NHL Hitz 2002 is an arcade-style
ice hockey video game released by
Midway. It is the first game of the NHL Hitz series. Midway launched this game along with NFL Blitz.
Summary
This video game was a launch title for both the
Xbox and the
GameCube and was also released on
PlayStation 2. It differs from traditional
NHL games in that it does not try to accurately simulate real-life ice hockey. The rules are much more relaxed and the attributes of players dramatically increased, giving the game its arcade feel.
The game features three players on the ice for each team, with an additional 3 players on each teams' bench.
Line changes could be done in between periods.
Fights were included in the game, but the rules of such greatly differed from NHL rules. Fights last until a player is knocked out, and the losing player is taken out of the game permanently. Since there are only 6 players per team, after one team loses 3 fights, no additional fights are allowed. Hits are encouraged rather than penalized, with players able to knock over other players to temporarily remove them from play, incurring no penalties.
If a player scores 3 goals in one game on their respective team that player becomes "
On Fire", making them tougher to knock down and giving them a more powerful shot. If any team scores three uninterrupted
one-timers, they achieve "Team Fire" in which every player has Blue Flames surrounding them and have all the advantages of the aforementioned On Fire. There are no line changes during a period and there is no regular season play.[citation needed][2] The front cover features now retired NHL defenceman
Scott Stevens of the
New Jersey Devils.
The game had a skills competition section with multiple different challenges. Also featured was the ability to unlock sick heads, stadiums and throwback jerseys.
The game received "generally favorable reviews" on all platforms according to the
review aggregation website
Metacritic.[3][5][4] Jim Preston of NextGen's final issue called the PlayStation 2 version "the best 'wacky' sports game we've played in years."[24] The magazine similarly said of the Xbox version, "If you're up for a game of hockey where players quite literally catch on fire and suffer frequent flights through the glass, this is superb stuff."[25]
^"NHL Hitz [20-02] (PS2)". Game Informer. No. 104. FuncoLand. December 2001. p. 94. Archived from
the original on April 10, 2005. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
^"NHL Hitz [20-02] (Xbox)". Game Informer. No. 105. FuncoLand. January 2002. p. 87.
^Satterfield, Shane (September 28, 2001).
"NHL Hitz 2002 Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Red Ventures.
Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
^Satterfield, Shane (November 9, 2001).
"NHL Hitz 2002 Review (Xbox)". GameSpot. Red Ventures.
Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
^Hiscock, Josh (October 26, 2001).
"NHL Hitz 2002 (PS2)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from
the original on December 15, 2004. Retrieved July 2, 2015.