NHL 2K9
- Wii Remote Shooting – Execute wrist shots with the flick of the Wii Remote or put some power into shots by holding the B button while flicking the Wii Remote to blast a slapper
- Wii Remote Fighting – Adding a never-before-seen layer of fun to hockey video games, NHL 2K9 features on-ice showdowns. Balance with the Nunchuk and punch with the Wii Remote to get your opponent off their feet
- Precision Passing / Chain Passing – Exclusive to Wii, take the guesswork out of which player is going to receive a pass by selecting players with the Wii Remote cursor. One-timers, give-and-go and tic-tac-toe passing are executed by selecting multiple players prior to pressing the pass or A button
- Wii Remote Goaltending – Gesture-based goaltending lets you get between the pipes and flash the leather. Even take control when it counts the most — in shootouts
- Full Featured Simulation – complete with franchise mode, practice mode with a tutorial, pond hockey, and much more
Product Description
Wii NHL 2K9 Hockey… More >>
First let me say that unlike the football series I am glad to see two companies trying for our sales dollars as this competition makes for better games.
Graphics: Superb. 2K8 looked great but improvements for 2K9 are visable. In particular the screen views are more intuitive -for example if you are playing by the boards you will get a closer view of the action. Most of the animations are very simliar to 2K8. In-game highlight reels are a nice addition as well.
Controls: Some complaints were made about the complexity of the controls in 2K8 and there have been some changes to make the game more accessible to newer players which uses less of top controls and more of the face controls. For those who got used to the controls in the prior year, they do make them still available in the options. On the fly coaching is still part of the game.
Gameplay: The game modes are the same as last year in terms of the non-live play including standard quick games, franchise and season modes. Live play has some additional features including: managing your team from a web-site, doing a live draft and trades. As with most sports games live roster updates are available. The play is very similiar to prior year although it feels more smoother.
All in all a great game that should be fun for newcomers and veterans and in my opinion is a better series than the EA sports hockey games.
Rating: 5 / 5
I have had this game now for about a couple of weeks, and now, after really getting into all of what it has to offer, feel I can give a good review of it. Before I start, let me say that I bought this one after only playing the EA hockey games, and was a bit skeptical about buying it, but I have to say that I am now extremely glad I did. Mind ya, there are a few things I would fix with it, but I can say that all the good this one has to offer outweights the bad.
GRAPHICS: Here is where 2K sports drops the ball. This game has PS1 graphics at best. EA’s is MUCH better, but I will take these graphics when it comes to the gameplay this game offers.
SOUND: Like all hockey video games, the announcers lack here. There commentary is dull and repetative at best. While it does not take anything away for the game, it does not add anything to it as well.
GAME PLAY: Here is where this game beats EA’s game hands down! The game flows well, is as close to realistic as it can be. The goalies on here are the toughest I have ever seen in any video game, and I have been playing NHL games since the Sega Genises days. It is extremely hard to score on the goalies in this game. They do not give up the cheap goals like the ones on EA does, which makes this one far less frustrating. Line changes can be a bit frustrating, but once ya get used to it, along with line matching, they are not too bad. The Pro Stick control is fantastic, and adds so much to this game.
Extras: There are TONS of historic teams, logos, and different rinks to unlock by completing tasks in this one. It is great to be playing the 1980 USA/USSR game, or having Gretzky play against Gordie Howe in their prime. To me, this alone makes this game well worth the purchase.
Like I said before, I was not too sure about getting this game, but now I can say I will never play another one. I highly endorse it to anyone and everyone. Trust me, you will not be dissapointed in it.
Rating: 5 / 5
It’s about time that we got an NHL game on the Wii, and NHL 2K9 is here to be just that. Boasting controls that take advantage of the Wii-mote, NHL 2K9 sounds promising, but sadly it doesn’t quite deliver the way that it should. The Wii’s nunchuk controls provide some brilliant skating controls that nicely simulate real skating, but passing and shooting the puck with the Wii-mote is a different story. Passing and shooting end up being more awkward than anything else, which is sad considering hockey on the Wii could otherwise be a match made in heaven if done right. Where the Wii-mote controls really shine are during fights however, where the nunchuk comes into play as well. There’s also the option of racing the zamboni around in between periods, but there’s hardly anything compelling or fun about it. The biggest flaws of NHL 2K9 is that there isn’t much that has changed from the previous versions of the game. Considering this is the series’ debut on the Wii, this may not be so bad, but the game is definitely showing it’s age thanks to the dated graphics engine and recycled commentary. Not to mention that the series’ biggest claim to fame, it’s realisticness, is slowly fading away. Compared to EA’s NHL 09, NHL 2K9 doesn’t measure up in terms of simulation, which is a shocker considering the 2K series has come out on top for the past few years plus. Flaws aside though, there’s still some fun to be had with NHL 2K9 on the Wii, and one can only hope that next year the flaws will be addressed and the Wii will get an NHL game that takes advantage of what the console can do.
Rating: 3 / 5
This is (finally) a great liscenced sports game for the WII that actually has the controls working as more of an afterthought. Getting the controls right on sports titles has been an impossible task for 3rd party publishers.
This game brings back the feel of the mid 90′s hockey titles. I remeber when the hockey games were actually the most fun to play. Last year, controls simply got too tough on the other next gen titles, so I think uncomplicating them was and is the right move.
Rating: 5 / 5
My dreams have finally come true. 2k sports has released NHL 2k9 on the Wii. I love hockey games, and was one of the few (apparently) that was a big fan of 2k8 (I had it on PS2, played like a wonder). Not only has this great series come to Wii, but 2k was even kind enough to give us the features of the series that was common on the other systems. Franchise, Exhibition, mini rink, pond hockey, shootout, all official NHL teams, world teams, old teams, etc. The only two elements that seem to be missing are the mini games which were so fun in 2k8, and online play. Supposedly, they did not attach the Wii edition with online play because they wanted to focus on the controls more than anything, and they would add it next year.
I say who cares if its missing it! I don’t need strangers from around the world to enjoy my hockey game. Graphically, this looks fine. Its on a Wii, its a hockey game, the fact that it does not look like a graphic masterpiece is almost irrelevant. The presentation of the game is great. There is now an intermission report, cool introduction videos, stadium effects, referee videos, and things of that nature.
The controls are fantastic. I haven’t quite memorized yet, but I know which button does what, and its all perfectly laid out. And boy is there satisfaction when a slapshot goes in! Passing with the lock-on function is great, doesn’t take any time to get used to and actually works better than the old way of auto-pass/face player to pass function, which was generally a gamble. However, if you are stuck in the old ways, that function is still available. Honestly, I was worried this wouldn’t work so well coming to the Wii, but its better than I could imagine. I’m so happy I got it. I would recommend this to anyone that is looking for some awesome hockey action on the Wii, or just awesome action on Wii.
Rating: 5 / 5