As the end of summer approaches and thoughts start to turn to the fall and winter, one wonders how a person got through the previous winter. Sure, football is starting, but closing in is the fastest game in the world, and that is hockey! EA Sports is ready to come out with its next version of its NHL series called NHL 99. If hard hitting, one time shooting, fighting, and all the other glory that is associated with hockey are required for realism, EA Sports comes closer than its predecessors to the real thing!

The game has not lost its focus from previous versions. All the ingredients are still there, with some new tweaks. The graphics are superb, as usually associated with EA Sports games, with real player faces that are very identifiable, smooth controls with no lag, an easy to locate puck, awesome in-arena shots, and menus that have a good layout and are easily navigable. The background music still sounds like a hockey stick going through a garbage disposal which pumps up the blood pressure and keeps the nerves at optimum. The color commentary is in a class of its own with constant up-to-the-minute stats for each player, and other items that really are impressive. As with previous version, the menu choices are pretty much the same with customizations, options, camera views, graphics, sound, etc. There was some overlapping of graphics in some of the crowd shots, and sometimes a player would appear to be sitting next to the other team on the bench, but overall the game is really great and the best version so far!

The AI has learned a lot about hockey in the last few years, passing right away as a defender looks to lay a hit, great playmaking that leaves a goalie's head spinning, and an aggressive defense. The only problem found was fighting: the game still has the smallest and most non-aggressive players fighting against the bigger goons. It was also surprising that the smaller player beat the bigger one consistently. The fighting seems awkward also, with a limit to what there is to control.

One of the new features in NHL 99 is the Team Management from Marc Crawford, known for Colorado fame. It is basically a new cool feature that allows you to practice and try different things to put the puck in the net or prevent it. There are practices for 1 vs 1s, 2 vs 2s, 1 vs 2s, one-timers on the goalie, deflections, and more. This a good new option to prepare for the next difficulty level and find weaknesses against other teams.