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Blades of Steel vs. Nintendo Ice Hockey, 30 years later

This year marks the 25th anniversary of EA Sports' "NHL 94," which is considered the greatest 16-bit hockey video game by everyone who apparently never got around to playing "NHL 95."

"NHL 94" is the game that featured real players and real teams. It's the game whose simplicity made it attractive to non-believers and whose deke-tastic attention to detail made puckheads swoon. It's a game that still has a passionate following today, as evidenced by the popularity of the annual "King of 94" tournament.

It's an anniversary that has inspired long reads and oral histories, and one that has Jeremy Roenick once again answering more questions about his place in video game history than his actual career, quietly cursing the day Jon Favreau decided to have him make Gretzky's head bleed in the script for "Swingers.