Sports video games are among some of the most immersive genres i𝕴n the industry. For the fans who are less athletically inclined, these games allow us to feel as though we really are athletes on the big field. Hockey is one of these sports that rests on the long lists of athletics that have been turned into a successful list of games. We saw the origin of hockey based video games with Ice Hockey, released in 1981 for the Atari 2600. Ice Hockey is simple by today’s standards, but for the time period, it was revolutionary. Since its release, hockey games have evolved 💙to feature near real-life simulations, with game entries being so crisp and smooth we feel as though the contro🃏ller itself is a hockey stick ready to glide the puck into the goal.

However, this does not mean that every hockey based video game that gets released is a gem. There have been some real mi꧅sfires in the genre. The fact of the matter is that some hockey games can be classified as nothing more than dirt on ice. There is a variety of reasons these games do not work out. Often times we see issues with a game’s graphics or gameplay that make it unplayable, and the🅠re are some hockey games that have fallen harder for odder reasons. So if you are looking to pick up a new game that will make you feel like you are on the ice, you might want to steer clear of these tragedies.

15 𓄧 3 On 3 NHL Arcade 𒆙

Let’s start small here. 3 On 3 NHL Arcade was originally released, as you may have guessed by the title, as an arcade entry for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. From a distance, it may not look all that bad; just a silly bobble head version of an NHL title. However, when you get closer to it, you will be disapp💜ointed to find out that it is nothing more than a poor man’s cash cow. The game keeps the attention of the player for 𓆏as long as they can say its title.

This title is nothing more than a joke of a game, passed off as something unique. I do not care what anybody tells you, no joke is worth a $10 price tag. Reviews of this game are for the most part s𒆙imilar: anger with a side of regret of purchase. This game should not be a stand alone title and deserves to be nothing more than a bonus feature in an actual NHL t💟itle.

14 NHL 2000

The turn of the millennium w🐈as not kind on this title. NHL 2000, released for the original PlayStation, has all the classic signs of a must avoid title. While it seems like th🎃e game has a long list of dependable features, like exhibition games, full season campaigns, even sending players to the penalty box, what falls short for this title is the general gameplay.

Sure, all the nice little features may make this game seem appﷺealing, but when the overall experience is delivered in an unresponsive package, then you are ♎going to want to return it for the money you spent on it. The gameplay is as blocky as the graphics are and one can only wonder how positive this game could have turned out had the developers spent a little more time smoothing things out. With no more than one sound effect of the puck slapping against the stick, this game ensures itself that it is a less than immersive experience.

13 🎉 Hit The Ice

One may not think about it at first, but camera angles a🐠re an important part of th🐟e playability for any game, sports included. This is where Hit The Ice makes its first mistake and it is all downhill from ther♑e๊. Following an arcade presence, Hit The Ice was releaꦯsed in 1990꧑ for the SNES. Bringing the game home, players found that the game did not play well.

The sound effects are more than cacophonous, with little to no in-game music and an annoying shuffling that scratches at the player's ears throughout the entire game. The characters are difficult to control and so rigid that even shooting for the goal is an ordeal. You spend most of your time in the corners, not because of the player’s choices, but because that is where the puck seems to want to go at all times. If you are looking for a game that has agedღ well, it is not this.

12 Wayne Gre🃏tzky And 💯The NHLPA All-Stars

If you can make it past this mouthful of a title, than I say congratulations! You will be disappointed to find out that this game is about as tiring to play as it is to sa༺y its name. Released for th⛦e SNES and Sega Genesis in 1995, this title was met with poor reviews from the get go. The game feature quality graphic sprites and full motion video, but that did not help the game’s ugly animation style and floaty graphics that don't immerse the player at all. Despite all these graphical hiccups, the game should have been good, as it came with a solid set of game modes and fast paced gameplay that was meant to keep the player on edge at all times. Sadly, just about every match is won not by skill 🃏but by how many times you can check an opposing player, making this a game to check off of your list of good hockey simulators.

