Could there be a day when arcade sports titles come back to the forefront? Back when NBA Jam took over where Arch Rivals took off, you would have never thought that the genre would be at the sad state it is today. Midway hit the floor running and took the genre to new heights with NFL Blitz, Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey, and even NHL Hitz. But in recent years, outside of a few select arcade titles not living up to their billing (NBA Ballers and AND 1 Streetball) the genre has reached a standstill. Now having seen many XBLA titles take the service to new limits (Braid, Mega Man 9, etc), Electronic Arts has seen an opportunity to take advantage of the service with their latest sports release 3 on 3 NHL Arcade. What does the game offer that other arcade titles don’t? The answer is not much, but that doesn’t stop the game from being entertaining.
For 800 Microsoft Points, gamers are able to engage in a hockey match that employs three players plus one goal for each team. The rank isn’t necessarily too big but it didn’t have to be with only eight players skating on the ice (including the goalies). Gamers won’t have the chance to choose between teams and their players but rather they’ll have to select players out of a list and select if they’d rather be the red or blue team. With over 40 NHL stars to choose from, there’s a variety of players to choose from but there’s not much difference since they’re ‘ranked’ by being fast, strong or all around. Even if there was a difference, EA doesn’t show you the stats for the players so what it basically boils down to is selecting your favorites because of their star status rather than their skill and talent.
On the ice, the action is frenetic and wildly fun… for about thirty minutes. That’s right, 3 on 3 NHL Arcade loses its appeal after playing a few matches. You’ll have the ability to deke, check and slash your opponents including their goalie. In addition, you’ll be able to collect power-ups to freeze your opponents in their tracks, shrink their goalie or enlarge your own, receive a speed boost, become unstoppable on the ice, and much more. The gameplay isn’t overly addicting, but when you’re playing with a friend or family member, there’s a little tension present when trying to accomplish a victory. But without that human factor, 3 on 3 NHL Arcade doesn’t offer too much for replay value for offline gamers. The biggest concern for 3 on 3 NHL Arcade is that it only offers a versus mode that can be played offline and online. The lack of a tournament or season mode is precisely clear once you finish up a few matches against your friend and wonder what’s left to do within the game. Sure, it’s fun to see stats on how many hits you’ve accomplished, goals you’ve scored and power-ups you’ve collected, but this isn’t enough to hold your interest over hours of gameplay.
If you love arcade games and can spend hours on end playing against your friends, it’s easy to recommend 3 on 3 NHL Arcade. Problem is, there won’t be too many gamers that fall into this category and will eventually want something more substantial. The graphical appeal isn’t too exotic since you’ve seen this display of big headed arcade games before and each player doesn’t exactly feel unique; especially since all NHL players play the same within their skill type. Here’s to hoping Electronic Arts continues to improve this title and the next iteration has a complete set of game modes and features such as a Zamboni race mode, tournaments to participate in or even player fights. But judging the game on what’s included, there’s just not enough here to entice gamers that aren’t hardcore NHL fans.
