Its all about your hockey skills at Blades of Steel

Blades of Steel first arrived on the Nintendo Entertainment System in Christmas of 1988. One of its trademark features is the fistfights in which one player from each team collide on the ice at high speed and face off against each other. When this happens, the camera shifts from an overall view to zoom in on the action. Hooks and jabs can be made through buttons A and B. The goal is to hit your opponent five times before he can. The losing player is given a few minutes of time out.

Blades of Steel is a brutal, no nonsense game of hockey that wouldn't mind getting dirty. The basic gameplay copies the sport's standard. There are five men and one goalie on each side. They try to take control of the puck and make a score by slapping it into the net of their opponent. Unlike Ice Hockey where you can customize how your players would look like, all men look equal at Blades of Steel. No player is at advantage or disadvantage here. It all comes down to skills and moves so you can score a goal. If you go near the net, an arrow will appear and would guide you as to where you should place your shot.

Numerous aspects are also worth commending, such as the halftime show, level of difficulty selection and the rooster of teams. All the eight teams are reminiscent of the actual NHL; they represent varying states in the US and Canada. Their team color and uniforms are a match with what was used on the real uniforms for the NHL franchise 20 years ago. The level of difficulty has three basic options: hard, medium and easy. It is suggested that you start from the easy level so you can be familiar with the game first before working your way to more difficult levels. The halftime presentation is the most exciting and noteworthy part of the title. After a display of several ad features, the screen moves to a short playable version of Gradius, giving extra delight to nostalgic fans of Konami.

Conclusion

Loads of attention has been given to highlight the competition between Ice hockey and Blades of Steel, and the debate all comes down to which title really is better. During the 80's, some young fans of NES had the capacity to buy the authentic cartridge form of both editions. Ice hockey was old-school, while Blades of Steel was grittier. The truth is, no matter which game you play, you will have a fantastic hockey experience.