| Wayne Gretzky Hockey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Bethesda Softworks [1] |
| Publisher(s) | Bethesda Softworks Toy Headquarters (NES) |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Mac OS, Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Sports (ice hockey) |
| Mode(s) | One player, two players |
| ||
|---|---|---|
Former professional ice hockey player Awards | ||
Wayne Gretzky Hockey is an ice hockey-themed sports game developed by Bethesda Softworks, and first published in 1988.
The game features the name and likeness of Canadian professional ice hockey centre Wayne Gretzky.
Bethesda Softworks published Wayne Gretzky Hockey shortly after Peter Pocklington traded Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988.
Bethesda Softworks followed the game with two sequels: Wayne Gretzky Hockey 2 (1990) and Wayne Gretzky Hockey 3 (1992).
Sales of Wayne Gretzky Hockey reached 350,000 units by 1995, which "put Bethesda Softworks on the gaming map", according to PC Gamer US . [4] [2] [5]
In the April 1989 edition of Computer Gaming World , Johnny Wilson gave an "unhesitating recommendation" of the game "to anyone who enjoys hockey". [6]
In the January 1990 edition of Games International (Issue 12), Mike Siggins found the arcade version of the game uninspiring, and the strategy game only a bit better. He concluded by giving the game 3 out of 5 for game play and 4 out of 5 for graphics, saying, "It is among the best hockey games around but sadly, given the earlier efforts in this field, that is not saying much [...] It is neither a good arcade game or stats based game, while it attempts to do both." [7]
In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Wayne Gretzky Hockey the 111th-best computer game ever released. [8] The Amiga version of the game was voted “Best Sports Simulation of the Year’ by members of the Software Publishers Association. [9]
Wayne Douglas Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest ice hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, The Hockey News, and the NHL itself, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading career goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and has more career assists than any other player has total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 15 professional seasons, 13 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.
Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited. In 1999, it became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its first 15 years, it was a video game developer and self-published its titles. In 2001, Bethesda spun off its in-house development team into Bethesda Game Studios, leaving Bethesda Softworks to focus on publishing operations.
Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey is a video game developed and published by Atari Games for the arcade in 1996. A port for the Nintendo 64 console was released almost simultaneously with the arcade version, on November 15, 1996, making it the first-ever 4-player game for the Nintendo 64, beating Mario Kart's Japanese release by more than a month. The game was followed by a sequel, Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98.
James Charles Carson is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League with five different teams. In 1988, he became only the second teenager in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season; the first was Wayne Gretzky.
Earl Weaver Baseball is a baseball video game (1987) designed by Don Daglow and Eddie Dombrower and published by Electronic Arts. The artificial intelligence for the computer manager was provided by Baseball Hall of Fame member Earl Weaver, then manager of the Baltimore Orioles, based on a lengthy series of interviews. EWB was a major hit, and along with John Madden Football helped pave the way for the EA Sports brand, which launched in 1992. A Sega Genesis version was planned but cancelled.
Todd Andrew Howard is an American video game designer, director, and producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series.
Wayne Gretzky Hockey NHLPA All-Stars is a Super NES and Genesis/Mega Drive hockey video game that features Wayne Gretzky and other NHLPA players.
NHL Open Ice: 2 on 2 Challenge, or just NHL Open Ice, is an ice hockey arcade game released by Midway Games in 1995. It features comically exaggerated hockey play, causing it to often be described as an ice hockey equivalent to Midway's NBA Jam.
Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98 is an ice hockey game for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation, released in 1997. The game is endorsed by hockey star Wayne Gretzky, and is the sequel to Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey.
John Madden Football is a football video game originally released for the Apple II, in 1988 following the success of Earl Weaver Baseball. It was later ported to MS-DOS and the Commodore 64. It was followed by the 1990 Sega Genesis video game of same name, and went on to become the yearly Madden NFL game series. It is sometimes called Madden '88 or Madden '89 to distinguish it from later games in the series.
The Terminator 2029 is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is based on the Terminator film series, and was released in 1992 for DOS. It is Bethesda's second Terminator game following The Terminator (1991).
Escape from Singe's Castle, also known as Dragon's Lair Part II - Escape From Singe's Castle, is a 1987 video game from Software Projects. The game is sometimes referred to as Dragon's Lair II, but is not the official arcade sequel Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp.
Gridiron! is a football game by Bethesda Softworks.
Wayne Gretzky Hockey 3 is a 1992 ice hockey-themed sports game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks.
Wayne Gretzky Hockey 2 is a 1990 ice hockey-themed sports game from Bethesda Softworks. The game is a sequel to the 1988 Wayne Gretzky Hockey.
Hockey League Simulator 2 (HLS2) is a 1992 ice hockey-themed sports game from Bethesda Softworks. The game is fully compatible with Wayne Gretzky Hockey 3.
