I had both. Blades of Steel was the bigger game, with the fights, the shootouts (those were nice), the mini-game you were mentioning, the tournaments, BUT the core gameplay to me was better on Ice Hockey. The three player sizes, that was a cool idea, and it made the gameplay different depending on which team you were facing, compared to Blades where every team was the same. You could aim while shooting in Ice Hockey, instead of just waiting for the arrow the be at the right place. You could hold the button longer to shoot harder, instead of having every shot be the same. Goalies were more fun too, as you had to place the goalie to cover more angle instead of just following an arrow on the ice. Fights were far less obstructive in Ice Hockey, well except for whole bench fights, but I liked those! Tap as fast as you can for the opponent to get a penalty. Didn't like Blades fighting mechanics so much. I'd give only one aspect of the core gameplay to Blades of Steel: passing was better. It was too slow and less precise in Ice Hockey so it was easier to just keep the puck. As for the music, there is music during gameplay in Ice Hockey, instead of just random crowd noises in Blades, so even for that I'd give the edge to Ice Hockey. All in all, I liked both games and played both a lot as a kid. The one I would play again given the chance is Ice Hockey.
I think Ice Hockey holds up better today It has that classic 8 bit Nintendo charm to it with the music (which I prefer to the white noise and whistling of the Blades of Steel background), And the design of the players (the fact that there are three kinds with different attributes makes the match ups interesting) Blades of Steel was revolutionary for the time but it got outshined by the 16 bit hockey games (which are some of the best sports games ever). On the other hand I actually really like the Game Boy port of Blades of Steel a lot! It’s actually probably the best sports game I’ve played on the gameboy (which honestly sports games usually sucked on the gameboy) Either way they are both Great and Fun Games to play even today!
Ice hockey for me. Blades of Steel has that arrow for shooting showing right where puck is going. Far too easy to score. Also play ice hockey on speed 5 and it's amazing. I'll pass on blades of steel's audio too. Both great games.
I actually just picked up a used copy of Ice Hockey for NES at a local shop yesterday. Ice Hockey's a game I've never played, but heard quite a lot of good stuff about it when being compared to Blades of Steel, so I went in completely blind & unsuspecting when I first played it this morning. Blades of Steel is a game I've known since I was a kid, as my 1 Aunt & Uncle had it in their small assortment of NES games back in the late 80s & 90s. We eventually got a Nintendo Wii & about a year & a half later, upgraded our internet from dial-up to high speed, so I was able to browse the Wii's E-Shop where I found both games available for download & at a cheap price. Since I was more familiar with it, I downloaded Blades of Steel. As a kid, I sucked at the game, but as an adult in my early 20s (then) I got much better at it. I looked at both games & feel like Blades of Steel plays better & even sounds better, but I like the features Ice Hockey offers, such as the different physical appearances you can select for each player. Maybe I need to get myself more familiar with Ice Hockey before I can make a better judgment of the 2 games & what better time than during hockey season?
Not much of a Sports person, but I will make 2 exceptions for Hockey & Tony Hawks pro Skater. Unfortunately my NES collection was swiped from me including Blades of Steel & Ninja Gaiden, and all 3 - Castlevanias.
I have enjoyed playing Blades of Steel since I was a little kid, then my dad got me NHLPA Hockey '93 for my Sega Genesis and I played that game religiously. I go back to Blades of Steel every now and then for fun whether it be on Game Boy or NES/Wii/Wii U Virtual Console.
For me it’s Blades of steel, I’ve played this game for hours non stop with my sister, my family and my friends, it was so much fun and so addicting! We had tournaments and I can’t even express how much fun we had playing that game! Ice Hockey is a good game too, but it always felt like it was missing something compared to Blades of steel imo, but it definitely was not as fun for me
Great vid. Not much a fan of sports games overall, but I'm an 80s/90s kid trying to get the collection back together and I know there are a handful of sports games that feel necessary to own in a well rounded NES collection.. Making sure to grab my game of choice for each sport and just grabbed Ice Hockey over Blades of Steel. I made the right choice. Konami got me for basketball with Double Dribble, but definitely prefer Nintendo's approach with hockey. Also, I find the flashing of the characters in Blades of Steel obnoxious enough to turn me off to it.. Definitely Ice Hockey.
