Nintendo Hockey Game (ホッケーゲーム, 1974)

Nintendo Hockey Game (ホッケーゲーム) is a simple but fun sports game.

Nintendo Hockey Game (1974)

The image on the front of the box shows a frantic dad, hell-bend on beating one of his sons.

The game was released in 1974 and cost ¥2,000.

The Hockey Game set consists of a plastic frame with a printed cardboard playing field, and two small plastic balls.

Although it is a hockey game in name and imagery, the actual gameplay is more like a two player pinball.

The game is played with two flippers on each side of the field, operated mechanically through push buttons.

The play area has a slight slope, to ensure the ball always rolls towards one of the two goals.

The objective of the game, of course, is to shoot the ball in the opponent's goal, while guarding one's own goal line. The player who scores eight goals first wins.

Around the same time, a smaller version of the game was also released in the Nintendo Mini Game series.

The flippers work really well, resulting in fast-paced, frantic and exciting gameplay.