NHL Hitz Pro is an ice hockey video game developed by
Next Level Games and published by
Midway Sports, in the NHL Hitz series. It was released on September 25, 2003, for the
PlayStation 2,
GameCube, and
Xbox. Unlike the previous titles in the series, it has 5-on-5 gameplay instead of the usual 3-on-3 gameplay with the earlier titles. The game does not include
penalty shots, and it is still an arcade-type hockey game like its predecessors. It also has a lot of hard
hitting. The cover athlete of the game is
Nicklas Lidström, and features commentary from Tim Kitzrow[1] and Harry Teinowitz.
NHL Hitz Pro had the
IIHF license, enabling it to use the jerseys of the Olympic hockey teams.
The game also has many game modes, one of the most popular being the "Pick-Up Hockey" game mode, where the game would turn into either a roller, street, or pond hockey match-up between two amateur teams.
Features
NHL Hitz Pro features NHL-style gameplay for the first time, and although arcade-like features pop up from time to time, the game is far more realistic than the previous titles in the series. Among the changes to Hitz Pro are 5-on-5 gameplay, as opposed to the 3-on-3 action seen in NHL Hitz 2002 and 2003, less exaggerated player appearances and
wrap arounds.
^"NHL Hitz: Pro (GC)". Game Informer. No. 126. October 2003. p. 131.
^Reiner, Andrew (October 2003).
"NHL Hitz: Pro (PS2)". Game Informer. No. 126. p. 83. Archived from
the original on November 18, 2005. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
^Kato, Matthew (October 2003).
"NHL Hitz: Pro (Xbox)". Game Informer. No. 126. p. 138. Archived from
the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2015.