11 ES♒PN National Hockey Night

This game will remind yo🅘u why ESPN should keep its name out of the video game scene and stick to television. This title was released in 1994 for the SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega CD. If you look up reviews of this game 🐼online, the only praise you will find is that it sticks to the ESPN game formula. Despite this, however, the game’s music has been called annoying and the controls difficult and even “soupy” at times.

2001 saw a re-release of ESPN National Hockey Night by Konami under the same name for the PlayStation 2. Did this version improve upon all or any of the little problems of its predecessor? Actually, you might (not) be shocked to hear that they made things worse somehow. If y🙈ou watch a minute of gameplay, you will see how it looks more like mannequins trying to lear🍷n how to ice skate than actual hockey being played. If you possess a copy of either version of this game, then it is best to lay it to rest.

10 2 On 2 Open Ice Challenge (PS1🐬)

Another lengthy title of a game, 2 On 2 Open Ice Challenge showed off just about nothing of the original PlayStation's potential as a console. If you could find just about one good thing from this title, then it would be that the colors are bright. Anything you can from this game beyond that is purely negative, as the graphics are not only blurry but slow and choppy to the point in which you cannot find the player that you are controlling. The real-life portraits of the players that appear on the bottom of the screen from time to time are low quality to the point that they feel ℱas though they were taken with a potato. This game has you controlling characters that are spinning about aimlessly and flying into the air the way that no real hockey player does. This game is about as ugly as it gets.

9 Brett Hull '95 🌠

Have you heard oꩲf Brett Hull? If not, do not be worried, because this title teaches us that you can’t just slap a famous hockey name onto a cartridge and expect it to become a goo🐲d game overnight. Brett Hull ‘95 was released🗹 in 1994 for SNES and Sega Genesis. While at first it received some mixed reviews, it sank to the ocean floor in ne🍸gative feedback.

You need only play a minute of this game to release how slow and choppy the graphics are, and how much slower the gameplay is. The game’s camera angle tricks the player’s depth perception, as the matches are played from a cornered view, making game play uneasy. Not to menℱtion the terrifyingly robotic voice of the announcer. If you are looking for a good hockey simulator, you could play this game, but you might be better off using a couple of old action figures in your basement.

8 🌺 NHL Hitz 2002 🙈

It is sad to say that NHL Hitz 2002 was for the most part not the hit that we were hoping it to be. Fans of the game say that while the game is playable to some degree, it is unrealistic in gameplay. When we play hockey video games, we want them to have some degree of realis🐈m that, as previously stated, makes us feel as thoug⛎h we are really out there on the ice and looking to score.

This game may at first look like something that does this, but after five minutes of gameplay, the player will find themselves skating back and forth from one end of the rink to the other. Not much skill is required to win a match, you the pꦰlayer just has to be in the right place at the right time. Sorry to say it🍬, but that makes this game unplayable in the end.

7 🐭 Pro Sport Ho♔ckey

Released in 1993 for the SNES, Pro Sport Hockey does not live up to the expectations that a sports game should. This is one of the oldest entries on this list, but that does not excuse the fact that this game was a little late for its time. The sound effects sound more watered down and simple than an Ata🎶ri 2600, and the camera is s💟o shaky that you would think the game was recorded during an earthquake. The sad part about this♚ game is that it really tries to be good. I could tell that the developers really tried to give this game some sort of flare every now and again. Cutscenes are cropped in-between periods and an energy system was put into play to give the gameplay♏ more of an edge on the market. Still, this game just falls short as it is clunky and kind of hard to play.

6 ♚Great Ice Hockey 🐻

Great Ice Hockey is far from a great ice hockey video game, just ask the Jason Voorhees lookalike. Released way back in the year 1986 for the Sega Master System, the game capitalizes ꦆon graphics, but does not do much else in the way of improving on the genre. Great Ice Hockey was released just five years after the original Ice Hockey for the Atari 2600, but the Atari title still proves to be better than Sega’s half decade 🦩follow up.

The big problem with Great Ice Hockey is the camera focus. Atari’s Ice Hockey proved to be a very simple game, but one that had a clear goal and focus when being played. Much of this game has the screen slowly pausing the action and ✨moving from one end of the𓂃 rink to the other. Great Ice Hockey proves to be too big for its 🐽own good and to be an overall wonky experience.