NHL 5-on-5 2006

There's no questioning that rugby is a tough game, but we can't help thinking that, even with the namby pamby shoulder and knee padding, ice hockey is up there with it.

Not only do fights break out more regularly than a teenager's facial acne, but they break out among people wearing pointy metal blades on their feet and armed with wooden sticks. And, frankly, we'd rather have a rugby ball smash us in the chops than one of those pucks.

So, considering we're unlikely to ever risk taking part in this particular sport, it makes sense to enjoy it on the relative safety of a mobile phone. (Safe if all those scares about mobiles frying our brain cells turn out to be untrue, anyway).

For a mobile game, NHL 5-on-5 packs a surprising amount in: 30 playable NHL teams complete with an array of player stats, a Season mode, All-Star games and quick Exhibition matches to be exact. The latter will probably be your first port of call, though, as you can quickly play a single game against any team.

Control of your five players is relatively straightforward. As in most sports games, the player nearest to the puck is automatically highlighted with a star, and you can also manually switch between them by hitting '5' on the handset.

The puck itself is tricky to see at times – much like if you were watching the real sport on a microscopic screen. In a scrum of players you sometimes need to hit '0' just to track it down, which will pass the puck if you have it, or check your nearest opponent if you're on the defence.

Once up close enough to the goal, holding '5' brings up a power meter and letting go of it near the top results in a more powerful shot. Positioning is also key to scoring or, if that fails, fouling the goalkeeper.

In keeping with the real sport of ice hockey, there are fouls and fights. In a one-on-one brawl with the opposition, '5' and '0' are used to pull off punches and blocks. Lose and your player may need to take a breather on the bench. The fighting is incidental to the proper action and not very in-depth, but it does add some variety and authenticity, if nothing else.

There's plenty of this authenticity in other areas of the game, as well; NHL 5-on-5 really does have enough lists of numbers to impress the most dedicated of train spotters. At any point during the game you can pause to check on players and team stats on both sides, plus set up particular strategies with chosen players, like defence pairings.

You can examine players shooting skills, stamina levels and aggression, then swap them in and out accordingly. Most of us are going to stick with the defaults and leave a lot of these options on auto, but fiddlers and NHL fans will no doubt find them worthwhile.

The game's difficulty curve is nowhere near as hardcore as the game of ice hockey itself – no one will struggle in the initial days of a season, but later on your opponent's goals really start flying in. Early tactics of simply getting the puck and hot-blading it down the ice to score rightfully stop working as well.

Mastering NHL 5-on-5's different tactics is very rewarding, but the game is not without cracks. For starters, the game never really feels like the brutal, full-on contact sport that it is. The limitations of the format make it tricky, but a few body thud sound effects would help.
Instead, sound effects are limited to a crowd cheer when you score and the ref's whistle.

Player movement feels a little sluggish, too. Using either the keys or thumbstick, steering players to the puck can be hit or miss. Admittedly, they're on ice so it's a bit slidey out there, but this doesn't fully excuse the lack of responsiveness.

You soon adjust to compensate for these issues, though, and once you have there's plenty to enjoy in the game. The opposing AI uses varying tactics to keep you on your toasty warm toes, and matches can be tactical and closely fought. With all the penalty shoot-outs, heavily padded punch-ups and even opportunities to play team coach, this is up there with the best mobile sports games.