3 on 3 NHL Arcade (PS3)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: February 2009
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Genre: Sports
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Sports

In recent years, arcade sports games have had to live up to their console game price tags. And with that cost comes the tendency to over-complicate; the simplicity that made NFL Blitz and NBA Jam such successes has given way to overpriced muddles like  Blitz: The League . Enter the addictive and recession-friendly priced ($10)  3 on 3 NHL Arcade , EA Sports' first foray into fully downloadable titles on XBLA and PSN. For less than the cost of a ticket to the ill-rated Friday the 13th remake, you'll snare a habit-forming hockey title that leaps into instant-classic territory alongside NHL Hitz Pro (released way back in 2003) as the best arcade puck money can find.

Naysayers will condemn 3 on 3 NHL Arcade for its lack of content, but they're missing the point. True, the single-player game is shallow (you can tweak a few options, but there's no depth beyond one-off matches), and, true, the lack of NHL teams is disappointing (you select your lineup from a list of the NHL's 36 best players, but don't expect to play with the New York Rangers). Also true, the game doesn't save your favorite lineup or camera angle of choice. But my answer to all of these complaints is: $10!

While there's room for criticism off the ice, on it, 3 on 3 NHL Arcade is special. Co-opting NHL 09's intuitive skill stick controls -- though beginners can elect to use button presses -- the game is lightning fast, seamless, and appropriately cartoony. Á la Ice Hockey for NES, team selection takes strategy, as fast skill players are fantastic for scoring, but easy to knock around by all-around or strong types. And hitting is key, as laying a player out will earn one of eight different power-ups, from downsizing your opponent's goalie to freeze-tagging one of their players for a period of time. For the most part, the play-balance is excellent, but there are two points of controller-throwing frustration that will arise. First, there should be more consideration as to when certain power-ups are given. If I'm being drilled 7-1, it stinks to have my goalie shrunk down again, and again, and again -- give me a fighting chance, or at least a brief respite, by throwing a banana peel on the ice, or giving my opponent a super shot/super speed instead. Second, after giving up a goal, the puck drops behind your net, and it's frustratingly easy to get run over time and again by the opposition, who will steal the puck and net an extra goal or two, or, nightmarishly, on occasion, three.