NHL 99 for Nintendo 64 - GENERAL FAQ v1.25
Latest Version - June 26, 2000

BY: KeithKosh
[email protected]

_______
UPDATES

July 2 - I added a lot more cheats/glitches, and a few more gameplay
tips. And I also fixed up the credits section a little bit.
Thanks to GameFAQs for putting up my FAQ, and also to the other places
that wanted to put it up. =)

June 26 - The FAQ finally hits it big time. Version 1 is finished, and we
have a fully working FAQ here, people. Now hopefully GameFAQs will put it
up. :) Please submit contributions, all you NHL 99 owners!

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SECTIONS

1. About - So what's the point of this FAQ?
2. Review - What do I think of this game?
3. Controls - So which buttons do what?
4. Gameplay/Strategy - So how do you play this game?
5. Cheats/Glitches - So how can I make this game more interesting?
6. Credits - So who made this FAQ again?

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1. ABOUT

NHL 99 is a very realistic and fun-to-play hockey title for the N64.
Although it's a bit outdated, there frankly aren't that many other titles to
choose from. The more you play NHL 99, the more you'll like it. This FAQ
should answer a lot of your questions about the game and if you have
anything you'd like to contribute, please email me at [email protected].

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2. REVIEW

GRAPHICS
The graphics in NHL 99 are fairly well done. There has been a lot of raving
about how spectacular they are, but I don't see them that spectactular. They
are pretty solid. The little touches, like the ice degrading during the
period, and the players kicking around the puck after the whistle, are nice.
However there are a lot of areas where the graphics are ...well, strange.
For example, they are 3D, but in a way, they fall short. Many times when you
rotate around a player, certain parts all of a sudden appear, like for
example an arm appearing before you even rotated around to that side. And
just watch the replay of a player climbing over the boards - he kind of
goes through it, then all of a sudden he's behind it. Other downsides are
that all the arenas practically look the same (except for maybe Colorado's,
because they have no scoreboard, and Washington's, because they have a
really strange scoreboard), all the players have the SAME face texture, and
the ref looks really, really horrible. You don't notice most of this though
when you're playing, from a zoomed out view, so it doesn't matter all that
much.
Total - 7/10

SOUND
The sound falls short a lot. Especially since this is a cartridge, which
means there isn't much room for sound. And you get very little. The crowd
reacts well to breakaways, the opposing team scoring, and your team not
getting the puck out of your own zone. But they can be absolutely livid
after the home team scores, and die down in about 30 seconds to the same low
pictched mumble. The sound effects, i.e. slapshots, sticks, glass
shattering, are pretty exaggerated, and sound more cartoony then real. It's
not bad though. The bad part is the play by play, or lack there of. Bill
Clement says about 10 things in the whole game. Well, maybe a bit more. But
there is a total lack of any real commentry. He says "what a save" once in a
while, "offside" once in a while, "he's in all alone" once in a while, "he
CRUSHES him" once in a while, and a few other phrases. And he's horribly
innacurate - I was coming out of my own zone once with the puck, when Bill
said "There's a 2 on 1!" Hm...
Total - 5/10

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is very addictive. You can't really get away from this game
a whole lot, at least I can't. One-timers, faked shots, cannon shots,
goalies stacking the pads, all the hockey action is there. There's a LOT of
hits, and hooking. Fights break out occasionally, nets come off their
moorings occasionally. And the scoring can be high, but never really high
(if you are in All-Star mode). All-Star mode provides a very good challenge
without being too difficult. The goalies can be beat every so often, but
they are a real challenge. In this, I appaud EA Sports.
Total - 9/10

CONTROLS
The controls are well set up, with a couple of buttons being out of reach
a bit (block shot, etc.) but they can be redone. The defensive/offensive
strategy menus may be a bit too accessible, but maybe I'm just annoyed
because I never use them. Otherwise, the controls are great. The only real
problem is shooting, novice players will get frustrated with this. Because
half the time your player doesn't shoot right away when you press B, because
he's being held. This happens a lot. You will get used to it, but it's sort
of annoying how you can never get the shot away a lot of times. Oh well.
Total - 8/10

TOTAL
The little touches are nice, but there could be a lot more too. There's a
lot of stuff missing from the same version for Playstation or PC, so don't
expect the same game. Overall, this is a very good game once you get past
the few flaws. You'll like it, especially if you're a hockey fan.

