Every major hockey video game ranked: the complete history (1979 to 2026)

Updated October 17, 2026

Hockey has been a video game for almost fifty years. It started as a few blocky players on the Odyssey 2 and the Intellivision, grew into Blades of Steel and NHL 94, split into a long war between EA and 2K, had a loud arcade phase with NHL Hitz, and settled into one licensed game a year. This is all of it in one place: every major hockey game we could verify, ranked from first to last, with the reasons, the years, the platforms and the story of how one led to the next.

If you only want the short version, our list of the best hockey video games of all time picks twelve. This page is the long version. It covers more than forty games and groups a few yearly sequels where they are hard to tell apart. It goes from 1979 up to NHL 27, which came out on September 11, 2026 and is the newest NHL game as of this writing. We have not included anything that has been announced but not released.

How we ranked them

There is no single right way to rank hockey games, but the people who argue about them (critics, longtime players, forum regulars, the folks who still run NHL 94 tournaments) tend to come back to the same handful of questions. We used those questions as our factors:

• Gameplay feel. How skating, passing, shooting and hitting feel in your hands. Does the puck behave? Does a check feel like a check? This matters most, so it counts most.
• Controls. How quickly a new player can have fun, and how much room there is to get better. The best games are easy to start and hard to master.
• AI. Whether the computer teammates and opponents play something like hockey, and whether the goalies are fair.
• Depth of modes. Season, playoffs, franchise or dynasty modes, Be a Pro careers, online leagues. A game you can play for a year beats one you finish in a weekend.
• Multiplayer and couch play. Hockey has always been best with friends. We gave credit for good two-player and four-player games on one screen, and for online play that worked.
• Presentation and commentary. Arenas, crowds, organ music, broadcast graphics and the voices in the booth.
• Innovation and influence. Did it add something every later game copied? The one-timer, the skill stick and the on-fire player all came from somewhere.
• Staying power. Do people still play it, talk about it and hold tournaments for it?
• Reception. What critics said at release, using aggregate scores from Metacritic or GameRankings where we could check them, plus what fans say now.

Every game below gets an overall rank and a tier. The tiers are simple: S for all-time greats, A for excellent games that are easy to recommend, B for good games with clear limits, C for games that are mostly interesting for history or one specific idea. The ten games at the top also get a score from 1 to 10 on the main factors, in the table further down.

A few ground rules. We judged each game against its own time as well as today, which is why an 8-bit game can rank above a modern one. Review scores are only quoted where we could verify them; otherwise we describe the reception in plain words. Platforms are the main original ones, not every later port. And where EA released several years that played much the same, we grouped them into one entry so the list doesn't turn into a spreadsheet. Every EA year is still covered in the year-by-year table.

The top ten at a glance

Scores are out of 10 and reflect how each game rates on that factor for its era. "Couch" means local multiplayer. "Lasting" is staying power.

The overall number is a weighted average, with feel and staying power counting a bit more than the rest. It's an opinion with arithmetic attached, not science.

The full ranking

S tier: the all-time greats

1. NHL 94 (EA Sports, 1993)

Platforms: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Sega CD, MS-DOS. Tier: S.

The one every other hockey game is measured against. NHL 94 took the base EA had built over two years and made it fast, smooth and readable. It added the one-timer, shooting straight off a pass, which is still the most satisfying goal in any hockey game. It gave you manual goalie control, real NHL teams with real players, and organ songs for each team between whistles. On the Genesis, up to four people could play together with EA's multi-player adapter. The Genesis version was made by High Score Productions and the SNES version by EA Canada, and fans argue about which is better to this day. Critics loved it at release, and it has kept its place on all-time lists ever since. It went into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018, and a 2015 tournament in Toronto drew 128 players. EA has brought it back more than once: as an anniversary mode in NHL 14 and as NHL 94 Rewind in 2020. If you are curious why it still works, our page on games like NHL 94 goes into it.

2. NHL Hitz 20-03 (Black Box Games / Midway, 2002)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance. Tier: S.

The high point of arcade hockey. Three skaters a side, no penalties to worry about, players checked into the crowd without the whistle blowing, goalies who could rush the puck, and the famous on-fire boost after a hot streak. 20-03 kept everything that made the first Hitz work and added a franchise mode where you built a team up from rinks around the world to face NHL clubs, plus a proper season mode with awards for things like the most hits. Reviews were good on all three main consoles, in the low 80s on Metacritic. What lifts it to number two is how well it plays with friends: four people, one couch, a game that takes five minutes and is loud from start to finish. Nobody has really made another one like it. We compare it with its siblings on NHL Hitz 20-02 vs 20-03 vs Pro.

3. ESPN NHL 2K5 (Kush Games / Sega, 2004)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox. Tier: S.

The best simulation hockey game of its generation, and many fans would say the best hockey sim of the 2000s. It launched at a budget price of $19.99, it looked and sounded like an ESPN broadcast with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement in the booth, and it had a franchise mode that let you hire staff, scout, sign contracts and move players to the minors. The North American version included the Heritage Classic outdoor game. Critics rated it very highly, with Metacritic scores of 86 on PS2 and 88 on Xbox, and it outscored EA's game that year. The skating had weight, the AI was smart, and the presentation was years ahead. It was also the last game Sega published in the series and the last under the ESPN name, which makes it the peak of the EA vs 2K war. Its only real weakness is age: it's tied to old hardware and you need the original disc to play it.

