Play NHL '97 Online
Blocky polygonal players with slick motion-captured moves—you’ll pull off breakaways and check opponents into the boards while that sweet ‘90s organ music pumps in the background. And yeah, you can totally waste time just flipping through goalie masks.
NHL '97 on SNES is one of those late-era sports games where you can tell EA was squeezing every last drop out of the hardware. The players are polygonal now—kind of blocky by today’s standards, but back then, seeing them move with those motion-captured animations felt next-level. The camera angles got a nice upgrade too, including that classic top-down view that was weirdly missing from NHL '96.
You’ve got all the usual franchise stuff—create-a-player, trades, multiplayer for up to 8 people (if you had that weird Gravis GrIP setup). But the real charm is in the little details, like the Goalie Mask Viewer where you can just… stare at 30 wildly painted helmets. It’s pure '90s EA sports flair.
If you’ve got nostalgia for this era of hockey games, it’s still a solid time—just don’t expect modern physics or anything.
Download NHL '97 ROM
You can download this ROM to play NHL '97 offline using an Super Nintendo (SNES) emulator (Top Emulators).
*This ROM is provided for backup and educational purposes only.
