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Hit the ice! Hit your opponent! Hit Anything! Welcome to America's most popular spectator sport, Ice Hockey, and the newest addition to Sega's rapidly expanding range of Hockey sims, NHLPA Hockey '93.

Yes indeed, EA Hockey is back and out for blood in no uncertain terms. If you were ever under the impression that hockey was a pleasant game played by public school girls, think again. It doesn't take long to realise that the sub-zero version of the game has little in common with its grassy relative. The black sheep of the family, so to speak.

In a game where serious penalties are commonplace suspicions about the sanity of its participants are readily understood. The inevitable carnage, that only results from such a loose code of conduct, is ably portrayed in the latest product from the masters of sports simulations, Electronic Arts. Can you handle it?

All the rules of Ice Hockey apply, but offsides and penalties can be turned on or off. The simple aim is to score goals - so get skating.

The sick minds of the Park Place graphics department have introduced scenes of graphics horror to NHLPA Hockey '93. For instance, a swift stick to the head reduces the recipient to a sprawling wreck, seeping blood over the cold, cold ice. Eeyurrggh!

Should you manage to trip your opponent the results are quite spectacular. A mere hook of the stick sends the hapless victim flying head over heels, in a hugely degrading show of a sad acrobatic ineptitude.

For your entertainment a musician of limited talent plays the occasional dreadful rendition from a selection of equally nerve-twisting turns on something resembling the sounds of a Hammond organ. Such anti-melodies become increasingly annoying if you're losing but are a veritable bucket of salt to rub into the wounds of a loser should you find yourself wearing the winner's trousers.

I doubt it. Yes, the animation is smoother. Yes, the sound effects are much better and yes, EA has managed to cram in as many statistics and options as possible. Yet why bother devoting so much time to producing a substitute for a game that is already satisfying the thousands of people who bought it in the first place?

Once again it's time to say, in the tradition of John Madden's Football and Bulls Vs. Lakers, that if you don't have the original, get this one. NHLPA Hockey is brilliant. So is EA Hockey. Electronic Arts haven't exactly wasted their time with this, but they could have used the time better by coming up with something we haven't already seen. What would happen if every software house started doing this kind of thing? C'mon, EA!

The violent nature of ice-hockey is hyped up here, with the sampled groans and the graphic sprawling of the hapless sprites. The tacky atmosphere is well preserved with the crowd noise and deliberately awful music.

But don't forget this is a serious game, with a challenging computer opponent, and serious options. To owners of the first, and ace, EA Hockey, I would say keep your cash, since the two are very similar but to anyone uninitiated in puck-related antics - Get!

Graphics 91%
P. Noticeably better than the graphics in EA Hockey, which means a bit smart, supported by faultless introduction and intermission screens.

Sound 89%
P. Nice music, excellent sampled sound effects.
N. Some of the speech is a bit gravelly.

Playability 90%
P. Playable to the extreme, especially with two players. The computer opponent is more intelligent than in the original.
N. Getting use to the inertia is a bit tricky.

Overall 90%
A brilliant hockey simulation that contains everything an avid fan of the sport could wish for and then some. The problem is that EA Hockey does exactly the same job, minus the stats!