Gretzky NHL 2006
It has the PSP’s ice all to itself, and you want to know how it plays? Read on.
Tags: Gretzky NHL 2006 Categories: PSP Reviews, Reviews
Posted by David Hinkle on Nov 14th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gretzky NHL 2006 (title page) | 1 - 2 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Sports | No | ||
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Page 44 apparently never checked out the guide for making a playable hockey title as Gretzky 06 on the PSP is about as bad as it gets. The game shows some promise through a couple innovations, but ultimately scores a goal on itself in the overall scheme of the game. PSP owners would be better using their PSP as a puck and playing hockey for real.
The flaws begin with what is becoming a kind of horrible consistency with all of the handheld sports titles lately; a lack of franchise mode. You can play through a season if you’d like, but afterward it’s back to square one for you to start all over again, making the game all but unplayable after one in-game year. This lack of sustainable interest in the season adds to the overall value of the Wayne Vs. Wayne mode, however.
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Much to the game’s credit, Wayne Vs. Wayne mode is as fun, if not more so, than it is on the console version. Even more of an arcade-based time than playing the normal game, here you play an exhibition match against any other team, all the while building up a meter that unlocks 99 Time. 99 Time brings the legend himself out on the ice for your team, allowing for a kind of inversed power play, where your side has six players against your opponents five. Not only that, but the game dwarves your opponent’s players in comparrison to yours, allowing you to man-handle them with ease. This mode, in its frenzied pace, is really the only fun thing about the title, but sadly it just isn’t enough to keep even the biggest of Gretzkaholics around.
Playing each game just doesn’t feel different, from team to team. Sure, each player has stats that affect their overall skill, but when playing the game the CPU’s AI is just always brutal, leaving little room for players to show skills and/or flaws. The tough AI does make things fun and convey emotions of general conflict, but every team playing like they’ve got nothing but 300lbs gorillas for players gets boring over time.
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For how much the defensive players love to get in your face, the goalies are doubly the opposite, wishing you wouldn’t come anywhere near their goal because they just don’t have the tools to block your shots. Scoring goals in Gretzky 06 feels nostalgic because not since the days of playing hockey on your Genesis or SNES have you scored goals with such ease. Remember doing that trick where you circle the net once and the goalie can’t move quick enough to block the other side? Yeah, that works here. You can just fire shot after shot from the blue line and almost 1 in every 5 is guaranteed to go in.
Visually the game tells the story of a development studio with aspirations of making a great hockey game, but lacking the production values to compete in an industry that is fast approaching more revenue per year than Hollywood. The animations are clumsy, often skipping whole frames in the animation process. As players takes shots and skate, they look believable enough, but when you score a goal and your teammates skate over to celebreate, things take a nosedive. Clipping also shows its ugly mug as its often you’ll see half a skater’s body go through the boards unimpeded. Here the game just doesn’t gain a lot of self respect.
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Gretzky 06, while as of now in a fairly unplayable state, has potential to actually compete with the big dogs. Graphics aren’t everything, and although the speed might be something simulation fans might not enjoy so much, some things such as the Wayne Vs. Wayne mode and targetting mechanic when approaching the net one-on-one show that the game can do some things right. For the first hockey title on the PSP, it lays the foundation for what works on the system and what doesn’t. Hopefully Page 44 studios and SCEA can work together and bring its A game out to the ice next year.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Wayne Vs. Wayne mode + Defensive AI doesn't lay down |
4.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Scoring goals is ridiculously easy - Graphics are poor - No franchise mode |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Not worth the price and time, wait until the zamboni to clear the ice for someone else. | |
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Tags: Gretzky NHL 2006
Posted by David Hinkle on Nov 14th, 2005 and is filed under PSP Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
