Ice Hockey Walkthrough and Strategy Guide Version 1.2 By PFritz21 (Paul J. Fritz Jr.) pjfritz21@yahoo.com /----------\ ( Contents ) \----------/ Version History About the Game Starting a Game Choosing a Lineup On the Ice Computer Teams Tips and Tricks Contact Information /-----------------\ ( Version History ) \-----------------/ 1.2 - Added copyright notice to the Contact Information section; new section headers, minor grammatical changes and tweaks. 1.1 - Minor grammatical changes. 1.0 - Initial release. /----------------\ ( About the Game ) \----------------/ Ice Hockey was one of the first games in Nintendo's Sports Series. Although it isn't very realistic, it's quite exciting, especially during those close games. Personally, it's just as much fun as EA Sports' NHL Series. /-----------------\ ( Starting a Game ) \-----------------/ After you insert the game into your Nintendo and turn it on, the title screen will come up. Using either the Select button or Up and Down on the Control Pad, choose a 1 Player Game or a 2 Player Game. Once you decide, press Start. You'll now be at the options screen. Here, you can choose the teams, the speed of the game, and the length of the periods. For a 1 Player Game, use Left and Right on the Control Pad to select your team, then Press A. You can now select the Computer's team. For a 2 player game, both you and your opponent can use Left and Right to select a team. There are 6 teams in Ice Hockey. Each one is from a different country and wears a different color. They are, from left to right... USA United States blue SWE Sweden yellow POL Poland brown CAN Canada green USR Soviet Union red TCH Czechoslovakia gray After the teams have been selected, press Down on the Control Pad to move to the Speed option. This controls how fast the players move and how fast the clock runs. Use Left and Right to highlight the setting you want. 1 is the slowest setting, and 5 is the fastest setting. Higher settings are more difficult, so if you're just starting out, you shouldn't go much higher than 2. More experienced players should play at 4 or 5. Press Down again to move to the Time option. This determines how long the periods last. You can choose from 7, 10, or 15 minutes. If you need to change any settings, use the Up and Down to move back to the other options (note: If you're playing a 1 Player Game and you want a different team, you're going to have to hit the Reset button). /-------------------\ ( Choosing a Lineup ) \-------------------/ Once you've picked the teams, the speed, and the time, press Start to choose your Lineup. Each team consists of four players, and each player can be one of three types: Fat, Medium, and Skinny. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses: Trait | Skinny | Medium | Fat ----------|----------|----------|---------- Speed | Fast | Average | Slow Strength | Weak | Average | Strong Checking | Weak | Average | Strong Face-Off | Good | Average | Poor Player 1's Lineup is on the left; Player 2's on the right. To choose the types of player you want, move the cursor onto a player. Use the A Button to cycle through Skinny, Medium, Fat. The B Button cycles through Fat, Medium, Skinny. A default Human team consists of a Fat guy at the 1 spot, Medium guys at 2 and 3, and a Skinny guy at 4. For the computer teams, it's... Team 1 2 3 4 +---+ USA Medium Medium Medium Medium | 2 | SWE Fat Medium Skinny Medium |---+---+ POL Fat Skinny Medium Skinny | E | 1 | CAN Fat Medium Medium Skinny +---+ N +---+ URS Fat Medium Fat Skinny | 3 | D | TCH Fat Fat Medium Fat +---+---| | 4 | (the diagram is reversed for Player 2) +---+ Once you choose a lineup, move the cursor to END and press A. /------------\ ( On the Ice ) \------------/ Controls: --------- There are several different sets of controls: before the face-off, offense, defense, and goalies. Before the Face-off: Left or Right: Exchange the guys at positions 1 and 3. Up or Down: Exchange the guys at positions 2 and 4. A Button: Exchange the guys at positions 1 and 2. B Button: Exchange the guys at positions 3 and 4. Start: Pauses the game. Positions 1 and 3 will focus on defense; positions 2 and 4 on offense. The guy at position 1 will take the face-off (if there is no guy at position 1, the closest man to the face-off circle will move in). For position numbers, see previous diagram in Lineup section. On Offense (when you have the puck): Control Pad: Moves the player with the puck, controls the direction of the shot and the pass B Button: Shoots the puck. The longer you hold it, the harder the shot. Tap B to fake a shot. A Button: Passes the puck. Start: Pauses the game. On Defense: Control Pad: Moves the active (flashing) player. B Button: Change the active player. A Button: Body check, steal the puck. Start: Pauses the game. Goalies: Control Pad: Moves the goalie, controls here the puck goes when it's cleared. A or B Button: Clears the puck. If you do not clear the puck after a few seconds, your goalie will automatically dump it off. Start: Pauses the game. Rules: ------ There are a few rules and important terms you should know in Ice Hockey. Games consist of three periods of equal length. Teams switch ends after the end of each period. After the second period, both teams will go to the locker room and three ice resurfacers will come out and smooth out the ice. The ice is divided into three zones. The area between the two blue lines