Rock the Rink: Roller-derby attitude on ice

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April 3, 2000
Web posted at: 8:31 a.m. EDT (1231 GMT)

by D-Pad Destroyer

(IDG) -- With the success of arcade-style sports games, it was only a matter of time before someone released an all-out bare-knuckle hockey brawl to the tune of NFL Blitz. EA's Rock the Rink is a bodycheck in the right direction, but a handful of cons threaten to outweigh the pros.

A hockey game broke out

Rock the Rink is a 3-on-3-plus-goalies score-fest, in which you simply try to get the puck into the opposing goal more times than the opponent puts it in yours. There are no offsides penalties; in fact, there are no penalties whatsoever, and you can cross-check and bodyslam your opponents as you see fit. With two different player types (huge goons and speedy finesse players), you can mix and match lines to aim toward fast offense or bruising defense. With all sorts of crazy, over-the-top moves, you can perform suplexes on opposing forwards or plaster the puck to the goalie's facemask. Perform enough passes, mad shots, or bonecrushing hits, and you'll enter Bonus mode, making you faster, more accurate, and more powerful

RtR brings roller-derby attitude to the ice. The rinks look like backyard hockey arenas rather than huge professional domes. You might play in an airport hangar or on a frozen lake, against teams like the Demons, the Sting, or the Psycho-Delics, each with their own theme, home announcer and rink design. And if the eight fictional teams don't suit your fancy, you can enter the NHL challenge and take on the pros; each NHL team you beat unlocks that team in every other mode in the game. With equipment upgrades, tons of hidden secrets, and an 8-man tournament mode, Rock the Rink is positioned to score.

Swing, goalie-goalie, sa-wing goalie!

Hockey games (at least the good ones) are famous for smooth controls and easy passing, and RtR is right up there with NHL2000 in this regard. Passing is a matter of aiming toward the receiver and pressing X. Using the analog stick, it's a little difficult to position your player to take the puck, but with practice your stick'll be like Velcro. There are way too many garbage goals and cheap wins, but with time you'll learn how to make garbage goals yourself.

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RtR's announcing is laugh-out-loud funny at times, and a bit repetitive at others, but it's still a cornerstone of RtR's awesome soundtrack. Bruising generic hardcore music pumps as you play, only interrupted by the voices of the play-by-play announcer (who seems biased toward whichever team is playing at Home) and the PA announcer, who, rather than announcing the game, says things like, "This is one bandwagon I could ride for a long time." Sounds of bumps, bruises, sharp shots, and bloody grunts of pain round out RtR's awesome sound package.

After the stellar performance of RtR's sound, the graphics are a bit disappointing, simply because the characters are so blocky and low-res. Everything looks fine as you play, but get any closer to the rink and you'll see blocky, almost robotic characters and animation that looks like a 10-year-old's best effort. Still, considering how close the camera is to the ice in-game, the action flows exceptionally well. Here's hoping for a RtR 2001 on PS2.

Garbage goal

It may not be pretty, but it gets the job done. Rock the Rink is a fast and nasty hockey slam that should satisfy gamers who just want to hit and score. Simply put, Rock the Rink rocks.

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