Ice Hockey is a quite good game on its own but when compared to other NES hockey titles, it doesn't really stand out.
There is a nice selection of national teams in Ice Hockey. Although the only mode is Exhibition (which should surprise any modern NHL games fan), the game offers plenty of replay value due to the 2 player mode.
I was pretty shocked by the fact that after selecting the teams you get to choose your players. This adds a whole new level of strategy because your choice of players actually impacts the game. There are 3 types of them: skinny but fast, normal, heavyweight - and you can assign any of them to each of the 4 field player positions (4, not 5 for some reason).
Upon starting the game, you will realize this game's fatal flaw: the controls are not very good. They're not responsive enough, the passing is just random and it is confusing to control the keeper. The controls really hurt the gameplay, making it a bit slow.
Since it is a short review (please, forgive me, but I have to review 4 more hockey titles), I'll wrap up. Ice Hockey does have some frustrating control issues but it is fun, especially with friends, and for the time, it was a really good title... Until the release of Blades Of Steel.