The list of innovations and features is endless: ability to create new teams and players, four difficulty levels, excellent mouse or joystick controls, ability to stick to coaching only, and even digitized video fight scenes :) You can choose tactics from a variety of lines, power plays, and penalty killing options. For the first time, the computer player actually poses a challenge taking advantage of breakaways, playing less aggressively when ahead, and using very logical tactics in general. And for the first time, player statistics do matter: players with high "aggression" scores will tend to get in fights more often, and those with high "skating" scores will skate faster and are better able to duck and weave through the ice.

WGH is simply a must-have for all hockey fans. It may look and play dated by today's 3D-accelerated standards, but try it out – you'll be surprised at how well this decades-old game stands the test of time. The only downside is that the graphics (in the top-down perspective) could be better and the videos less pixellated. Still, that's a very minor gripe. Highly recommended, and be sure to check out the even better sequels WGH2 and 3.