Championship Hockey on the Sega Master System is one of those old-school sports games that somehow nails the chaos of real hockey without overcomplicating things. The first thing you’ll notice is how fast it moves—players zip around the ice, checks land with a satisfying crunch, and slapshots actually feel like they have weight behind them.

You pick from a handful of teams (no real NHL licenses here, but you’ll recognize the obvious stand-ins), and the controls are dead simple: pass, shoot, and body-check. No fancy dekes or stick lifts—just pure, arcade-style hockey. The AI isn’t exactly brilliant, but games get surprisingly tense in the third period when you’re up by one goal and the CPU starts throwing everything at your net.

It’s got that classic early '90s vibe—chunky sprites, a shrill buzzer for goals, and crowd noise that sounds like it was recorded in a tin can. If you’ve got nostalgia for this era of sports games, it’s a blast. Just don’t expect deep strategy or realism—this is all about quick matches and last-second goals.