4. Blades of Steel (Konami, 1987 arcade, 1988 NES)

Platforms: Arcade, NES, Famicom Disk System, later Game Boy, Commodore 64, Amiga and MS-DOS. Tier: S.

For a lot of people this was hockey before they ever watched a game on TV. Blades of Steel was quick, simple and full of personality. It talked, which was rare on the NES. And if two players bumped into each other enough times, the screen switched to a fight, with the loser taking the penalty. There was no offside, and only a couple of penalties were called, so the game flowed. It had eight city teams and a tournament mode, and it sold more than a million copies. The graphics were plain even in 1988, but nobody remembers that part. It ranks this high because it set the template for arcade hockey with friends and because people still bring it up, decades later, whenever the topic comes around. Konami brought the name back with NHL Blades of Steel '99 and 2000, but neither matched the original.

5. NHL 14 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2013)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. Tier: S.

If you ask longtime EA NHL players which modern year was best, NHL 14 is the most common answer, and The Hockey News has ranked it as the series' best. It wasn't one big feature. It was everything working at once: collision physics borrowed from FIFA's impact engine, a new fighting system based on Fight Night, better skating and deking, Live the Life (a deeper Be a Pro mode where off-ice choices mattered), online seasons with promotion and relegation in EASHL and Hockey Ultimate Team, and an NHL 94 Anniversary mode that recreated the old controls with current rosters. Metacritic scores were 80 and 81. It was the last EA NHL game made only for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and the next year's step back made it look even better in hindsight. Fans still miss it.

6. NHLPA Hockey 93 (EA Sports, 1992)

Platforms: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo. Tier: S.

The direct parent of NHL 94, and a great game on its own. EA chose the players' association licence instead of the league's so it could keep fighting in the game, which meant real player names but teams known only by city. It also had injuries and glass that could shatter, details reviewers loved. There was no season mode, only exhibition and playoffs, and scoring could be a little too easy. But the speed, the angle and the basic feel of EA hockey for the next decade are all here. It sold strongly on the Genesis and was named one of the best games ever by Game Informer in 2001. It ranks just below the big names because NHL 94 did almost everything it did, only better.

7. NHL 09 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2008)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PC. Tier: S.

NHL 09 is the year modern EA hockey found its shape. It introduced Be a Pro, where you play one skater through a career starting in the AHL, and the EA Sports Hockey League, an online mode where every player on both teams is a real person controlling one skater. Those two ideas are still the heart of the series. The on-ice game, built on the skill stick from two years earlier, was praised as well, and it scored 88 on Metacritic on both PS3 and Xbox 360. The PC version was weaker and scored much lower. NHL 09 was also the last EA NHL game on PC, which is why PC players still bring it up. It ranks high for influence and for being excellent in its own time.

8. Ice Hockey (Nintendo, 1988)

Platforms: NES, Famicom Disk System. Tier: S.

Nintendo's hockey game is four skaters and a goalie a side, and it has one clever idea: before each game you pick your skaters from three body types. Skinny players are fast and win faceoffs but get knocked around; heavy players are slow but shoot and check hard; the middle type is in between. That one choice turned an 8-bit sports game into a little strategy game, and later games, including the indie Super Blood Hockey, borrowed it directly. Critics liked it at release, and it has turned up on several best-NES lists since. It has been re-released on the Wii Virtual Console and on Nintendo's classic games service for Switch, so it is one of the easiest old hockey games to play legally today. Simple, fair and still fun for two players.

9. NHL 2K3 (Treyarch / Sega, 2002)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Tier: S.

This is the game where 2K hockey arrived on every console and beat EA on its own turf. It scored 89 on Metacritic on all three platforms, used ESPN-style presentation, and added a franchise mode for the first time in the series. It was also the first hockey game to play online on both PS2 and Xbox Live, years before online leagues were normal. It was the only NHL 2K game on the GameCube. It ranks just below 2K5 because 2K5 did the same things with more polish and a deeper franchise mode, but 2K3 is where critics first said out loud that the best hockey sim wasn't made by EA.

10. NHL 95 (EA Sports, 1994)

Platforms: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, MS-DOS, later Game Boy and Game Gear. Tier: S.

The sequel to NHL 94 kept nearly the same on-ice game and added the things people had been asking for: signing, trading and releasing real players, creating your own players, and better stat tracking. On the Genesis, many reviewers called it the best hockey game yet, and GamePro gave it a perfect score. The SNES version was weaker and lost some modes. Some fans honestly prefer 95 to 94 because of the extras, and it's a fair argument. We keep 94 ahead because its feel came first and it is the one people still compete on. The full head-to-head is on our NHL 94 vs NHL 95 page.

A tier: excellent and easy to recommend

11. NHL 11 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2010)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. Tier: A.

