Game Overview
NHL 06 is a good game; there is no doubt about it. Ice Hockey is all about fast paced action, puck control, scoring goals and of course beating the crap out of some bloke who has tried taking you legs away from underneath you!! Sport just doesn't get any better than that!!

The game itself doesn't really differ much from last years installment, obviously you can expect the usual improvements such as graphics, commentary and something changing with the way you control the players, which NHL 06 has, but in a nutshell there isn't a great deal of difference.

There does appear to be a bit of stuttering in certain places throughout the game, it almost as though EA are pushing the PS2 right to the edge and it’s saying "Yep, give me a second i can do what you are asking me to do", and it does do it but sometimes a little bit slower than expected.

Now, for the controls (this is where things really get interesting), the new shooting controls they have implemented for NHL 06 are brilliant. Move the right analogue stick (skill stick) in any direction whilst you are in control of the puck and you start doing some "special moves", easily confuse the keeper and stick it in the back of the net. Some of the skills are great to watch, round the worlds, through the legs, through your opponents legs, its quite hard to explain really, but you get the idea!

EA are obviously trying to make this year’s installment a bit more of a novelty to potential buyers with the inclusion of the classic NHL 94. Relive those days of hammering the Mega Drive controller and the appalling graphics (in comparison, not so appalling at the time were they!) It makes for great entertainment and is a great novelty, very clever of EA to include this, we are sure that this alone will sell a few copies of NHL 06.

Our Conclusions
It's become the norm now hasn't it, EA, another sports title to add to the collection, if you are an avid NHL fan then this is a definite game you should purchase. If you have never played an NHL game in your life then start now, it doesn’t get any better than this, until next year on the PS3 of course!

Overall Score: 8/10

Thanks to EA and the King of Games