I would get both. I think Blades of Steel has a better overall presentation, and I like that it is quicker to get into a game of hockey.. Ice Hockey has allot going for it as far as being able to chose your players, and change up your strategy.
Blades of Steel all the way! Both are classics, but I always enjoyed Blades over Ice Hockey way more when I was growing up. It's still so much fun to play to this day!
I think it makes a big difference when you’re playing with someone else. Both games are good with another person but Ice Hockey is not as great playing alone.
At least you didn't choose Wayne Gretzky's Hockey for the NES because that game is beyond terrible. You have the long hair and beard which makes you seem like it's the 1980s and it goes well with Blades of Steel & Ice Hockey cartridges!
Ice hockey has player pileups when you cause a fight leading to a penalty for opposing team player. very enjoyable 1v1 gameplay with friends. the ability to choose player types allows for experimenting with strategy in game play. speed adjustments are also there to add to the difficulty making the puck faster and the goalie faster, which can sometimes make it harder to makes saves when moving to quickly. I haven't played blades of steel before so i'm bias over all. i find Ice Hockey to be a timeless fun classic game and a great game to recommend to anyone looking to get into the retro game collecting hobby.
Not a fan of sports games but I had a blast with Blades of Steel ~1996! Had Ice Hockey on NES for years but didn't play it until I got it on the B-side of my FDS Super Mario Bros 2 (J) For Super Players. It even came with the printed color paper sheet manual in the box with the bound SMB2j manual. Was much better than I was expecting. Only other hockey game I likes was Air Hockey-e for the Nintendo e-Reader on GBA, but I don't think that counts. ;)
…and I played it around 1996. I remember because that’s when I found a top loader NES new in box at a yard sale and bought it to replace the front loader NES I sold in 1993… when I was trying to get money for an SNES. I sold the top loader NES and SNES in 1996 to get my N64.
@@emmettturner9452 Oh, I see. You kept on upgrading your Nintendo Consoles when they were released. NES, SNES to N64. I'm surprised you didn't start with an Atari like I did, beginning in 1987. I went the other route. Atari, NES, Sega Genesis, PlayStation 1 and then PlayStation 2.
I had never even heard of the NES until a friend got one in 1987… and he refused to share. My twin brother and I had played plenty of Atari 2600 but had no idea there was one hidden away in the hallway closet for years, left behind by our older brother and sister. It was in the box with dozens of games, but no RF switch and no game boxes/manuals. We were only 6 years old and somehow figured out how to connect it to the screw terminals on our mother’s black and white TV using twit ties we stripped with our teeth and wrapped around the console’s RCA jack. We had no idea how to tune it or which screw terminals to use but figured it out through brute force trial and error. I still remember getting excited hearing the jingle from The Empire Strikes Back while the screen was still scrambled because we knew we were close! With enough fiddling, we got it going and Slot Racers became our favorite game… like 1980s Mario Kart Battle Mode!
I had both. Blades of Steel was the bigger game, with the fights, the shootouts (those were nice), the mini-game you were mentioning, the tournaments, BUT the core gameplay to me was better on Ice Hockey. The three player sizes, that was a cool idea, and it made the gameplay different depending on which team you were facing, compared to Blades where every team was the same. You could aim while shooting in Ice Hockey, instead of just waiting for the arrow the be at the right place. You could hold the button longer to shoot harder, instead of having every shot be the same. Goalies were more fun too, as you had to place the goalie to cover more angle instead of just following an arrow on the ice. Fights were far less obstructive in Ice Hockey, well except for whole bench fights, but I liked those! Tap as fast as you can for the opponent to get a penalty. Didn't like Blades fighting mechanics so much. I'd give only one aspect of the core gameplay to Blades of Steel: passing was better. It was too slow and less precise in Ice Hockey so it was easier to just keep the puck. As for the music, there is music during gameplay in Ice Hockey, instead of just random crowd noises in Blades, so even for that I'd give the edge to Ice Hockey. All in all, I liked both games and played both a lot as a kid. The one I would play again given the chance is Ice Hockey.