NHL 11 replaced the old animation-based hitting with a physics engine, so collisions finally depended on speed, size and angle instead of canned animations. Sticks could break. Faceoffs were rebuilt with grips and moves off the draw. Passes got stronger the longer you held the button. It also introduced Hockey Ultimate Team, the card-collecting mode that has been in every EA NHL game since. Metacritic gave it 88 on both consoles. It's one of the best-reviewed hockey games ever and a big reason the EA series of the early 2010s is remembered fondly.

12. NHL 10 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2009)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. Tier: A.

Another 88 on Metacritic, and the year EA made the boards part of the game. Battle on the Boards let you shield the puck, kick it to a teammate or pin an opponent against the glass. Fights switched to a first-person view, which sounds strange and was surprisingly fun. Battle for the Cup let you jump straight into a Stanley Cup Final between any two teams. With NHL 09's Be a Pro and EASHL already in place, NHL 10 was a complete package, and it beat NHL 2K10 so clearly that 2K never seriously challenged EA again on PlayStation or Xbox.

13. NHL Hitz 20-02 (Black Box Games / Midway, 2001)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Tier: A.

The first Hitz, and nearly as good as the second. It set the rules: three skaters a side, hits that never draw penalties, fights that last until someone is knocked out and removed from the game, and the on-fire bonus for a player who scores three goals. A team that strings together three one-timers catches fire together. There was no season mode, which is the main reason it sits below 20-03, but it had a skills competition and plenty to unlock. Reviews were solid, in the high 70s on Metacritic across all three consoles. If you find either Hitz cheaply, buy it.

14. NHL 2004 (EA Black Box / EA Sports, 2003)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC. Tier: A.

The best EA hockey game of the sixth console generation. It rebuilt the franchise mode and named it Dynasty, which became a fan favorite for its depth. Puck control and rebounds were more realistic, checking improved, and it added three European leagues. Winning the Cup ended with your players skating it around the ice. Metacritic scores ran from 85 to 87. It came out between NHL 2K3 and 2K5, and it is the closest EA came to matching them in that era.

15. NHL 2K6 (Kush Games / 2K Sports, 2005)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360. Tier: A.

The first hockey game on the Xbox 360, and the first one published under the 2K name after Sega sold its sports studios to Take-Two. It carried over 2K5's strengths and added crease control, which let you play as your own goalie, plus Bob Cole and Harry Neale from Hockey Night in Canada in the booth. It was also the first hockey sim to make the shootout the default way to settle ties, matching the new NHL rule. Reviews were favorable, 81 and 83 on the older consoles and 75 on the Xbox 360 launch version. A strong game that lives in 2K5's shadow.

16. NHL 13 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2012)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. Tier: A.

NHL 13's big idea was True Performance Skating: a physics-based skating model built on more than a thousand motion-captured animations, where speed, momentum and turning radius actually mattered. Players who pushed top speed lost control and accuracy, as they would in real life. It also added GM Connected, an online league mode with many human general managers in one league. Metacritic scores were 84 and 83. It set up NHL 14, and the skating ideas from this year still shape the series.

17. Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey (Atari Games, 1996)

Platforms: Arcade, Nintendo 64. Tier: A.

An arcade game first, then a launch-window game for the Nintendo 64, where Midway published it. It was the first four-player game on the N64, and that alone made it a hit at sleepovers. It had power shots, power saves and power checks, and a simulation option that never quite worked. Critics praised the looks and the multiplayer but found the computer opponents weak; it holds a GameRankings average of 72 percent on N64. It's an important link between Blades of Steel and Hitz in the arcade family tree, and the reason so many kids in the late 1990s first played 3D hockey. A '98 sequel followed on N64 and PlayStation. Our history of arcade hockey games has more on that family.

18. NHL 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports, 2018)

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Tier: A.

The best-reviewed EA NHL of the PS4 and Xbox One era, with Metacritic scores of 80 and 82. Real Player Motion made skating faster and more responsive. World of CHEL brought the online modes under one hub with your own player, cosmetic unlocks and no microtransactions. It also added outdoor pond games, including Ones, a three-way one-on-one-on-one free-for-all on a frozen pond that was the most fun EA hockey had been in years. If you want one game from that generation, this is it.

19. NHL 07 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2006)

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PSP, PC. Tier: A.

The skill stick. NHL 07 moved shooting and stickhandling to the right analog stick, so you dragged the stick back and pushed it forward to shoot, and moved it side to side to deke. It sounds obvious now. At the time it was a big change, and every hockey game since has copied it. The Xbox 360 version also dropped the "magnetic" puck of older games for real puck physics. Reviews were favorable, with the Xbox 360 version scoring 79 on Metacritic. This is the game where EA started to take back the lead from 2K, and it ranks here mostly for influence: NHL 09 and NHL 14 are better versions of the same idea.

20. NHL 98 (EA Sports, 1997)

Platforms: PlayStation, PC, Saturn, Genesis, Super Nintendo. Tier: A.

The 3D EA game that got it right on the original PlayStation. NHL 97 had been the first fully 3D entry; 98 was smoother, better presented and added 18 national teams. For many players in the late 1990s this was the first hockey game that looked like a TV broadcast. It was also the end of an era, one of the last NHL games released for the 16-bit consoles. It doesn't hold up as well as the cartridge games, which is why it's not higher.

