NHL 2K10 (Wii version)

Last year, the Wii got its first ever real Hockey game thanks to the efforts of 2KSports, bringing the NHL to a Nintendo console for the first time since EA’s NHL 06 came out for the GameCube in 2005. NHL 2K9 was a decent effort, however it was filled with all kinds of odd bugs and glitches, the graphics were murky, it lacked any form of online play, and in all honesty it was disappointing and really needed more polish.

Rather than throw out the exact same game again (unlike a certain other company that treated its PC user base like crap, I’m looking at you EA), 2KSports did some spring cleaning for this year’s edition: the graphics are brighter, the frame rate is nice and smooth, and overall it’s a much better game – what’s that, you included online play too? You really are too kind, 2K.

Presentation

Much like last year’s game, the first thing you’ll get when you turn on NHL 2K10 for the first time is an onscreen keyboard to enter your name, and this time it allows you to point at the screen with the Wii remote to type characters in if you insist on doing so. Afterwards, the game will go straight into Quick Play mode, rather than take you to the menu, again, much like last year’s game. I’m going to safely assume that this was done in mind for gamers who just want to jump straight in for a quick game of puck, and for those who aren’t interested in the game’s many other features.

You can access the menu by pressing B, and this time they’ve quite nicely rearranged the menu, giving you a set of between 4 and 8 ‘screens’ (for lack of better description) for each of the game’s options, nicely positioned around the screen, with an option to go back to what you were just doing right in the middle. It’ll take a minute to get used to the layout, but it makes choosing your options much easier than in 2K9.

Last year, I praised the game’s sound effects, and those have been carried over. Listening to them again, the on-ice sounds like a slapshot, or the puck hitting a goal post aren’t of very good quality, but generally they work well. Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda of the San Jose Sharks make a welcome return from last year as this game’s commentary team, and plenty of new lines have been recorded. Also for the Wii exclusive Mii Superskills, Randy Hahn provides some… let’s just say, ever-so-slightly-cheesy commentary.

The soundtrack, much like last year, isn’t too bad, with some exceptions (Lupe Fiasco’s Superstar is the worst song in the game, but that mainly depends on personal opinion). Joe Satriani’s Crowd Chant has been carried over from last year’s soundtrack, and I for one am pleased for its return.

Gameplay

NHL 2K10 expands on its predecessor’s gameplay options: adding to Quick Play, Franchise, Season, Practice, and the fairly pointless Pond Hockey and Mini Rink game modes, you can now take part in a fairly good range of online multiplayer modes, and for the casual gamers that love minigame collections with Miis in them, there is the Mii Superskills competition, which consists of five different events that clearly take their inspiration from the NHL All-Star game events. You can choose to ignore that if you’re not interested, but I’ll go into a little bit of detail later.

The number of control options has also been increased from one to four, so if you were content with NHL 2K9’s controls, the standard Wii remote and Nunchuck combination is there for you, but bear in mind that by default, the cursor passing introduced in last year’s game is switched off, so you will have to make that adjustment in the controller setup menu. Traditional gamers will prefer to use the Classic Controller, which works very well, although sadly the more comfortable Nintendo GameCube controller is not compatible with this game (despite other third party games like Sonic Unleashed including it as an option). For players without a Wii Nunchuck or Classic Controller, you can also simply turn the Wii Remote on its side in the NES controller position… it’s a bit awkward and doesn’t work too well for this game, but it’s a nice thought on 2K’s behalf. Generally, controls have been improved over 2K9, but when it comes to fights, the Classic Controller makes them too easy.

(Note that at this time, I currently do not have a Wii MotionPlus device, so I cannot comment on how well this control scheme works. If you live in Canada, you can apparently get it as part of a bundle with this game. For Wii MotionPlus users, there is a patronising 3 minute video provided by Nintendo themselves on how to plug in and remove the device from the Wii remote. You cannot stop watching the video to return to the game in the middle, and if you try resetting the console, it’ll take you back to the beginning of the video, so your only option is to turn the console off and back on again.)

