I never considered myself too much of a hockey fan, but for some reason, I always enjoyed playing Hockey video games, though. Super Blood Hockey looked to me like a hockey game I would have played back in the 16 bit era.
The thing that sets this game apart from most hockey games is the rules. Essentially there are none. The only way to get a power play is to win a fight. A power when one team has the advantage over the other because at least one player is serving a penalty and has been removed from the ice for a given time. Once the fight is over the game continues until the loser of the fight recovers.
There is no NHL licensing in the game, gamers instead choose from a list of countries to play as. From there they can choose the type of player on the team: Sniper, Playmaker, and Enforcer. The stats of each player reflect differently depending on their type. At the end of each game, stats are given many are basic stats, shots taken, pass rate efficiency, etc. The weirdest and perhaps most interesting is the Violence level as part or a stat in the game.
In most hockey games, players can count on the goal to stop the puck and pass it to a teammate. Interestingly enough goalies never actually ever stop a puck, it just ricochets off of them. This adds a bit of strategy to both the offensive and defensive side of things.
There are four gameplay modes that games can choose from: challenge, exhibition, tournament, and franchise. In Challenge mode winning one of the challenges allows for an option in the game to be unlocked. The exhibition is, well, just a single game. Tournament mode gamers choose a team to win the tournament players must win each game in single lose style elimination.
Franchise mode is the most in-depth, here gamers must choose a country to play a full season of hockey with. Gamers must manage the budget of the team, health and wellness, as well as the fitness of each player. Once you have balanced each player’s stats accordingly, it’s time to play a game. Winning games earns more money which allows players to buy new more experienced players help win games. It may not be the typical franchise management that we are all used to, but it works.
Super Blood Hockey varies away from traditional hockey games, though, it still is a ton of fun. In some ways, the nontraditional gameplay allows for it to be more fun. There is some unexpected twists and turns along the way. Players wanting to get a fairly decent hockey title to play on the Switch should certainly check it out. Super Blood Hockey certainly is a bit challenging at first, it even admits so in the tutorial. Sticking with it and learning to actually get a semi decent in the game is worth it as there is a lot of fun to be had. Even when losing games, I still was having fun. It is certainly worth your time and money if you are looking for a fun, not overly serious hockey game.
Review Super Blood Hockey (Nintendo Switch)
Good
Super Blood Hockey varies away from traditional hockey games, though, it still is a ton of fun. It manages live up to it’s name as it is super bloody. The bloodiest hockey game I have ever played in fact. Luck for it the game has more to it than that, it is also really fun to play In some ways, the nontraditional gameplay allows for it to be more fun. There is some unexpected twists and turns along the way. Players wanting to get a fairly decent hockey title to play on the Switch should certainly check it out. Super Blood Hockey certainly is a bit challenging at first, it even admits so in the tutorial. Sticking with it and learning to actually get a semi decent in the game is worth it as there is a lot of fun to be had. Even when losing games, I still was having fun. It is certainly worth your time and money if you are looking for a fun, not overly serious hockey game.
May 22, 2019
Honestly I can’t stand the look of pixel art games. Even the Nes graphics are more appealing. Looking at games like Blaster Master and its sequel shows me what these games could have been. I click on this article expecting the game to look like the thumbnail/cover art. Good review though, and very thorough.