21. NHL 12 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2011)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. Tier: A.

NHL 12 let skaters make contact with goalies for the first time, improved the physics engine from NHL 11, and added Be a Legend, where you could play Be a Pro as a real hockey great. It included the 2011 Winter Classic. Metacritic gave it 86 on both consoles. It's an excellent game that gets lost in the middle of a strong run, between the bigger leaps of NHL 11 and NHL 13.

22. NHL 08 (EA Sports, 2007)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PC. Tier: A.

NHL 08 added a goalie mode where you could play a full game in net, playable AHL teams, and a tool for creating your own set plays. Its 3-on-3 online team play was the seed that grew into the EA Sports Hockey League a year later. Reviews were strong on the new consoles, around 85 and 86 on Metacritic, and weak on the older ones. It's the bridge between the skill stick of NHL 07 and the modes of NHL 09.

B tier: good games with clear limits

23. 2 On 2 Open Ice Challenge (Midway, 1995)

Platforms: Arcade, later PlayStation and PC. Tier: B.

Midway's hockey answer to NBA Jam: two skaters a side, a full NHL and NHLPA licence, flaming pucks and a team that catches fire, with announcer Pat Foley calling the action. Critics liked the arcade version. The home versions on PlayStation and PC got mixed reviews, which is why it isn't higher. Its ideas, especially the on-fire boost and stripped-down rosters, fed straight into NHL Hitz six years later.

24. NHL 2K (Black Box Games / Sega, 2000)

Platforms: Dreamcast. Tier: B.

The game that started 2K hockey. Built by Black Box Games, the same studio that would go on to make NHL Hitz, it was one of the best-looking sports games of its time and got generally favorable reviews, a GameRankings average of 76 percent. It sold 140,000 copies, but the Dreamcast didn't last, so it never reached a big audience. A sequel, NHL 2K2, was one of the very last Dreamcast games.

25. Hit the Ice (Taito, 1990)

Platforms: Arcade, later TurboGrafx-16, Genesis, Super Nintendo and Game Boy. Tier: B.

Two skaters and a goalie a side, cartoon characters, almost no rules. You could trip, slash, elbow and kick, fights broke out often, and a charged super shot could knock the goalie into his own net. A team that fell far enough behind got a power-up drink that made every shot a super shot for a while. It's short, silly and best with a friend. Williams published it in North American arcades.

26. NHL Hitz Pro (Next Level Games / Midway, 2003)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Tier: B.

The last Hitz moved to 5-on-5 and toned down the cartoon look in favor of a game closer to real hockey, still with heavy hitting. Critics actually liked it, with Metacritic scores of 79 to 81. Fans were less sure, because the reason to play Hitz was that it wasn't real hockey. It's a good game that sits awkwardly between arcade and simulation, and it was the end of the line for the series. Next Level Games went on to make Nintendo's Mario Strikers games.

27. NHL 20 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports, 2019)

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Tier: B.

NHL 20 added signature shots that copied how real players shoot, a new commentary team, an Expansion Mode for adding a 32nd team, and Squad Battles in Ultimate Team. Reviews were favorable, 85 on Xbox One and 77 on PS4. It's a refined version of NHL 19 rather than a new step, which is why it sits lower.

28. NHL Slapshot (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2010)

Platforms: Wii. Tier: B.

EA's Wii hockey game came with a small plastic stick that held the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, so you swung something stick-shaped to shoot. It sounds like a gimmick, and partly it was, but it played well and was friendly to kids and families. Metacritic gave it 76. It was the only EA NHL game on a Nintendo console of its era and a better Wii hockey game than 2K's.

29. NHL 2K7 to NHL 2K11 (Kush Games, then Visual Concepts / 2K Sports, 2006 to 2010)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii. Tier: B.

After 2K6, the series kept going for five more years. NHL 2K7 added new skating animations and a cinematic presentation style. 2K8 rebuilt faceoffs and goaltending. 2K9 was the first NHL-licensed game on the Wii. 2K10 added online play and Mii support on the Wii and was the last 2K hockey game on Sony and Microsoft consoles. NHL 2K11 came out only on the Wii and iPhone. These were decent games, but each year EA's games pulled further ahead, and the 2K series quietly ended. 2K came back once more with a mobile NHL 2K in 2014 and a few NHL SuperCard card games.

30. NHL Hockey (EA Sports, 1991)

Platforms: Sega Genesis. Tier: B.

The first EA hockey game. It had real NHL teams, season and playoff modes, and the angled side view that EA would keep for years. In Europe it came out as EA Hockey with national teams instead of NHL clubs. On its own it's rough next to what came a year later, but every EA NHL game since, including NHL 27, descends from this cartridge. That counts for a lot.

31. Mutant League Hockey (EA, 1994)

Platforms: Sega Genesis. Tier: B.

A spin-off of Mutant League Football, built on the NHL 94 engine. Robots, skeletons and trolls play on rinks with land mines and holes, the goal is guarded by a demon that explodes when you score, and you can bribe the referee. Reviews at the time were middling. It isn't a great hockey game, but nothing else is like it, and it has a real cult following.

