Since the first NHL video game for hockey was released over three decades ago in the early 1990s decade, hockey fans have been treated to some all-time great video games for the sport from multiple different developers. EA Sports has been the main developer of NHL video games since the first-ever hockey video game release called NHL Hockey (a.k.a. NHL '91).
What were the best hockey video games of all-time for fans of the Los Angeles Kings to play?
The NHL video game series has produced some good games and some not-so-great ones in this past decade in the late 2010s and early to mid 2020s. In this past few decades, EA has released over three dozen NHL hockey video games, including the most recent release in the franchise series, NHL 26.
We're primarily using three main criteria to rank this list of the best hockey video games of all time, mainly including sim features, gameplay, and the variety of game modes and innovation from the developers. Great game modes, gameplay, and fantastic sim features can make the difference between a video game that keeps fans coming back over and over again and one that is mostly remembered for nostalgia.
Here's a look at a ranking of the five best NHL hockey video games of all-time.
5. NHL 2004
Most people who are asked what the best hockey video game of all time is probably would mention one of the classics from the EA Sports developer series or NHL '94. The old games on the PlayStation and Sega Genesis have a ton of nostalgia and replayability for hockey fans who remember playing those games growing up.
The innovation we got from hockey games in the late 1990s and early 2000s decades were tremendous on the new generation consoles at the time, including PlayStation, Xbox, and the Nintendo GameCube. What the game had at the time were great gameplay and season modes.
I am personally a big fan of the dynasty and/or franchise mode introduced on the NHL 2004 EA Sports hockey game. NHL 2004 brought in many great features into the game's franchise mode fans, including the long-term outlook for hockey fans, prospect scouting and drafting, and salary cap management.
Back in the day when the Atlanta Thrashers and Phoenix Coyotes were still around and the Detroit Red Wings were a dynasty in the league in the NHL, the calendar reflected the era. This NHL 2004 hockey sports game probably wouldn't make most people's list of the greatest hockey video games of all time, but the realistic gameplay and fantastic simulation franchise feature made the presentation formidable.
Add us as a preferred source on Google