NHL 2K9 Wii Review

NHL 2K9

Wii Review
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Sports

I was very excited to hear that Visual Concepts and 2K Sports were going to be bringing the NHL 2K series to the Nintendo Wii.  Wii fans have already been given some great sports releases with games like MLB Power Pros from 2K, the Madden series, etc.  So how did hockey do on the Nintendo Wii?

The game, overall, is a great deal of fun on the Nintendo Wii platform.  The first question is easily going to be, how does it control?  That was my big question going into it.  Thankfully, Visual Concepts did a really solid job with the controls of the game.  Things start off with taking shots, as this is all handled with a flick toward the screen while holding down the B button.

The developer did a really good job with the controls on the Wii version, as everything works well, with nice cursor passing, solid hits, and more.  The only issue here is that you are going to run into problems with the execution of the controls, as more could be done to refine everything and make it all work a bit better.

The game though is a lot of fun to use, as the shooting, and even goalie controls are handled by gestures you do with the controls.

There are plenty of game modes here, with things such as season mode, franchise mode, as well as some mini-games.  The only big thing that is missing though is the online mode.

The visuals of the game are a mix between the PS2 and the Xbox 360 builds of the game.  There is certainly a lot of detail here, and plenty of fantastic animations.  The only downfall to them though is that they are hampered by framerate issues.

I had a lot of fun with NHL 2K9 on the Nintendo Wii, and those who want a hockey game on their Nintendo console will not be disappointed.  With that said, this is clearly only a rookie effort, as I expect much more from Visual Concepts when the puck drops in NHL 2K10.

Graphics: 6.5 A good looking hockey game, but framerate issues hamper it.

Audio: 8.0 The audio is top-notch with nice commentary, soundtrack, sound effects, etc.

Gameplay: 7.5 A job well-done by Visual Concepts, as they have laid down a solid foundation for future hockey games on the Wii.

Replay Value: 7.0 There is plenty here with the franchise and season mode.  No online mode is a bummer though.

Final Score: 7.5

Do you have a product that you would like featured on dBTechno? If so, drop us a line at vicb@dbtechno.com

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