32. NHL 18 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2017)

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Tier: B.

The year EA put arcade hockey back in its own game. NHL Threes is a 3-on-3 mode on a smaller rink with bigger hits and team mascots you can play as. It also added the defensive skill stick for aiming poke checks and blocking passing lanes, and an expansion team option in franchise mode. Reviews were generally favorable, in the mid to high 70s. Threes is the reason it's remembered.

33. NHL 16 and NHL 17 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2015 and 2016)

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Tier: B.

The two years EA spent repairing NHL 15. NHL 16 brought back the EA Sports Hockey League with a class-based system. NHL 17 added team owners and relocation to franchise mode, World Cup of Hockey and Draft Champions modes, and better goalie AI. Both scored in the high 70s to around 80 on Metacritic. Solid, but mostly about putting back what had been missing.

34. NHL 2003 (EA Black Box / EA Sports, 2002)

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC. Tier: B.

NHL 2003 added the GameBreaker, a momentum meter you filled with dekes that could swing a game after a big goal, hit or fight. It was flashy and very early-2000s EA. Reviews were favorable, around 79 to 80. It came out the same year as NHL 2K3, and most critics preferred 2K's game.

35. NHL 21 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports, 2020)

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Tier: B.

NHL 21 rebuilt Be a Pro into a more story-driven career and added HUT Rush, a quicker arcade-style way to play Ultimate Team. Reviews split by platform: 81 on Xbox One and 72 on PS4. It's also the game that came with NHL 94 Rewind as a pre-order bonus, which may be its most lasting contribution.

36. NHL Breakaway 98 (Sculptured Software / Acclaim, 1997)

Platforms: PlayStation, Nintendo 64. Tier: B.

Acclaim's hockey sim was one of the few real NHL options on the Nintendo 64, where EA's games were thin on the ground. The N64 version had a GameRankings average of 78 percent; the PlayStation version was lower at 66. Its management mode was praised, its controls less so. A sequel, Breakaway 99, followed on the N64.

C tier: one good idea, or mostly history

37. NHL 22 to NHL 26 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports, 2021 to 2025)

Platforms: PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (through NHL 24), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S. Tier: C.

The Frostbite era. NHL 22 moved the series to EA's Frostbite engine and added X-Factor abilities for star players. NHL 23 added Last Chance Puck Movement and crossplay. NHL 24 rebuilt contact with physics, added a stamina system and goalie fatigue, brought back hits into benches and broken glass, and was the last on PS4 and Xbox One. NHL 25 was the first made only for current consoles. NHL 26 added ICE-Q 2.0, which uses real NHL tracking data to tune player speed and shot power, and a revamped Be a Pro that starts at the World Juniors. Reviews for all five landed in the mixed range, roughly 66 to 74 on Metacritic. These are the best-looking hockey games ever made, and the on-ice play has real fans. But critics kept saying the same thing: too little changed from year to year. They rank here as a group because they are hard to separate and because none of them has broken out the way NHL 09 or NHL 14 did. If you have a PS5 or Xbox, our page on hockey games on PS5 and Xbox covers which one to get.

38. Brett Hull Hockey (Radical Entertainment / Accolade, 1994)

Platforms: Super Nintendo and Genesis, with a 1995 sequel on Genesis, SNES and PC. Tier: C.

Radical Entertainment's sprite-based hockey game had most of the real rules, a season mode with password saves, and Al Michaels calling the game. Because it had no NHL licence, he named Brett Hull and called everyone else by number, which is either charming or strange depending on your mood. Reviews were mixed to positive, with a GameRankings average of 68 percent. It's a reminder that EA had real competition on the 16-bit consoles, even if it won.

39. NHL FaceOff series (Sony, 1995 to 2002)

Platforms: PlayStation, PlayStation 2. Tier: C.

Sony's own hockey series ran yearly from the original PlayStation's launch period through 2002, as part of the same lineup as NFL GameDay and NBA ShootOut. The early games were a real alternative to EA on the PlayStation, but the series never had a breakout year, and it ended after NHL FaceOff 2003. Sony followed it with Gretzky NHL 2005 and 2006 on PS2 and PSP before leaving hockey for good.

40. NHL 27 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports, 2026)

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S. Tier: C (for now).

The newest NHL game, out September 11, 2026. It brings back multi-user franchise play as Connected Franchise Mode, with up to 32 people each running a team. It gives every club a playbook based on its real-life style, uses NHL tracking data to improve the AI, and overhauls the broadcast with John Buccigross and Darren Pang in the booth. Reviews have been mixed so far: most critics liked the play on the ice better than the presentation, with complaints about player faces and about EA using generated voice lines to fill out the commentary. It's only a month old, so this placement could change once patches land and fans have had a full season with it. Not on PC or Switch; our NHL 27 alternatives page covers those.

41. NHL Rivals 2004 (Microsoft Game Studios, 2003)

Platforms: Xbox. Tier: C.

