I can remember playing this game back in the early 90's on the Amiga. Unlike any other game of the time, Wayne Gretzky Hockey took a realistic approach to the game of ice hockey. Players had clear momentum, computer players took up appropriate and smart positions, and computer players respected offside rules... everything about the game felt right.
While some players found its overhead perspective to be too simple and not flashy like some other games for the cartridge systems, it is this choice that gives the game its realistic feel and really makes the game-play sparkle.
Just like my coaches used to say on the ice -- "keep it simple" and Wayne Gretzky Hockey does this well. At the same time, rather than being focused solely on the action of hockey, it puts tactics in the center of the game-play. Just like the real game positioning (especially on the power play) and interplay (multiple pass moves) are the most important aspects of the game.
While playing more flashy modern games I always think back to game-play of Wayne Gretsky Hockey just feeling more like the real thing. It's a testament to the excellence of Bethesda Soft works and Wayne Gretzky Hockey that no contemporary game captures that feel in any way.
Power play '96 on the Sega Saturn came
close but even then with its good implementation of 3D graphics... it just doesn't come close. I've always been puzzled by this... in the case of Wayne Gretzky Hockey the only difference is the simple and correct application of the physics of momentum. The simple interface of using the cursor further away for greater speed and closer for more control relates directly to the reality on the ice of balancing speed and control on your skates.
The limitations of the game are obvious. By being a 2D top-down game there is no sense of the actual 3D parts of the game -- shot to the top corner being an unknown as just one example.