is the neutral zone. The side of the neutral zone that your goalie is on is your defensive zone. The side of the neutral zone here you're trying to score on is your offensive zone. Icing occurs if a player sends the puck past the opponent's goal line (farthest back red line) from behind the centerline, and an opposing player other than the goalie is the first to touch the puck. The ref will blow the whistle, and a face-off will be held in the defensive zone of the team that committed the infraction. Occasionally, when two players from opposite teams fight over the puck,a fight will break out. Players from both teams will join the fight. After a few seconds, the ref will sort it out and send someone to the penalty box. The team who had their player sent to the box will be shorthanded, while the opposing team will be on the power play. After the penalty has been awarded, a face-off will be held at one of the four face-off circles just inside the blue lines (usually on the side of the team that committed the penalty). Penalties end when the team on the power play scores or 2 minutes are up, whichever comes first. A team cannot have more than two players in the penalty box at a time. If there is a tie at the end of regulation, the winner will be determined by alternating shootouts and 2 minute overtime periods. In a shootout, each player from both teams (the team defending the left end will always go first) will have a one-on-one chance of scoring against the opposing goalie. Whoever has the most goals after all 4 players from both teams have went wins. If there is a tie, the teams will switch ends and play an overtime period. In overtime, teams play as normal, except there are no goalies. The team leading at the end of overtime will be the winner. /---------------\ ( Computer Teams ) \---------------/ While all 6 computer teams may play the same way, there are some minor differences in how they play. This section will go in-depth into each team so you can exploit their weaknesses. USA - United States Color: Blue Difficulty: Medium Default team: Medium, Medium, Medium, Medium Suggested team: Fat, Medium, Medium, Medium/Skinny The boys is blue have no major advantage or disadvantage over any other team. They'll put up a good match, but they just don't have the skills to be a threat throughout an entire game. Also, the Americans are not too fond of the Russian team. When building a team to play the Americans, make sure you have an overall size advantage. Constantly use your Fat guys to check the Americans, then move them into position for the shot. SWE - Sweden Color: Yellow Difficulty: Easy Default team: Fat, Medium, Skinny, Medium Suggested team: Fat, Medium, Medium, Medium The Swedish are not very good. You can put this game out of reach for them after the first period. Again, build your team for the size advantage. The faster the Speed setting, the bigger you should go, but don't use more than two Fat guys. POL - Poland Color: Brown Difficulty: Easy Default team: Fat, Skinny, Medium, Skinny Suggested team: Fat, Medium, Medium, Medium The Polish are the worst team in the game. They have very little size to their advantage, so any team with at least one Fat guy will have a definite advantage over them. Against the Poles, you should pass more often to keep the puck away from the Skinny guys, since they skate the fastest and swing their sticks the fastest during a battle for the puck. CAN - Canada Color: Green Difficulty: Hard Default team: Fat, Medium, Medium, Skinny Suggested team: Fat, Medium, Medium, Medium It's not surprise that Canada is the best team in the entire game. They DID invent hockey. However, if you build a bigger team than theirs, you shouldn't have a problem. Just keep scoring goals and stay at least 2 or 3 goals ahead of Canada. USR - Soviet Union Color: red Difficulty: Medium Default team: Fat, Medium, Fat, Skinny Suggested team: Fat, Medium, Medium, Medium The Soviets are the #3 team in the game. They are just slightly better than the Americans. They are very aggressive, and they hate the US team. Unlike previous teams, you should prepare for the Russians by compiling a faster team. My suggested team should do just that. Make sure you can run the clock down when you're ahead to neutralize their shooting power. TCH - Czechoslovakia Color: Gray Difficulty: Hard Default team: Fat, Fat, Medium, Fat Suggested team: Fat, Medium, Medium, Fat Some people will argue that the Czechs are the hardest team in the game. To a certain extent, they are. They have such a huge size advantage, so you can't pound them into submission like other teams. However, experienced players exploit their lack of speed. This is more difficult at higher levels, but still doable. My team of 2 Fat guys and 2 Medium guys are able to hold their own physically, while still being able to outskate the Czechs. Also, make sure you focus more on defense, or their power shots are going to kill you. /-----------------\ ( Tips and Tricks ) \-----------------/ Here are some codes and hints you can use to change the rules and the game easier or more difficult and some little known secrets to balances things out against the computer... Play without Goalies: --------------------- If you want to play an entire game with empty nets and no goalies, hold A and B on both controllers, then press Start on controller 1 while on the Title Screen. This works for both a 1 