Microsoft's one attempt at hockey, built around Xbox Live and its XSN Sports online service with leaderboards and matchmaking. It got mixed reviews, 65 on Metacritic. Microsoft shut down its sports team in 2004, and there was never a second year. Interesting mostly as a sign of how crowded the hockey market was in 2003, when EA, 2K, Midway, Sony and Microsoft all had games out at once.

42. 3 on 3 NHL Arcade (EA Canada, 2009)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (download only). Tier: C.

A small downloadable arcade game built on the NHL 09 engine: big-headed NHL players, three skaters and a goalie a side, power-ups, and games played to a score rather than a clock. It scored 64 and 66 on Metacritic. Fun for an evening, nowhere near Hitz. Its ideas came back later as NHL Threes.

43. Super Blood Hockey (Loren Lemcke, 2017)

Platforms: PC, later Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. Tier: C.

An indie game that openly borrows from Nintendo's Ice Hockey and adds fighting whenever you like and a lot of gore. It's rated Mature, so it's not for kids. Console versions added a franchise mode, which later came to PC. Reviews were decent but noted it doesn't hold your attention for long. Good chaos for adults with a controller each.

44. Old Time Hockey / Bush Hockey League (V7 Entertainment, 2017)

Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, later Switch. Tier: C.

A 1970s minor-league hockey game in the spirit of the film Slap Shot: long hair, rough play and fights. It came out as Old Time Hockey and was later renamed Bush Hockey League, which is the name it carries on Switch. The idea is better than the execution, but fans of the era like it, and few other games try to be anything like it. We cover more modern options on games like NHL Hitz.

45. NHL 15 (EA Canada / EA Sports, 2014)

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. Tier: C.

The cautionary tale. NHL 15 was the series' first game on PS4 and Xbox One, and the on-ice physics and graphics looked great. But it launched without many of the modes and features NHL 14 had, the ones fans relied on. Critics praised the play and hammered the missing features, and Metacritic scores fell to 60 and 59. It's the lowest-rated mainline EA NHL game on modern consoles. It deserves a place for one reason: it showed how much modes matter to hockey fans.

Pioneers: ranked for their place in history

These last three are almost impossible to compare with anything above. They are here because the story doesn't start without them.

46. Ice Hockey (Activision, 1981)

Platforms: Atari 2600. Tier: C.

Designed by Alan Miller for Activision, Ice Hockey put two players a side on the ice: a goalie and a skater, with the goalie free to leave the net. You could trip and hook your way to the puck, which reviewers enjoyed. It's crude now, but it showed that hockey with fewer players could be fast and fun, an idea that every arcade hockey game since has used. It's often cited as one of the first well-known hockey video games.

47. Hat Trick (Bally Sente, 1984)

Platforms: Arcade, later Atari 7800, Commodore 64 and MS-DOS. Tier: C.

A two-player arcade hockey game with one skater and one goalie per side, both controlled by the same player. Simple, quick, and one of the first hockey games in arcades. Sources disagree a little on how to count the players, but everyone agrees it was small and fast.

48. NHL Hockey (Mattel Electronics, 1980)

Platforms: Intellivision. Tier: C.

Mattel's Intellivision game, developed by APh Technological Consulting, had four players a side with computer-controlled goalies, and it needed two human players because there was no computer opponent. It carried the NHL name more than a decade before EA did. Today it's a museum piece, but it's one of the very first hockey games on a home console.

Every EA NHL game, year by year

EA has released a hockey game nearly every year since 1991, and NHL 27 is the 36th main entry. Here is the whole run, so nothing is left out. Metacritic scores are listed only where we checked them; early games came before Metacritic existed.

EA also made the spin-offs Mutant League Hockey (1994), NHL Rock the Rink (2000, PlayStation), 3 on 3 NHL Arcade (2009), NHL Slapshot (2010) and NHL 94 Rewind (2020).

The history, era by era

The early years (1979 to 1986)

The first hockey video games were barely hockey. Magnavox put out Hockey!/Soccer! for the Odyssey 2 in 1979, and Mattel's NHL Hockey arrived on the Intellivision in 1980 with four players a side and no computer opponent. Activision's Ice Hockey for the Atari 2600 in 1981 was the breakthrough of the period: two players a side, quick, with a goalie who could roam. In arcades, Bally Sente's Hat Trick (1984) kept things just as small. Sega's Great Ice Hockey on the Master System appeared in 1986. None of these looked like the sport on TV, but they found something important early: hockey on a screen works best when it's fast and there aren't many players.

The 8-bit classics (1987 to 1990)

Konami's Blades of Steel came out in arcades in 1987 and on the NES in 1988, and Nintendo's own Ice Hockey arrived on the NES the same year. Between them they defined hockey for a generation of kids. Blades of Steel brought voices, fights and a sense of spectacle. Ice Hockey brought the body-type choice and a lovely, simple feel. On home computers, Bethesda Softworks (yes, the same company) released Wayne Gretzky Hockey in 1988, an early hockey game for home computers. Taito's Hit the Ice landed in arcades in 1990 and pushed the cartoon-violence side of the sport. You can trace almost every later arcade hockey game back to one of these.

