Developed by Silver Dollar Games
Released for Xbox Live Indie Games (2/2010)
Having enjoyed One Finger Death Punch by the same developer I decided to give some of their other titles a look. Hockey Fights intrigued me, with a cool premise that recalls classics like Blades of Steel on the Arcade/NES. The fights in that game are definitely its most fondly remembered feature. You will of course go into Hockey Fights expecting a fighting game, and it is, but not in the conventional sense you're used to. It plays more like paper, rock, scissor with an extra equation added in. You don't have to worry about character movement, both characters stand static within striking range. X and A are your high and low attacks; Y and B are your high and low blocks. If a player misses 3 blocks consistently, you earn a "jersey stun" where you can pull the opponents jersey over their head and get a few free shots in.
That's really all there is to Hockey Fights. It's incredibly simple, but what it does it executes pretty well. The artwork looks great, but every player has the same face with just a slightly different jersey on. Some graphic variety would have been nice. The animation is also limited to a couple frames, but in the heat of the action you won't notice that as much. The presentation is pretty solid overall with a professional-looking menu and good sound design. I had a few minutes of fun with this title, but really after you've beat down a few competitors you've seen all the game has to offer.
Final Verdict: If you need a few minutes of pummeling a hockey player, Hockey Fights can be somewhat cathartic I suppose but it wears thin in a hurry. There's worse ways you could spend a buck though, but there are certainly better games to play out there.
Related Links:
One Finger Death Punch - Xbox Overview
Hockey Fights - GameFAQs
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