GENRE
	Sports
	DEVELOPER
	Midway
	PUBLISHER
	Midway
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	CONTROLLER PAK
	yes
	RUMBLE PAK
	no
	RAM PAK
	yes
	BUY NOW AT

This first effort by Midway has put them in a position to make many more N64 games. Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey is a perfect port of the semi-popular arcade game, and even boasts some major improvements over the arcade version in several areas.

WG3DH has 2 game play modes, arcade, and simulation, you can also set the difficulty setting to very easy, easy, medium, hard, and very hard. The arcade mode in WG3DH lets you play an action packed game of hockey, complete with tons 'o' goals, bone jarring hits, and the occasional fight or 2. In arcade mode there are 3 skaters along with a goalie and you can change the period length from 1:30-3:00 in 30 second intervals. In simulation mode you can play a more realistic game of hockey. You can choose whether you want no penalties, all of the penalties, or some penalties (the game leaves out icings and off-sides in this setting). In simulation, you can also choose your rink size to simulation size (larger) or arcade size (smaller). In both modes you can toggle the fatigue factor (on/off), whether you want fighting (on/off), the puck streak (on/off), the play speed (normal/fast), line changes (manual/automatic), and player switching (manual/automatic). WG3DH allows you to choose any one of the 26 teams in the NHL and then gives you the choice between the top 3 lines on that team. In addition to all of this there is a 1-4 player option.

This game lasted for about 2 weeks before I was ready to throw it in the trash bin. I thought that the choice of playing with up to 4 players would make it a gem in my collection for a long time to come, but it wasn't to be. Now it is one of my most despised games I have. That is why I give WG3DH a 58% on lastability.

visuals

WG3DH has beautiful graphics!!! The players look realistic albeit the same, and flow wonderfully well. They jump up raising their sticks above their heads or do a down on one knee hand-pump. The goaltenders look great, doing all of the great moves that goalies do and even go down on their knees to smash their stick on the ice when they let in a goal. The graphics are much better than any other hockey game on the market today and I give the graphics an 89%.

audio

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gameplay

The gameplay in WG3DH is also a very strong point. The players are fluid and control is no problem in this game. The moves are relatively simple and can be picked up after about 30 minutes of gameplay. One of the greatest aspects of WG3DH though is the collision detection. The hits in simulation mode are perfect and in arcade mode they still look realistic even though your player is flying up about 10 feet. The gameplay is well above average in WG3DH and I give it an 85%.

multiplayer

One aspect of the game I believe was its big selling point (other than its one of the few N64 games out there) is the fact that there is a choice of playing with up to 4 other players. This, in my view, doesn't add to the game as much as people tend to think, but it adds to the game nontheless.

overall

WG3DH would, and is, a good, solid game for the casual gamer. But for us hockey nuts (I'm a Canadian) the simulation mode was certainly not realistic enough. I mean, scoring on every third shot is not what happens in real hockey and having 20-19 scores in the end just doesn't cut it. And the fact that you weren't able to be the goaltender in this game was also a real downer. But the real turn-off for me was the fact that you weren't able to make trades, create players, or keep detailed statistics of your player(s).

This game is worth buying if you don't watch any hockey. If you do watch hockey and keep track of your favorite team (go Canucks!!!) then I suggest renting it first.

6.9/10