The 16-bit era and EA's rise (1991 to 1996)

EA's NHL Hockey came out on the Sega Genesis in 1991, and within three years EA owned the sport. NHLPA Hockey 93 used the players' licence to keep fighting in the game. NHL 94 got the league licence back, dropped the fights and added the one-timer, and it's still the most loved hockey game ever made. NHL 95 added trades and created players. By the mid 1990s, EA's NHL games were the default hockey game for most players.

There was competition. Sega had Mario Lemieux Hockey (1991) and later its own NHL All-Star Hockey. Accolade had Brett Hull Hockey with Al Michaels. Sony Imagesoft had ESPN National Hockey Night. Nintendo published NHL Stanley Cup on the Super Nintendo. Time Warner Interactive had Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars. And EA itself made the gleefully strange Mutant League Hockey. None of them came close to NHL 94, but they show how big hockey games were at the time.

The jump to 3D (1995 to 1999)

The PlayStation, Saturn and Nintendo 64 forced every series to rebuild in 3D, and it wasn't smooth. Sony started its own NHL FaceOff series in 1995. EA's NHL 97 was its first fully 3D game, and NHL 98 was the first one that really worked. Virgin had NHL Powerplay, Fox Sports Interactive had NHL Championship 2000, Acclaim had NHL Breakaway, Gremlin had Actua Ice Hockey 2, and Konami brought back the Blades of Steel name. On the N64, where EA released only NHL 99, Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey and Breakaway filled the gap. This was the most crowded period in hockey game history, and most of these series did not survive it.

The arcade boom (1995 to 2003)

At the same time, arcade hockey had its best run. Midway, fresh from NBA Jam, released 2 On 2 Open Ice Challenge in 1995, with a team that catches fire. Atari Games followed with Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey in 1996. Then Midway hired Black Box Games, the studio behind Sega's NHL 2K, and made NHL Hitz 20-02 in 2001 and NHL Hitz 20-03 in 2002 for PS2, Xbox and GameCube. Three skaters a side, no penalties, huge hits. For a few years it was the best party game on any console.

Then it stopped. NHL Hitz Pro in 2003 moved to 5-on-5 to look more like real hockey, which pleased critics more than fans. Midway was struggling as a company, and arcades themselves were disappearing. Black Box was bought by EA and moved on to racing games. There was no Hitz in 2004, and there has never been another one. The arcade spirit lived on only in small bursts after that: EA's downloadable 3 on 3 NHL Arcade in 2009, NHL Threes inside NHL 18, and indie games. The full story is on our history of arcade hockey games, and the difference between the two styles is on arcade vs simulation hockey.

The EA vs 2K war (2000 to 2010)

Sega's NHL 2K launched on the Dreamcast in 2000 and was a strong debut. When Sega moved to making games for other consoles, NHL 2K3 (2002) arrived on PS2, Xbox and GameCube with ESPN presentation, online play and a franchise mode, and it outscored EA's NHL 2003. Kush Games took over development, and ESPN NHL Hockey (2003) and ESPN NHL 2K5 (2004) kept the pressure on. 2K5's $19.99 price was a direct shot at EA, and it won over a lot of players. For a few years, if you asked a hockey fan which game was the real sim, most said 2K.

The market was crowded too. Sony's FaceOff ran through 2002, then gave way to Gretzky NHL. Microsoft tried NHL Rivals 2004 on Xbox. In early 2005 Sega sold its sports studios to Take-Two, and NHL 2K6 became the first game published under the 2K name.

EA answered on the ice. NHL 07 introduced the skill stick. NHL 08 added goalie mode and online team play. NHL 09 brought Be a Pro and the EA Sports Hockey League. NHL 10 and NHL 11 scored 88 on Metacritic. Meanwhile 2K's games were good but changed less each year. NHL 2K10 was the last 2K hockey game on PlayStation and Xbox, and NHL 2K11 came out only on the Wii and iPhone. Our EA NHL vs NHL 2K page goes through the whole rivalry year by year.

EA alone (2011 to 2020)

Since NHL 2K10 in 2009, EA has been the only company making a licensed NHL game for PlayStation and Xbox. The early years of that run were strong: NHL 11 through NHL 14 were all well reviewed, and NHL 14 is still the fan favorite. Then NHL 15, the first game on PS4 and Xbox One, shipped without many of the modes fans expected, and it took EA two years to restore them. NHL 18 brought back arcade hockey with Threes. NHL 19 added World of CHEL and pond hockey, and was the best of that generation. NHL 21 came with NHL 94 Rewind, a faithful port of the original game with modern rosters.

Critics have pointed out, again and again, what happens without a rival: the games got prettier and more polished, but each year changed less. It's hard to say how much is the missing competition and how much is just a mature series. Probably some of both.

The Frostbite era (2021 to 2026)

NHL 22 moved the series to EA's Frostbite engine, the same technology behind Battlefield, and added X-Factor abilities for star players. Since then the games have looked better each year: lighting, arenas, crowds and broadcasts are the best hockey has ever had. NHL 23 added crossplay. NHL 24 rebuilt hitting with physics and brought back broken glass. NHL 25 dropped the PS4 and Xbox One. NHL 26 and NHL 27 used the NHL's own player-tracking data to tune players and AI. But reviews have stayed in the mixed range, and the most common complaint is the same one fans had in 2015: not enough changes from one year to the next. NHL 27, out this September, follows the pattern so far, with mixed reviews in its first month.