NHL 99 TOTAL - 7.25/10

___________
3. CONTROLS

Here's a comprehensive list of controls and what they do.
This is assuming you have default controls on.

PLAYER WITH THE PUCK

Control Pad or Analog - Move your player. Pretty simple.

B button - Shoot the puck. If you hold it down, your player will wind up
for a slapshot, or draw it back for a wristshot. The longer you hold it
down, the more power into the shot. Tap it for a quick shot. Use the
control pad/analog to aim your shot.

A button - Pass the puck. Use the analog/control pad to direct it to a
certain player. Also, if you tap B right after you let go of A, your player
will fake the shot. And...if, when you pass to another player and before he
gets the puck, you press B, the player getting the puck will one-time it.
You can hit B anytime after you pass it, as long as it's before the player
recieves it.

C-down - Speed burst. You can HOLD THIS BUTTON DOWN to keep your player
accelerating. I'm glad I found this out...it's a lot easier to hold it down
then tapping it.

C-up - If manual line changes are on, this will bring up the line change
menu. Then just hit the corresponding C button to change your team's lines.
Note: If you change the goalie in the middle of the game, then change your
lines, beware! The goalie wil leave his net and go change with the players!

C-left - Offensive Strategy menu. I don't even bother with this, because
do you really need to change your strategy for scoring goals right in the
middle of a game? It's up to you, I guess...

C-right - Defensive Strategy menu. I don't bother with this either...

L or Z button - Spin-O-Rama. Pretty pointless. Basically, your player will
just do a 360. Since this isn't figure skating, it's not very useful. If
another player barely touches yours while he's doing the 360, he won't
finish it. You can do it in the offensive zone, and the player will finish
by shooting the puck automatically. It seems you never score any goals that
way, though.

R button - None.

PLAYER WITHOUT THE PUCK

Control Pad or Analog - Same as above.

B button - Hook. The computers use this button all the time. I actually
avoid it, and stick with using C-down. However, sometimes it's useful, but
not very often.

A button - Switch player. Just keep hitting A until the player you want to
control is selected. Don't forget it one of your players touches the puck,
no matter who, you will automically switch to that player.

C-down - I'm going to say Speed Burst again, although the book says "Body
check." It's not a body check. You hold it down and, just like when you
have the puck, you gain speed. Of course, you can also body check with it,
but it's still basically a speed burst.

C-up/left/right - Same as above.

L button - Block shot. The computers do this automatically, often with
players that you are controlling. It's not that valuable, as you go down to
block the shot for all of .5 of a second, and then get back up. It's easier
to just try and steal the puck from whoever has it with C-down, then to try
and block his shot.

Z button - Change skating direction 180 degrees. In other words, skate
backwards. Or if you're already skating backwards, skate forwards. This is
mainly for defensive players. You do skate a lot slower with it on, and as
soon as you get the puck you will face forwards again.

R button - Switch to goaltender. You can't when you have the puck, so
that's why it's shown here. You can only switch to your goaltender when you
have Goalie: Manual on. I find it useful for retrieving pucks behind the
net. But I leave the saves to the computer.

GOALTENDER

Control Pad or Analog - Same as above.

B button - Make a save (when you don't have the puck), or flip pass (when
you do have the puck). Trust me, leave the saves to the computer. When your
goalie saves it however, you can pass it off most of the time. Passing is
just the same as with a player.

A button - Pass. Yes, it's pretty much the same thing as B.

C-down - Cover up. There's no point to this, since once you have control of
the puck as a goalie, nobody can take it from you. Period. If you want to
hold it for a faceoff, just stand there.

Z button - The biggest joke in NHL 99. A spin-o-rama. And remember, this is
a goalie. Yes, you heard right. There is ABSOLUTELY no point to this. None
at all.

FIGHTING

Control Pad or Analog - Left/right moves you left/right, up doesn't do
anything, and down ducks.

B button - Throw a hook.

A button - Throw a jab.

C-down - Grab jersey/Break away. To grab a jersey, move toward the other
player and press and HOLD C-down. You will grab him, sort of, although the
graphics don't show this well, and then you can use the basic punches. If
you're in a grab and want to get out, just press and hold C-down and
control pad/analog away from the other player.

Z button - Throw a haymaker.

____________________
4. GAMEPLAY/STRATEGY

Here are my tips for the different elements of the game.

