Actua Ice Hockey 2 - The Worst Hockey Game Ever - The RETROspective

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Unsilent - RetroGaming Let's Plays

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Published on December 25, 2020 2:00:04 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JABwLdTiD8o

Game:

Actua Ice Hockey (1998)

Duration: 19:22

1,109 views

16

Every year, fans and critics alike will always tear apart the latest entry from EA's NHL series. While the most recent entry, NHL 21, has respectable critics' scores in the mid-70s, user scores are in the 2/10 range. But did you ever hear the tragedy of Actua Sports? I thought not. It's not a story that EA NHL fans would tell you.

Actua Ice Hockey 2 is a game so bad that I couldn't cover everything wrong with it in a normal let's play video. This year's Christmas special takes the form of another edition of The RETROspective. I take a look back at the history of Actua Ice Hockey 2's development, the rise of the Actua Sports brand and what this game omits that its competition (that beat Actua to market by six months) had and did better.

So it's that time of year again. Time to gather around the fire, illuminate the tree and watch more of the weird, wacky and woeful of video games for Christmas.

If you liked the video, please like, share and subscribe. It really helps the channel out. New videos go up every Monday through Friday at noon.

For more looks at classic hockey games, check out the Retro Hockey playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll2HC6k6iY0&list=PLwuFhzhNrSdNI1PpJjjN_jSwgB1csgtBQ

I do regular videos about the classics and not-so-classics of video games in my Monthly Specials series, of which The RETROspective is a part:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP85FGxafU8&list=PLwuFhzhNrSdMvBeH4xsAeIit18IbnbR5d

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The footage and music used in this review is the copyright of their respective copyright holders. Said footage is included for the purposes of commentary, criticism and/or education as allowed under the Fair Use doctrine of the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107. It is also used under the Fair Dealing doctrine of the Canadian Copyright Act for the purposes of education, criticism and review. No copyright infringement is intended per the noted Copyright Acts and their Fair Use/Dealing doctrines.

Video game footage featured:
Actua Ice Hockey 2 (Gremlin Interactive), Blades of Steel (Konami), Great Ice Hockey (Sega), Fox Sports Golf '99 / Actua Golf 2 (Gremlin Interactive / Fox Interactive), NHL 99 (EA) NHL 21 (EA), NHL Championship 2000 (Fox Interactive), NHL FaceOff 99 (Sony), NHLPA Hockey '93 (EA), Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (Sega)

Video footage sources:
Connor McDavid (Twitter), EA Sports, Fox Interactive, Fox Sports, Gremlin Interactive, KHL, LucasFilm, Molson Coors Beverage Company, QMJHL, Sky Sports

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:37 History of Actua Sports
3:03 Becoming an unlicensed FOX Sports and NHL game
5:00 Visuals and animations
7:33 Gameplay
11:01 Audio and commentary
12:56 Presentation problems
15:15 Comparison to NHL 99 and NHL Faceoff 99
16:16 Arcade mode
17:14 Critical reception
17:57 Gremlin Interactive after Actua Ice Hockey 2
18:38 Outro

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