Play Nhl Hockey '96 Online

EA Sports released NHL Hockey '96 for the Game Boy in 1995, a time when having a full sports game in your pocket was still a novelty. It was part of that wave of handheld adaptations that tried to squeeze the essence of a console experience onto the small screen. You got the teams, the players, and the basic structure of ice hockey, all running on that classic gray brick.

You control a team of five skaters and a goalie, switching between them to chase the puck, pass, and shoot. The main goal is simple: score more goals than the computer or a friend via link cable. Signature mechanics include the one-timer shot, where you can fire a pass directly on net, and the ability to check opponents off the puck with a well-timed hit. The game moves at a brisk pace, and the difficulty can spike quickly, making every turnover feel costly. It feels like a scrappy, condensed version of hockey where every possession matters.