NHL Pro Hockey '94
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into NHL '94. (Discuss) |
| NHL Pro Hockey '94 | |
|---|---|
 Japanese title screen |
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| Developer(s) | EA Canada |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts Victor |
| Designer(s) | Michael Brook |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom |
| Release date | JP April 8, 1994 NA March 15, 1993 as NHL '94 EU March 31, 1994 as NHL '94 |
| Genre(s) | Sports (professional ice hockey) |
| Mode(s) | Single Player or Multiplayer (up to 4 players) |
| Rating(s) | NR (not rated) |
| Media | 6-megabit Cartridge |
| Input methods | Super Famicom controller(s); multitap |
NHL Pro Hockey '94 (NHLプロホッケー'94?) is the Japanese version of NHL '94. It is available for the Super Famicom. The names of the players are written in Japanese although the game plays exactly the same as the North American version. The controls are exactly the same and the stimulating local organ music is identical to the North American release. The player can play in exhibition (NHL pre-season) mode, NHL playoff mode, or in shootout mode. NHL Pro Hockey '94 is unique that no games with the NHL license were made before it specifically for Japan and no other game in the NHL series after that was made for an exclusively Japanese audience to play in their vernacular.
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[edit] Inspiration
Starting in the early 1990s, Japanese children began watching the 18-hour tape delayed games on television that were dubbed into Japanese. These Japanese children eventually started hearing about National Hockey League games that were being released exclusively in North America. Since Japanese children do not learn the English language until after their elementary school years, most of the English text is replaced by Japanese. The National Hockey League and minor hockey in Japan were starting to gain in collective popularity with Japanese youth around the release of this game on April 8, 1994.
Just prior to the game's release, the National Hockey League was beginning to blossom on an international scale. Sweden, Germany, and Finland were already established hockey bastions outside of North America. Japan wanted to adopt hockey as a spectator sport along with baseball, soccer, and sumo wrestling for years without any practical success and was one of the last major international markets that the NHL didn't have a foothold in.
While hockey games were released prior to NHL Pro Hockey 94 for either the Super Famicom or the Famicomm, they were either unlicensed or dealt with Olympic-style ice hockey. The passion of watching professional ice hockey games was beginning to become more than a spectator sport for Japanese adults in sports bars and the effects could be felt along all demographic lines from Kindergarten students to senior citizens. NHL Pro Hockey '94 was released just one year after the North American release and all the player, team, and city names had to be translated into Japanese in order for younger players to understand.
[edit] Similarities and limitations
Thanks to the influence of this game, Japan has seen its young citizens participating in all aspects of ice hockey from the regional leagues to international competition and even select games in the National Hockey League. In fact, the most notable non-fictional Japanese player to play professional ice hockey is Yutaka Fukufuji (who was 12 years old when the game was released). Despite the fact that Japanese games were less censored than their North American cousins, blood is considered to be absent in NHL Pro Hockey '94. There is no fighting in the game and the ability to create teams and players is considered to be absent due to the limitation in memory technology.
The features are identical to the North American version making it impossible to start fights or to create expansion teams based in any of the major Japanese cities. Although the password system only shows letters of the Latin alphabet and numbers, Japanese literacy is recommended to enjoy the game to its full potential. There is also a celebration screen that appears after winning the Stanley Cup finals that doesn't appear in the North American version due to memory constraints. It shows the letters "YOU WIN" in English, then follows up with an animated Stanley Cup that shoots confetti, followed by a brief message in Japanese.
[edit] Gallery
 This is the main menu of the Super Famicom game NHL Pro Hockey '94. The viewer should notice that most of the main menu is in Japanese rather than English. |
 The post-game menu is also mostly in Japanese, as seen above. This method was used in order for younger players to understand the options. |
 A Stanley Cup victory screen is shown to the Los Angeles Kings. This feature is exclusive to the Japanese version of the game. |
 The victory message of the shootout is in Japanese instead of English so that younger players can better understand the names of the cities. |
