NHL Breakaway 98

Description

Endorsed by Phoenix Coyotes star Keith Tkachuk, Acclaim's NHL Breakaway 98 brings all 28 NHL teams and their players from the 1998 season to your Nintendo 64, complete with season play, game styles based on teams' real tendencies and advanced coaching strategies. If you just want to get your feet wet, you can choose any two teams and go for an exhibition game. You have your choice of one of three modes: Arcade, which emphasizes hard hitting without penalties; Simulation, which emphasizes true-to-life action; or Medium, which is a mix of the two. You can play any mode on one of three difficulty levels. Players can also select the length of each period and decide whether or not to select options such as line changes, penalties, offsides and icing calls, fights and injuries. If you enjoy Fox Sports' puck tracking technology, you can have a glow around the puck which turns into a fiery streak when there's a shot on net. Once you head out on the ice, you control all the action, from having your big defenseman check the other team's star player into the boards to dumping the puck into the other end when you're shorthanded during a power play. Moving the puck involves pressing the pass button or using the Acclaim Sports Precision Pass System, which places icons over the other players on your team so that you can easily pass the puck to the specific player you want. Once you've got a few games under your belt, you can go for a season lasting 25, 41 or 82 games. Your team begins with a certain number of bonus points and earns more with each win. You use these points to hire and fire coaches and create new players whose careers can grow in the minor leagues until they're ready for the big time. As in other hockey games, you can also play general manager and trade players during the season. Just like in real life, you can make it to the playoffs if your team is good enough and go for the ultimate prize -- the Stanley Cup. When you're not playing your season, you can have some fun with Shoot-Out mode, which pits the top five shooters on each team in a penalty shot contest similar to the shoot-outs which decide tied soccer games. You can also enter Practice mode and run your team through drills as you hone your skills. Practicing will also help you decide from the two offensive and four defensive styles available during the game. You can also select from two power play options and three penalty-killing strategies, with three more available if you find yourself down by two skaters. Up to four players can join in on the action, and half the memory space in a Controller Pak is needed to save data while playing a season.