Play Hit the Ice - VHL the Video Hockey League (Proto) Online

Hit the Ice: VHL the Video Hockey League was a 1990 release on the Nintendo Entertainment System from publisher Taito. It arrived during a period when sports games were beginning to embrace a more arcade-like, exaggerated style rather than strict simulation, fitting right in with the NES library's growing diversity.

You control a team of hockey players, skating up and down the ice in a side view, trying to score more goals than the opponent. The game's signature mechanics include a turbo button for bursts of speed and the ability to body check opponents with such force that they fly across the screen and slam into the boards. The pace is frantic, the checking is constant, and the puck moves almost too fast to track at times. It feels like playing hockey inside a pinball machine.