Opening Blades of Steel on that long-ago Christmas morning, I was taken aback. I didn't care for hockey, I wasn't into sports, and it seemed so random. The next game I opened was Taboo, in fact, leading me to believe that my Grandmother selected games by going to Toys R Us, slamming a martini, and then throwing a dart.

Blades of Steel wasn't a hockey game as much as it was a theater of everything awesome about the NES. It was a cart that said its name when you turned it on. "Blades... of STEEL!" It didn't take crap from anyone. In a time before the difference between the arcade and simulation wasn't as important, Blades of Steel fell into a new category: badass.

Penalties are for losers

The game featured eight teams: four from the US, and four from Canada. It didn't make a lick of difference which one you picked, other than the color of the uniform. Each team had five players; you had to jam on the button during the face-off and pass to the player either above or below you, and then it was on. You had one button to pass, one to shoot, and that's all you needed. As the puck careened towards the goalie, you took control of that character to attempt to block the shot. It was a rush of a game, simple and brutal.

Outside of the actual voice announcing a few key moments such as face-offs and "hitting the puck," the game was filled with other genius touches that may not be true to the game of hockey, but they taught you about life. You could pick a fight at any time by hitting another player three times without touching anyone else, and then the camera zoomed in, the gloves came off, and you were brawling. You could throw a high or low punch, or block your opponent's blows. Here's where it got wonderful: the only person to suffer a two-minute penalty was the loser. Pick a fight, wipe the floor with your opponent, and you're in the middle of a power play. This game would not put up with the weak; it was Darwinism with sticks and fists.

Blam! Contra

During the second intermission, you could sometimes play a mini-game based on Gradius, which turned into an advertisement for other Konami games. "Blam! Contra. Blam! Jakal. What an exciting game. Fantastic Graphics. Awesome Music. ALL YOUR FRIENDS WILL WANT IT." Placing a playable commercial for games inside another game? A shooter in a sports game that tells how much your friends will be jealous of the other Konami games you own? Absolutely genius.

Blades of Steel was simple without being easy, and it was the magical game you played while growing up that could both cause and solve major fights. Many major life decisions were solved by games of Blades of Steel, and this compulsion only grew deeper as we grew older. It passes the bar test, as well. The next time you head into the pub, do yourself a favor and yell "Blades..." and then wait a moment. If you don't hear "OF STEEL!" screamed back at you, it's imperative that you turn around and find a better place to drink.

The penalty shots were another highlight. The camera moved behind the player, and you had to aim around the goalie, who had one chance to block the shot. Watching the puck go one way while the goalie committed to blocking in the wrong direction was always great, and even better was getting into your opponent's head during shoot-outs. "Okay, I promise this time.. I'm going high left." It felt like a game of rock-scissors-paper that all too often ended in real black eyes. Growing up, we fought if someone talked about our families or if someone insulted our Blades of Steel skills.

Often imitated, never matched, this is the best hockey game ever created. It was brought to the Virtual Console in 2007 and it felt like a victory lap. I played it again for an hour before writing this, and there are no rose-tinted glasses at play: it's still one of purest sports games available. So what if the only other penalty is for icing? So what if the players look like faceless monsters when fighting? This is hockey—are you going to play or are you going to whine about it?

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