NHL 97

NHL 97
Cover art featuring John Vanbiesbrouck
Developer(s)High Score Productions (Genesis)
Ceris Software (SNES)
EA Canada (PC)
Visual Concepts (PS, Saturn)
Publisher(s)EA Sports
Black Pearl Software (SNES)
Composer(s)Mark Chosak
David Whittaker (Genesis)
Jeff van Dyck (Windows)
SeriesNHL series
EngineVirtual Stadium
Platform(s)PlayStation
PC (DOS/Windows)
SNES
Mega Drive/Genesis
Saturn
ReleaseGenesis
PC
  • NA: September 27, 1996[2]
PlayStation
  • NA: November 11, 1996[3]
  • EU: November 1996
Saturn
SNES
  • NA: 1996
  • EU: November 28, 1996
Genre(s)Sports - Ice Hockey Sim
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

NHL 97 is an ice hockey video game by EA Sports. It was released in 1996 and was the successor to NHL 96. It is the sixth installment of the NHL series and the first to be released on both PlayStation and Saturn. A Panasonic M2 version was in development and slated to be one of the launch titles for it, but never happened due to the cancellation of the system.[6][7]

The cover of the game features goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, who played for the Florida Panthers between 1993–98. NHL 97 was the last game of the NHL series to feature a goaltender on the cover until Martin Brodeur was chosen for the cover of NHL 14.

  1. ^ "Electronic Arts - News Room, EA Ships NHL 97 for the PC". Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  2. ^ "Online Gaming Review". 1997-02-27. Archived from the original on 1997-02-27. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  3. ^ "Electronic Arts - News Room, Electronic Arts Ships NHL 97 for the PlayStation". Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  4. ^ Lomas, Ed (January 1997). "Checkpoint - Christmas Events and Software Releases". Computer and Video Games. No. 182. Future Publishing. p. 53.
  5. ^ "Press release: 1996-12-04: Electronic Arts Ships NHL 97 for the Sega Saturn". Sega Retro. 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  6. ^ "Cutting Edge - 3DO buoyant as M2 picks up speed". Edge. No. 23. Future Publishing. September 1995. pp. 6–7.
  7. ^ "News - E3 '96: 3DO? - M2 Dream List". 3DO Magazine. No. 12. Paragon Publishing. July 1996. p. 4.