Since NBA Jam first made its way into arcades a few years back, two-on-two goofball basketball has become a genre all its own. Despite the success of Jam and its many knockoffs, this two-on-two style of gameplay has rarely made a successful crossing into other sports fields. In 1995, Midway Games took the revolutionary concept it pioneered with Jam and made the first ever two-on-two hockey arcade game. The prime directive was wild action and furious gameplay (as opposed to simulated realism). NHL Open Ice was a smashing success in the arcades - and now Midway has faithfully translated their prized hockey equivalent of NBA Jam to the Playstation.
Open Ice's two-on-two matchups toss all hockey rules and regulations aside, favoring instead flaming nets, superhuman stickhandling, and players with oversized heads. No penalties, no offsides, no icing, and no line changes - just two players per team trying to score as many goals as possible by whatever means imaginable. The game is set up exactly like NBA Jam, including the option of entering your initials at the start-up screen (for record keeping), coaching tips that appear between periods, and a menu screen where you pick your team and decide which two players will start the game. (Three players, not including the goalie, are available on each of the 26 NHL teams. These include such notable names as Lemieux, Messier, Lindros, Roenick, Sakic, Kariya, and Gretzky.) Unfortunately, it's not possible to choose the team you play against - the computer decides this at random.
On the ice, you can pass, check, block shots, and shoot the puck using a variety of methods that include wrist shots, slap shots, and one-timers. While you can aim the puck at different areas of the net, your best bet is just to get in close and rifle one past the goalie. In no time you'll be scoring 40-50 goals per game. Each player has a "hot meter," which increases with each pass, check, steal, or goal scored. When it's maxed out, the player is "on fire" and given a surge of power, at least until the other team scores a goal. The Playstation controller's left and right trigger buttons serve as turbo buttons, used to give a player a burst of speed or to pull off a specialty shot (which makes him go into a wild, tornado-like spin-o-rama, grow twice his normal body size, or perform quick mid-air flips before firing the puck). Veteran Chicago Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley provides the commentary. His profound and insightful quips include, "He puts the biscuit in the basket!" and "So many hat tricks, he needs a hat rack!"
The graphics are on the high side of fair. The players certainly look realistic enough, though they suffer from slightly jerky animations. Uniform colors are accurate, despite the game being devoid of actual NHL team logos. Unfortunately, distinguishing your player from his computer-controlled teammate can be a nightmare, resulting in many "where am I?" situations.
Like its arcade predecessor, Open Ice offers a host of power-up codes (provided in the manual) for such lighthearted, monotony-breaking modes as Big Head, Baby Head, Huge Head, Big Puck, Unlimited Turbo, Unlimited Check, Super Goalie, Baby Size Body, Increase Speed, and Fast Turbo Recovery. These options give the game a sense of character and add to the long-term replay value (especially since the game is easy enough to be mastered in minutes). With realistic hockey sims a dime a dozen on the Playstation, Open Ice is a welcome and refreshing change.