Player Game and a 2 Player Game. Winning the Face-off: --------------------- Winning a face-off can be a big momentum booster. Whether you want to set the tone of the game early, score on the power play right away, or get the puck out of your own end, you have to win the face-off. To win a face-off, press A as rapidly as possible. Use the control pad to control which direction the puck goes. Make sure you try to send it back into your defensive zone so you can solidify control. After you win a face-off, you can control how the game progresses for several minutes. This momentum is very crucial, since it could be the difference between a win and loss. Increase Your Shot Percentage: ------------------------------ While playing a 1 Player Game, the computer's goalie will usually stop a shot if you take it right away. However, there is a way to increase your chances of scoring. The best spot to score from is right in front of the net, just between the face-off circles. Wind up for the shot and take it right after the goalie makes his move. This way, the goalie will be out of position to stop the shot, and you'll have a free goal. Also, you can use Up and Down on the Control Pad to aim your shot. You usually have a better chance of scoring when you aim for the corner that the goalie is not guarding. Guarding the Net: ----------------- If you opponent has the puck in your defensive zone and is threatening to score, the best thing to do is to pull as many of your players in front of the net. This will increase your chances of deflecting the puck away from the goal. Press B repeatedly when your opponent has the puck in his offensive zone (your defensive zone) to move your guys in front of the net. After the puck has been deflected, do anything and everything you can to scoop up the loose puck. Getting the Power Play: ----------------------- During a fight, the team that "loses" the fight (has the most players bounced out of the pile) will be awarded the power play. In a 1 Player Game, the computer always looses the fight. Until now. During a fight, press A and B together as rapidly as possible. This will cause your guys to be bounced out. If you have more guys bounced out than the computer, you will get the power play! Do this during a 2 Player Game to really upset your friend. Run Out the Clock: ------------------ Don't want to risk giving up a small lead? No problem. After you gain possession of the puck, pass it to a Skinny guy or a Medium guy, skate into your defensive zone, and continuously go around your own goal. The computer will usually send one guy in at a time to try to steal the puck from you. Always stay on the opposite side of the net as the opponent, and go around the goal in the same direction as him. If they send a faster guy in, try to make smaller loops around the goal. If they send a slower guy, make your circles larger. And always change direction when he does. After about a minute, the computer will take out the current guy and send in a different one. Don't worry about it. Just keep going. If the computer has two or more guys on your guy, either try to split the to men, or pass to a teammate in the neutral zone. If you split the guys, continue around the goal. The computer should pull one guy out. If you pass, bring the new guy with the puck back into the defensive zone and keep going. You can also pass the puck to your goalie. This can help if you're being pursued by Fat guys. Continue running down the clock until the game is over. Pump Up the Crowd: ------------------ The crowd will usually cheer on a goal, after a fight, or if the ref calls icing. However, in a close game, the crowd will get into the game. With two minutes left in the game, reduce the difference between the two teams to one goal (either by scoring goals to catch up or letting them go by). The crowd will continue to cheer if either team has a one-goal lead or the game is tied. As the crowd is cheering, both teams will muster up their last ounces of energy and play harder. To quiet down the crowd, increase your lead to two goals. You don't want to lose the game by accidentally letting your opponent gain momentum and make a comeback. Edit the Computer Team: ----------------------- Want to change the computer team to increase the difficulty of some of the weaker teams? If you'd like to change the players on the Computer team, you must first beat all 6 teams on a Speed setting of 5 without turning off the power. Afterwards, start a new game. Select the teams, the speed, and the time, then go to the Lineup screen. Customize your team, then highlight END and press A. You can now customize the Computer's players. Use this to increase the difficulty of weaker teams, like Sweden and Poland. Or you can make the Computer even worse and see how high you can run up the score. /---------------------\ ( Contact Information ) \---------------------/ Via e-mail: pjfritz21@yahoo.com Via AOL IM: PFritz21 I welcome any questions or comments concerning this guide. If you do e-mail me however, please include "Ice Hockey" in the subject line. This guide can be found at... *** My web site (http://www.geocities.com/pjfritz21/) *** GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) This FAQ is copyright 2001-2003 by me. If anyone else has this guide on their site without my permission, please let me know. If you'd like to use this guide on your site, please contact me.