Fair enough, I played Blades of Steel way more and think it's better but that's cool too ha
Just picked them both up.
I have great memories playing both
Blades of Steel was ahead of its time and one of my favorites! I would shoot the puck emediatly after I won a fight LOL!
Hard to pick one. They both look pretty fun! I chuckled on how you can randomly pick a fight on Blades and takes you to a fight scene. lol How cool!
I think Ice Hockey holds up better today
It has that classic 8 bit Nintendo charm to it with the music (which I prefer to the white noise and whistling of the Blades of Steel background), And the design of the players (the fact that there are three kinds with different attributes makes the match ups interesting)
Blades of Steel was revolutionary for the time but it got outshined by the 16 bit hockey games (which are some of the best sports games ever).
On the other hand I actually really like the Game Boy port of Blades of Steel a lot! It’s actually probably the best sports game I’ve played on the gameboy (which honestly sports games usually sucked on the gameboy)
Either way they are both Great and Fun Games to play even today!
Ice hockey for me. Blades of Steel has that arrow for shooting showing right where puck is going. Far too easy to score. Also play ice hockey on speed 5 and it's amazing. I'll pass on blades of steel's audio too. Both great games.
Blades of steel got a very good Gameboy port as well!
Oh yeah I would agree to that!
I actually just picked up a used copy of Ice Hockey for NES at a local shop yesterday.
Ice Hockey's a game I've never played, but heard quite a lot of good stuff about it when being compared to Blades of Steel, so I went in completely blind & unsuspecting when I first played it this morning.
Blades of Steel is a game I've known since I was a kid, as my 1 Aunt & Uncle had it in their small assortment of NES games back in the late 80s & 90s.
We eventually got a Nintendo Wii & about a year & a half later, upgraded our internet from dial-up to high speed, so I was able to browse the Wii's E-Shop where I found both games available for download & at a cheap price.
Since I was more familiar with it, I downloaded Blades of Steel.
As a kid, I sucked at the game, but as an adult in my early 20s (then) I got much better at it.
I looked at both games & feel like Blades of Steel plays better & even sounds better, but I like the features Ice Hockey offers, such as the different physical appearances you can select for each player.
Maybe I need to get myself more familiar with Ice Hockey before I can make a better judgment of the 2 games & what better time than during hockey season?
Not much of a Sports person, but I will make 2 exceptions for Hockey & Tony Hawks pro Skater.
Unfortunately my NES collection was swiped from me including Blades of Steel & Ninja Gaiden, and all 3 - Castlevanias.
I have enjoyed playing Blades of Steel since I was a little kid, then my dad got me NHLPA Hockey '93 for my Sega Genesis and I played that game religiously. I go back to Blades of Steel every now and then for fun whether it be on Game Boy or NES/Wii/Wii U Virtual Console.
Blades of Steel by far the better game!!!!
I totally agree!
bro stfu its much worse then ice hockey, all this guy said is that the music is better
Exactly right. I use to play it for hours and love the fighting
I remember ice hockey being more fun two player, but blades of steel was the more serious game
For me it’s Blades of steel, I’ve played this game for hours non stop with my sister, my family and my friends, it was so much fun and so addicting! We had tournaments and I can’t even express how much fun we had playing that game! Ice Hockey is a good game too, but it always felt like it was missing something compared to Blades of steel imo, but it definitely was not as fun for me
Ice Hockey had a customization to it with the players which made it funner in my opinion. I think Blades just had better graphics and better fights
Great vid. Not much a fan of sports games overall, but I'm an 80s/90s kid trying to get the collection back together and I know there are a handful of sports games that feel necessary to own in a well rounded NES collection.. Making sure to grab my game of choice for each sport and just grabbed Ice Hockey over Blades of Steel. I made the right choice. Konami got me for basketball with Double Dribble, but definitely prefer Nintendo's approach with hockey. Also, I find the flashing of the characters in Blades of Steel obnoxious enough to turn me off to it.. Definitely Ice Hockey.
