Yeah, this is old, but I just want to point out a fun little tidbit.
"Hockey", as described in the manual, is ridiculously ill-concieved.
See, the idea is that for a goal to count, you must be on your opponent's part of the field when making the shot. As you start off on your own field, you can't possibly score this way. If you hit the goal, you will simply start another face-off at the center. If you miss it, however, the face-off will be held elsewhere - hit the puck off the side of the screen, and it will be held on your side of the field, giving your opponent a chance to actually score a goal that counts. Hit it off the top or bottom, and it's an offside, making the face-off at the point closest to where it went off - which should be near your opponents goal. So, if you win the puck during the faceoff, you don't actually want to score, but instead send the puck offside and get a new faceoff you can actually score from.
And there's more - if you hit the puck offside, then send it back onto the field (essentially, sending it over the top/bottom, then straight back again) a goal counts no matter what.
The game essentially revolves around trying to get the puck offside on your opponents side, or even better, send it offside, then back "onside", in which case you can score. If you didn't get the puck, it's thus in your best interest to zoom towards the goal, ready to defend it in case your opponent does that weird offside-onside shot. Since both players must react quick, and you don't have to touch the puck more than once to do this, this means that, at playoff, both players zoom to their respective goals, while turning the English knob in case they're the one to control the puck. In other words, it's a hockey game with two players who both speed to their goals while the magic puck flies around on the field on it's own, trying to fly offscreen, then onscreen and into the goal.
Yeah, this is old, but I just want to point out a fun little tidbit.
"Hockey", as described in the manual, is ridiculously ill-concieved.
See, the idea is that for a goal to count, you must be on your opponent's part of the field when making the shot. As you start off on your own field, you can't possibly score this way. If you hit the goal, you will simply start another face-off at the center. If you miss it, however, the face-off will be held elsewhere - hit the puck off the side of the screen, and it will be held on your side of the field, giving your opponent a chance to actually score a goal that counts. Hit it off the top or bottom, and it's an offside, making the face-off at the point closest to where it went off - which should be near your opponents goal. So, if you win the puck during the faceoff, you don't actually want to score, but instead send the puck offside and get a new faceoff you can actually score from.
And there's more - if you hit the puck offside, then send it back onto the field (essentially, sending it over the top/bottom, then straight back again) a goal counts no matter what.
The game essentially revolves around trying to get the puck offside on your opponents side, or even better, send it offside, then back "onside", in which case you can score. If you didn't get the puck, it's thus in your best interest to zoom towards the goal, ready to defend it in case your opponent does that weird offside-onside shot. Since both players must react quick, and you don't have to touch the puck more than once to do this, this means that, at playoff, both players zoom to their respective goals, while turning the English knob in case they're the one to control the puck. In other words, it's a hockey game with two players who both speed to their goals while the magic puck flies around on the field on it's own, trying to fly offscreen, then onscreen and into the goal.
...who WROTE these rules?