The bugs and glitches from last year’s game seem to have been ironed out, and in the time I’ve been able to spend playing the game, I haven’t come across any, although at one point, for some reason my rosters had been reset to default and my custom player was completely missing, other than from my franchise mode save file. The second time this happened, it was because I had just gone online, and after the game my rosters were reset to default for whatever reason. Luckily afterwards I was able to load my saved rosters and restore my created player in the process.

Speaking of custom players, the player creation feature has much more to it than 2K9 did. For example, while you still can’t completely customise all of your player’s facial features, you can choose from over 50 different heads, and add a playoff beard if you desire. You can also create a team, using both a selection of official NHL team logos, and some generic custom team logos, as well as several different options including customising the logo and uniform colours to match those that you have selected for your team (although if you pick an NHL team’s logo and its colours, you will not necessarily get the correct colour combination for that team’s logo or uniform, although adjustments can be made, there’s no way to completely fix it).

Teams that you have created can be taken online to play, or you can create one while online to take part in online leagues. For those who want to quickly try online play out of curiosity, there is the option to play a Pick-Up Game, in which up to ten players are assigned to two randomly selected teams. Alternatively, there is the option to play someone online straight from Quick Play mode, which for some of us is the better option, thanks to the game’s Seamless Online Integration (in the instruction manual’s words). As far as online play goes, there is very little to no lag, even for someone like myself with a crappy internet connection, however the game will sometimes end for no reason due to apparent connection problems, which has happened to me twice (the second time happened just after I scored a goal… coincidence? I can’t help but think not).

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, there are the Wii exclusive Mii Superskills minigames. I wouldn’t say they’re a complete waste of time, because they are quite fun to play, and maybe even more so with friends. However, the Goalie Supersave minigame sucks unless you’re using the Classic Controller: you basically have to memorise a sequence, and then position the Mii goalie to block incoming shots according to the sequence. If you’re using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, the goalie will be unresponsive, making this minigame frustratingly difficult to play. On the other hand, using the Classic Controller, much like fighting as mentioned earlier, instead makes it very easy.

Oh yeah, and if you insist, during game intermissions you can drive the Zamboni again! It doesn’t really add much to the game and you don’t achieve much from it, but… yay!

Graphics

While still nowhere near the best on Wii, NHL 2K10’s graphics are an improvement over 2K9’s. The player models and jerseys look quite good, and unlike last year’s version there are no giant shadow patches underneath the white jerseys’ armpit areas. For the most part, the players in this game do have much more of a resemblance to their real life counterparts, and animations are more realistic as well: in this year’s version of the game, players will actually jump around and happily celebrate goals together, instead of simply raising their arms and then aimlessly skating around with a “guuuuh” facial expression like they did in 2K9. The game’s framerate is also nice and smooth compared to 2K9.

On the downside however, the crowd sucks, because once again everybody’s flat, and are very pixelated 2D sprites that make the arena feel empty. The decals on the Zamboni still suck and are still pixelated.

As far as team jerseys go, where 2K9 gave each NHL team a huge wardrobe of past and present uniforms, you now only have a very limited selection of jerseys for each team: at the most, you’ll have just the team’s current set, and at least one set that the team has used in the past. This may be a disappointment for those of you who like having a big selection of uniforms for each team, or prefer one of their other past uniforms to what’s available, but this shouldn’t really distract you from the game at all.

Lasting Appeal

Unlike its predecessor, 2K10 will keep you coming back again and again, because it is that much more fun to play: where franchise mode gives plenty of single player depth, quick play and Mii Superskills are great for multiplayer (not so much the latter, unless you and your friends want to play hockey themed minigames). Online modes will also keep you hooked until next year’s game.

Overall

While NHL 2K10 is a huge improvement over the previous game, there is still a fair bit of polish required in order for next year’s version to be even better. If you only own a Wii and desperately need your hockey fix, this game is for you. If you own your Wii alongside one of the other consoles and already own EA’s NHL10, you’ve probably got the superior game, but this version of 2K10 is a must try anyway. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10 – “Brilliant”