NHL 2K9 for Wii Reviews by Gamers

I don't want to hear about the Wii not being able to get good presentation for its games: the hockey games in NHL 2K9 are presented very much like a normal hockey telecast. The commentators are on the spot and there's great reporting from the benches (okay, it tends to repeat, but that's true for many sports games.)
But there's one big problem with the graphics: the crowd is made up of people cut out from cardboard, and they are blurry. Talk about ugly.
The game modes are what you'd expect: Single game, Season play, Team play, play on a frozen over pond, and practice. The lack of on line play is a real turn off. If Madden can get on line play, this game should, too.
The controls take some time (okay a lot of time) to get used to, most notably the defense and face off parts. Even then, passes don't always sail the way I wanted them to go to, causing turnovers. The AI on defense for my team is suspect at best; they tend to let the offensive AI player go right past them too many times. If it wasn't for my goalie, several more goals would've been scored against me.
Scoring goals is hard to do in this game because you can't set up your offense in any way; you're left at the mercy of the AI to get the players not controlling the puck into the right places to get that perfect pass/passes and shot off.
Oddly, the AI doesn't have that problem when it goes on offense against me; it makes crisp passes and great one timers that would've gotten more goals - except my goalie's great.
NHL 2K9 is a great looking game and it's fun to play, but the unbalanced game play makes this a rent, not buy.

Are you guys serious? The controls are the BEST thing about this game! I commend 2Ksports for putting motion controls in this game without having them feel 'tacked on' or like an afterthought. Finally...hockey comes to the Wii!

The face-offs are done well, the 'point & press' passing controls are EXCELLENT and allow you to make fine one-timers and other cool set-up plays. Yes there are many controls to learn, but only if you're lazy or new to the Wii should it be too much for you. If you're a hockey fan, you'll LOVE the control you have over your players. And except for the dive-blocking being on the minus button, it all seems pretty natural. Even the fighting is well-done, making you 'punch' as well as keep your balance.

The presentation is excellent, and the commentary is pretty good too. The sound could be better and so could the graphics, but the game is very fun to play which is what really matters. You can also create a player, run a franchise, and negotiate player salaries and contracts if it suits you.

There's a new 'motion save' goalie control scheme as well, which is okay...but at least gives you the feeling you saved the puck yourself without having to 'cross your fingers' and hope the computer makes the save for you.

The only thing that kills it for me is THE GAME HAS WAY TOO MANY GLITCHES!!! Too many times the game got 'stuck,' making me have to reset. Annoying as H-E-double hockey sticks, but I picked up the game for $17 so I guess I can live with it. It IS the only hockey game in town so far for the Wii.

Great presentation, good commentary, excellent gameplay, and revolutionary controls...the graphics and sound could use some work, but if all you were worried about were graphics and sound you'd get a PS3. This is hockey like you've never played it before...and it's a good first effort. If you HAVE to have a hockey game, it's the only one so far. I'd try to get it for under $30 though. Not hard if you shop here on Gamefly.