN
Remake or remaster?
This with all the features of 2002 would make for a great revival.
Official Ways to get the game
There is no official way to buy NHL Hitz Pro.
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
