This may just reflect a propensity for overstatement, but NHL 10 is the holy grail of sports gaming. The NHL franchise burst onto the scene last year with a totally revamped installment that featured superb graphics, a skill-intensive multiplayer and perhaps most importantly, a format that allows four players to play at once without any conceivable problems- a truly revolutionary concept.

This last feature is what makes the game so extraordinary. While it may sound perfectly normal to have a four-player multiplayer, NHL is the first sports game where each individual player can have an equal impact. The game’s closest rival in the sports gaming world is the intensely popular Madden franchise, which is limited by the fact that only one player can call plays and run the offense at quarterback.

NHL has no such restrictions as its free-flow format allows for total equality and teamwork. Unlike NBA games that feature a similar flowing game style, NHL is impossible to succeed at without strategy and passing.

Also, unlike Madden, the parity among teams is much better, with no gap even close to as large as say that of the Patriots or Lions. Parity within individual rosters is also much better; sure you can score more easily with Alex Ovechkin than Donald Brashear, but it is near impossible to score with even the best players without distributing the puck. This is a welcome change from Madden and the NBA games where players like Peyton Manning or Kobe Bryant can become one man teams.

While NHL 10 can’t hope to improve quite as much as 09 did from previous installments, it did a great job of working out the few remaining kinks. Players can now hit the puck out of mid-air, grab the puck and shoot from a player’s knees.

Perhaps the biggest improvement though, is in the fighting. This was a major weakness of NHL 09, and NHL 10 made sure it would be a strength this time around. The game now features a first-person fighting style with more complex controls than the lame three button combinations that often left gamers confused and frustrated in 09.

A more realistic style of game play was definitely the goal for NHL 10, and it was certainly successful in doing so. Better graphics, more nuanced and strategic controls and improved fighting make NHL 10 the best installment yet of an already great franchise.

With Madden 10, The Beatles Rock Band and NHL 10 all making their debuts within a one month span, gamers have a bevy of options this fall, yet it is safe to say that NHL can go head-to-head with any game available today.