NHL Hitz Pro is an ice hockey video game developed by Next Level Games

Next Level Games

Next Level Games Inc. is an independent video game developer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in October 2002, Next Level Games specializes in creating console video games. Its first project was NHL Hitz Pro, which was published by Midway Games. Since then, it has worked with...

 and published by Midway Games

Midway Games

Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...

. It was released on September 25, 2003, for the PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

, Nintendo GameCube

Nintendo GameCube

The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...

, and Xbox

Xbox

The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

. Unlike the previous titles in the series, this game has 5-on-5 gameplay instead of the usual 3-on-3 game play with the earlier titles. Despite that fact, however, the game does not include penalty shots

Penalty shot (ice hockey)

In ice hockey, a penalty shot is a type of penalty awarded when a team loses a clear scoring opportunity on a breakaway because of a foul committed by an opposing player. A player from the non-offending team is given an attempt to score a goal without opposition from any defending players except...

, meaning that players will never be awarded any penalty shots during gameplay. It is an arcade-type hockey game and has, as the name suggests, a lot of hard hitting, appealing more often to casual hockey fans than hardcore ones. The cover athlete of the game is Nicklas Lidström

Nicklas Lidström

Nicklas Erik Lidström is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenseman who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, and is their captain...

.

Unlike many other hockey video games of the 21st century

21st century

The 21st century is the current century of the Anno Domini era or the Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The century began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2100. The years from 2001 to 2010 are historical; the years from 2011 to 2100 are subject to futurology and...

, NHL Hitz Pro had the IIHF

International Ice Hockey Federation

The International Ice Hockey Federation is the worldwide governing body for ice hockey and in-line hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 70 members...

license, enabling it to use the jerseys of the Olympic hockey teams.

The game also has many game modes, one of the most popular being the "Pick-Up Hockey" game mode, where the game would turn into either a roller, street, or pond hockey match-up between two amateur teams.