I would get both. I think Blades of Steel has a better overall presentation, and I like that it is quicker to get into a game of hockey.. Ice Hockey has allot going for it as far as being able to chose your players, and change up your strategy.
Oh yeah both are totally worth picking up for sure!
Both great. Blades was better
Why do you have Caveman Games standing on the shelf behind you? That game was FRICKIN terrible. Damn it!!!!
Blades fo sho
Ice Hockey FOREVER!
So PUMPt! NEs is still and always will be BUFF!
Thats awesome!
Blades of Steel all the way! Both are classics, but I always enjoyed Blades over Ice Hockey way more when I was growing up. It's still so much fun to play to this day!
I think it makes a big difference when you’re playing with someone else. Both games are good with another person but Ice Hockey is not as great playing alone.
At least you didn't choose Wayne Gretzky's Hockey for the NES because that game is beyond terrible. You have the long hair and beard which makes you seem like it's the 1980s and it goes well with Blades of Steel & Ice Hockey cartridges!
Ice hockey has player pileups when you cause a fight leading to a penalty for opposing team player. very enjoyable 1v1 gameplay with friends. the ability to choose player types allows for experimenting with strategy in game play. speed adjustments are also there to add to the difficulty making the puck faster and the goalie faster, which can sometimes make it harder to makes saves when moving to quickly. I haven't played blades of steel before so i'm bias over all. i find Ice Hockey to be a timeless fun classic game and a great game to recommend to anyone looking to get into the retro game collecting hobby.
Ice Hockey was way more fun to play.
I see super blood hockey got a lot of inspiration from Ice hockey.
Not a fan of sports games but I had a blast with Blades of Steel ~1996! Had Ice Hockey on NES for years but didn't play it until I got it on the B-side of my FDS Super Mario Bros 2 (J) For Super Players. It even came with the printed color paper sheet manual in the box with the bound SMB2j manual. Was much better than I was expecting. Only other hockey game I likes was Air Hockey-e for the Nintendo e-Reader on GBA, but I don't think that counts. ;)
Nice!
Blades of Steel & Ice Hockey are both from 1988.
…and I played it around 1996.
I remember because that’s when I found a top loader NES new in box at a yard sale and bought it to replace the front loader NES I sold in 1993… when I was trying to get money for an SNES. I sold the top loader NES and SNES in 1996 to get my N64.
@@emmettturner9452 Oh, I see. You kept on upgrading your Nintendo Consoles when they were released. NES, SNES to N64. I'm surprised you didn't start with an Atari like I did, beginning in 1987. I went the other route. Atari, NES, Sega Genesis, PlayStation 1 and then PlayStation 2.
I had never even heard of the NES until a friend got one in 1987… and he refused to share. My twin brother and I had played plenty of Atari 2600 but had no idea there was one hidden away in the hallway closet for years, left behind by our older brother and sister. It was in the box with dozens of games, but no RF switch and no game boxes/manuals.
We were only 6 years old and somehow figured out how to connect it to the screw terminals on our mother’s black and white TV using twit ties we stripped with our teeth and wrapped around the console’s RCA jack. We had no idea how to tune it or which screw terminals to use but figured it out through brute force trial and error. I still remember getting excited hearing the jingle from The Empire Strikes Back while the screen was still scrambled because we knew we were close!
With enough fiddling, we got it going and Slot Racers became our favorite game… like 1980s Mario Kart Battle Mode!
I played hours on Blades of Steel...
Don't even like hockey but love blades of steel
BLADES OF STEEL BY AN LANDSLIDE!!!!
Blades of Steel all day long baby
Ice hockey!
Ice hockey has line brawls😂... but yes blades of steel for sure
Blades of Steel just did it better I think ha
Blades all day.
You have too much hair. It's distracting.
Hahaha what?
Blades of Steel for me. 🏒⛸️
Love it!