Scoring - Use speed burst a lot.
       - One easy way, have your player come in the zone on one side, now
         turn him sharply until he's going parallel to the net, and press
         and hold B. The goalie will kinda freeze on the one side of the
         net - once you get to the other side, let go of B. Goal.
       - One timers from behind the net to a person out in front work VERY
         well, especially on the powerplay.
       - Don't bother with huge cannon shots. You'll never get them away,
         and even if you do, the goalies never have any trouble with them.
       - In fact, one-time a lot. Half of them will miss the net, but they
         can be suprisingly effective on 2 on 1's, and the like.
       - One-timers that change height in midair fool the goalie almost
         every time. To do one, just one-time to a player who is really
         close to your player. As long as the pass to him doesn't touch
         the ice before he one-times it, it will sort of "dive" on its way
         to the net. Almost all of these go in.
       - You want a cheap way to score? Get a faceoff in the offensive
         zone. Aim it toward the guy in the centre (right winger if faceoff
         is on the left, left winger if faceoff is on the right). Win it,
         and rapidly press B. The player in the centre should one-time it,
         or shoot it almost right after he gets it. About 8 out of 10
         times, it will go in. Almost guaranteed. Half the time it's top
         corner, half the time it's medium height, off the other side of
         the net. It's really cheap, I don't even like using it any more!
       - Faking the shot can freeze goalies. A way to score using this is
         to come in from the left or right wing, preferably on a breakaway.
         Now go towards the net, gain some speed, and hold down B to get
         ready to shoot. Wait about a second (until you are just past the
         middle of the faceoff circle), then quickly fake it with A, move
         your player towards the middle of the ice, and quickly shoot it.
         In one game, I got 10 goals using this method. (So it does work!)

Faceoffs - Only one tip. The easiest and almost flawless way to win faceoffs
          is: wait for the ref to drop the puck. Don't press any buttons.
          Keep the player looking up, not bending down to take the faceoff
          like usual. As soon as the ref starts to drop the puck, press A.
          I haven't had this method fail yet, as long as the timing is
          correct it will work. Everytime.

Defense - Use speed burst a lot.
       - Attack the puckhandler. Usually they aren't that smart and you can
         easily get it away from them.
       - Have GOALIE: MANUAL set on, every time. That way when the opponent
         shoots the puck in your zone, around the boards, you can quickly
         switch to the goalie, with R, and get control of the puck. The one
         problem with Goalie: Manual is, IF THE OPPONENT GETS A PENALTY
         SHOT, you HAVE to control your goalie. That's not good, because
         it's impossible to stop computer controlled players on a breakaway
         controlling the goalie. Especially on All-Star mode. So if the
         other team gets a penalty shot, just pause and go to Options, then
         set Goalie to Automatic.
       - Don't stand in front of the goalie. Goalies can get screened,
         and you don't want that. Try to stay very close to the opposing
         puckhandler.
       - Don't shoot it down if you are in trouble in your own zone. You'll
         find that passing it out of your zone works just as well, and it's
         faster in a lot of cases too.

