The ESPN franchise of games, which were partly popular on the original Playstation, have made their way onto the superior Playstation 2. Therefore, everything should just be great shouldn't it? Unfortunately National Hockey Night was not only a latecomer this past hockey season but also deeply flawed and out of date in terms of rosters.

Graphics
The front end of the game shines quite brightly with sharp and clean menus along with easy game set up controls. Even as the players step onto the ice things look somewhat promising. However once the puck drops it becomes painfully evident that things are not as good as they may have seemed. The player models look half decent but when compared to EA's NHL 2001, they simply are not up to standard. It's the old cliche, once someone raises the bar in terms of visuals, you have to at least match it or come pretty close. No cigar here. The player movement animations are well below par and just do not look or feel very realistic. Things become worse once body checks are attempted and look very alien to anything that resembles a body check in hockey. Some of the arenas look fine but they are not detailed to their specific real-life counterparts. This is next generation hockey and people will expect wonderfully animated and detailed rinks.

Gameplay
How this got out of the doors by the QA team at Konami is bewildering. The gameplay is awful. Even on the fastest game setting, players skated so slowly and stiffly. Defensive players rarely go after the puck carrier but rather back into the defensive zone and basically stand around and do nothing while the offence has a shooting spree on the goalie. The controls are unresponsive as well. Making a nice turn or deke is impossible. Getting players going and bouncing passes of one another just does not happen. Most passing results in the receiver stopping still as soon as he receives the puck. Trying to get off a quick shot? Forget about it. Want to pass it around the box during a power-play? No chance. The absence of realistic checking makes this game quite flat and boring for the hardcore hockey fan. Do not forget that the NHL touts hockey as the "Fastest game on Earth". Perhaps this is something Konami should focus on next year.

Sound
The basic rink sounds can be found here except the crowd cheers are quite generic and repetitive. The in game music has some variety and can be add to the excitement that should be transpiring on the ice. Perhaps a waste was the fact that Konami went out and hired Gary Thorne and Steve Levy to do the commentary and play by play. Great voice talent but rarely could they keep up with the game which is ironic considering how slow the game actually plays. The voice talent also becomes repetitive even before one game is completed.

Value
National Hockey Night comes with the standard mode of play including exhibition, season, and playoffs. For good faith, Konami even threw in the customary create a player mode. Surprisingly for a game that made it out late in the NHL season, the rosters appear to have been finalized at the beginning of the season over nine months ago! If a game is made out of season then the rosters should at least be updated to reflect major events such as Lemiux returning to the game. Absent in the extras department is an ability to play international games.

Final Word
Bad control, bad gameplay and outdated rosters make National Hockey Night garner a place at the bottom of the heap this season. A rental may suffice any curiosity but with better offerings from 989 Sports and EA Sports, hockey fans should stay clear of this title.