None of these games are on PC or Nintendo Switch. That gap is one reason the indie scene has grown.

The indie revival (2012 to today)

With EA covering only two consoles, small studios have filled in the rest. Cryptic Sea's Hockey? (2012) was an early example. Super Blood Hockey (2017) took Nintendo's Ice Hockey and added gore. Old Time Hockey (2017), now Bush Hockey League, went for 1970s minor-league brawling. Slapshot (2019) and Slapshot: Rebound (2020) built online 3-on-3 physics hockey on PC. Tape to Tape (2023) mixed hockey with roguelike runs. Goons: Legends and Mayhem (2024) went back to arcade fighting, and 2025 brought Puck and Shoresy: Legends of the North, based on the TV show. Text and management games like Eastside Hockey Manager and Franchise Hockey Manager have their own loyal following too. None of these has the reach of the old Hitz or Blades of Steel, but together they're the most variety hockey games have had since the late 1990s.

Honorable mentions

These are real games we considered but didn't rank, either because they're hard to find, too close to a game already on the list, or better known for one thing.

• Hockey!/Soccer! (Magnavox, 1979): the Odyssey 2 cartridge that gives this page its starting year.
• Wayne Gretzky Hockey (Bethesda Softworks, 1988): an early PC and Amiga hockey game with real strategy, later followed by Bethesda's Hockey League Simulator. A different Wayne Gretzky Hockey came to the NES from THQ in 1991.
• Mario Lemieux Hockey (Sega, 1991): Sega's Genesis hockey game from just before EA took over.
• NHL Stanley Cup (Nintendo, 1993): Nintendo's own licensed hockey game on the Super Nintendo.
• ESPN National Hockey Night (Sony Imagesoft, 1994): a 16-bit rival to EA. A different game with the same name came from Konami on PS2 in 2001.
• NHL All-Star Hockey (Sega, 1995): Sega's in-house series on Genesis and Saturn.
• NHL Powerplay (Virgin Interactive, 1996 and 1997): a 3D rival on PC, Saturn and PlayStation.
• NHL Championship 2000 (Fox Sports Interactive, 1999): one more 3D challenger that didn't last.
• NHL Blades of Steel '99 and 2000 (Konami): an attempt to revive the name in 3D.
• NHL Rock the Rink (EA, 2000): a lesser-known EA spin-off on the original PlayStation.
• Gretzky NHL 2005 and 2006 (Sony, 2004 and 2005): Sony's follow-up to FaceOff on PS2 and PSP.
• Backyard Hockey (2002 onward): the kids' game from the Backyard Sports series.
• NHL 94 Rewind (EA, 2020): the original game ported to PS4 and Xbox One with modern rosters, no online play.
• Slapshot: Rebound (Oddshot Games, 2020): online physics hockey on PC.
• Tape to Tape (Excellent Rectangle, 2023): hockey crossed with a roguelike.
• Eastside Hockey Manager and Franchise Hockey Manager: the deepest hockey management games ever made, if you want spreadsheets instead of skating.

Patterns worth noticing

Look at the whole list and a few things jump out.

The best games came in pairs or trios. NHLPA 93, NHL 94 and NHL 95. Hitz 20-02 and 20-03. NHL 2K3 and 2K5. NHL 09 to NHL 14. Hockey games tend to need one year to find an idea and a year or two to perfect it.

Competition helped. The best-reviewed stretches, the 16-bit years and the 2002 to 2011 window, were the times when several companies were fighting over the same players. Since 2011, EA's games have been well made but rarely surprising.

Couch play ages well. The games people still play for fun, NHL 94, Blades of Steel, Ice Hockey and Hitz, are all games you could play with friends on one screen. Online modes are wonderful while the servers are up, but they don't last. NHL 14's servers, for example, were shut down in 2022 and NHL 23's in 2026.

Fewer players often means more fun. From Activision's two a side to Hitz's three and EA's own Threes mode, the games that cut the roster tend to be the easiest to love. Our page on 3-on-3 hockey explains why the format works so well, on the ice and on the screen.

Where hockey games stand now

In late 2026 the picture is clear. If you want real NHL teams and players, there's one choice: NHL 27 on PS5 or Xbox, with deep modes, beautiful arenas and mixed reviews. If you want the classics, many still work on their original hardware, and Nintendo's Ice Hockey is on the Switch's classic games service. If you're on a PC, indie games like Slapshot: Rebound and Super Blood Hockey are the way in.

The quick, silly, pass-the-controller arcade game that Blades of Steel started and Hitz perfected is the hardest thing to find. That's the gap we built our own game for. Brudvig Hockey 2027 is a free 3-on-3 arcade hockey game that runs in a browser: no account, play a friend online by sending a link, or put it on a TV and use phones as controllers, plus a Challenge Cup tournament mode. It has no real teams or players and none of NHL 27's depth, and we haven't ranked it here; it's simply one more modern way to play the old style for free. Whatever you play, the best hockey game is still the one you're playing with someone else.