__________________
5. CHEATS/GLITCHES

GLITCHES

- Line change about 5-10 seconds before the end of a game. If your players
 are changing when the final buzzer sounds, some glitches are bound to
 happen. I've seen guys change through the boards behind the net, and guys
 get up off his bench, and cheer (and push other guys out on the ice who
 are still "sitting down"). Very funny stuff.
- Make sure line changes is set to Manual. Now, when the ref goes to fish
 out a puck in the net, watch him. He just stands, perfectly still, and
 stares at it...until the puck dissapears, and he skates to drop the
 faceoff! I guess he's using his magical powers to make the puck dissapear
 and re-appear in his hand, or...something...
- You can put a player right through the ref, but you can't shoot a puck
 through the ref.
- There is no seats in the penalty box, or bench. You gotta wonder how guys
 can sit on thin air.
- The goal lights float in midair (not on the glass). Just instant replay,
 and rotate around them. You'll see sooner or later, the goal lights
 are just behind the glass, in the air.
- Sometimes the goalies get twisted up when they pass it off. This usually
 happens when they backhand it to another player. They twist themselves
 into a pretzel, then twist back into normal form. Maybe they are just
 stretching?
- Players can shoot on the wrong side, and they will really stretch their
 arms to get a cannon shot off.
- Players can put feet/sticks "under the ice". You'll know it when you see
 it, because their reflections will be ABOVE their actual sticks or feet,
 and so will the shadows.
- This isn't really a glitch, but is interesting to know. You can get 3
 different types of Instant Replay cameras - normal, zoomed-in, or zoomed-
 out! This comes from what in-game camera you have selected. Most cameras
 will put the instant replay as normal. However, Broadcast camera will let
 you zoom in a lot more in instant replay. And Chase camera will let you
 zoom out a lot more in instant replay. You can get a nice view of the
 arena by selecting Chase, then going to instant replay, and zooming out
 on the scoreboard.
- Players have 3 "stages" of detail, the best being when you are zoomed in.
 When you zoom out a certain point, he will lose some detail and when you
 again zoom out a certain point he will lose some more. You can see part of
 this by watching the logo on his jersey when you zoom out. You can usually
 see the 3 stages. And a really easy way to see this is to go on big head
 mode, then instant replay. Zoom in fully on a player, and slowly zoom out.
 As soon as you get to a certain point he will "shift", and his head will
 get more box like. The detail on his jersey will be simplified. Zoom out
 more, slowly, and you will see his head turn into a box with a dark stripe
 at the top! That's it! Usually you can't see this, only when you are
 zoomed out a LOT on a player, but since you have big head mode on you can
 see it even though you are zoomed out so much.
- If a computer player, or any player, from the other team, commits a
 penalty on the PLAYER YOU ARE CONTROLLING, wait for the ref to blow the
 whistle before he gives the player the penalty. If you move that same
 player around, right after the whistle, you'll notice you can go right
 THROUGH the guy who committed the penalty on you! Weird!
- Many times when you first turn on instant replay, the goal light is on.
 (It turns off when you start the replay)
- Watch guys who just got in a fight, who go in the penalty box. They have
 no gloves on when they skate toward it, but all of a sudden as they enter
 the box, their gloves appear on their hands.
- Watch anyone who goes in the penalty box. A lot of times they will switch
 between their 3 stages of detail (see above)...even though the camera is
 zoomed in.
- Watch anyone who leaves the penalty box (use instant replay). They have no
 stick when in the box, but as soon as they get up and leave, their stick
 appears in their hands.
- In a season with manual line changes on, for some reason, when the game
 starts, and it profiles the 2 goalies, they both walk out past the top of
 the crease, like they want to get off the ice or something. When you press
 a C-button to start the game, however, the goalies instantly appear back
 in the crease.
- If the puck goes on the mesh, and the ref stops play, usually it drops to
 the ground. If you can get to it and shoot it, or move it, or anything, it
 won't stop at the end boards! The puck was "out of play" as soon as it
 went on the mesh...even though it went off, it was still out of play. So
 you can shoot it right through the boards, into the crowd!
- If a guy gets a penalty right before the end of the game, and it's delayed
 until the game ends, it won't be called, but usually you'll see the guy
 go to the penalty box and sit down, and hear the door slam! Someone should
 go tell him the game's over...
- If you get in a fight, and don't press any buttons (in other words, don't
 fight back), the ref will only call a 5 minute penalty on the other team.
 That's not the glitch. You'll get a powerplay, and if you score, the
 penalized player will not be let out of the box! He will only be let out
 when the 5 minutes are up, regardless of any goals scored.
- If you break the glass with a slapshot, think again. It's actually NOT
 broken, in fact there is still a pane of glass there. It's just a very
 transparent pane. To prove this, go into Instant Replay after the glass
 has been shattered. Put the camera behind the "missing pane", so it's
 in the crowd (you can only do this if the glass broken is behind one of
 the nets). You'll notice, if you look carefully, that right where the
 glass supposedly broke, there is a very transparent pane that makes things
 look slightly darker. So the glass is still there!


CHEATS

There aren't a lot of cheats for NHL 99 for Nintendo 64. I will gather a
list of cheats for NHL 99 that DON'T work (which are supposed to) later. But
here are a list of the few cheats that I know DO work.

BRAINY - Turns on big head mode.
BIGBIG - Makes all the players...big. (Except the ref, of course)
SPEEDY - Makes gameplay really fast. Until the whistle blows.

__________
6. CREDITS

This FAQ was created by me, Keith Koshman. Don't copy it, please, because,
well, it's mine. E-mail any suggestions or additions to me at
[email protected]

The latest version of this FAQ can always be found at GameFAQs, under
Nintendo 64, NHL 99.
www.gamefaqs.com

- KeithKosh

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