Super Blood Hockey

With up to 4 player local multiplayer/coop this a truly outstanding title. Highly recommended especially for playing in teams with friends.

83%Game Brain Score

gameplay, humor

replayability, story

92% User Score Based on 894 reviews

Critic Score 71%Based on 8 reviews

Platforms

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About

Super Blood Hockey is a multiplayer arcade management game with comedy and violence themes. It was developed by LorenLemcke and was released on August 17, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Coming soon to Steam:http://store.steampowered.com/app/532190Relive the golden age of arcade sports gaming with Super Blood Hockey — A violent homage to classic 8-bit and 16-bit ice hockey games.Don't forget to add to your wishlist!

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92%

Audience ScoreBased on 894 reviews

gameplay68 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Excellent retro-inspired arcade hockey game capturing NES era fun with satisfying and fluid gameplay.
Engaging franchise mode with team management, humor, and brutal fights adds depth and replayability.
Great local multiplayer/co-op experience with exciting brawls and customizable game settings.

Lack of online multiplayer limits multiplayer experience and replayability.
Passing and player switching mechanics can be imprecise and frustrating at times.
Franchise mode can be tedious due to micromanagement and AI difficulty scaling leading to frustrating matches.

gameplay
160 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
51%
6%
The gameplay is fast-paced, chaotic, and highly entertaining, combining simple yet satisfying mechanics with intense hockey action and over-the-top violence. While it lacks deep strategic complexity and sometimes has repetitive or wonky elements like passing and AI, the core arcade-style gameplay remains addictive, fluid, and enjoyable, especially in multiplayer or franchise modes. Unique features like brawls, injuries, and humorous touches add depth and personality, making it a fun retro-inspired hockey experience.
- “The gameplay is fast, chaotic, and ridiculously satisfying—you’ll be chuckling at some of the outrageous hits while trying to avoid losing your own blood-soaked goalie.”
- “The fast-paced and chaotic gameplay features unique mechanics like brawls and injuries that keep players engaged.”
- “That core gameplay loop each game is highly addictive and incredibly fun and helps SBH clearly stand out from any other hockey game available, making it by far and away the best you can get on Steam.”
- “The gameplay is very simple and doesn't offer a high skill cap.”
- “The gameplay is simplistic and repetitive, with no real strategy or skill involved.”
- “-terrible switching mechanic between players; -terrible shot mechanic that just results in mashing buttons in front of the net just to not get close to scoring a goal.”
humor
99 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Super Blood Hockey is widely praised for its quirky, dark humor that blends over-the-top, bloody violence with silly, outrageous injury names and amusing character animations. The game’s humor enhances its chaotic, retro-style gameplay, making it a hilarious and entertaining parody of traditional hockey games, especially adored in local multiplayer and franchise modes. Overall, its comedic tone and ridiculous scenarios provide consistent laughs and a unique personality despite simple pixel art and straightforward mechanics.
- “The gameplay is fast, chaotic, and ridiculously satisfying—you’ll be chuckling at some of the outrageous hits while trying to avoid losing your own blood-soaked goalie.”
- “When you enter a fight, the team that loses the fight loses a player with usually a funny injury like a “perforated testicle” and they're down on the ice until they're better, or if they're dead (yes that can happen) they're down for the rest of the game.”
- “The franchise mode (which I have yet to finish, I do not know if there is an ending) is set in a dystopian world where corporate overlords run the world and people can die from "a mildly shattered buttocks." It's a morbid, but funny environment.”
graphics
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
55%
4%
Super Blood Hockey features charming and well-executed retro pixel art graphics that effectively evoke NES and 16-bit era aesthetics, complemented by crisp visuals and animations. The game's stylized, nostalgic design perfectly suits its arcade gameplay, balancing simplicity with clarity and enhancing its dark humor and chaotic action. Overall, the graphics serve the game's fun, fast-paced experience without overwhelming complexity, making it a visually appealing indie title for fans of classic hockey games.
- “The retro aesthetic perfectly complements the modern gore and physics, making it a fun nostalgia trip that doesn’t take itself too seriously.”
- “The graphics and colours are sharp and nice to look at, the soundtrack and sounds are crisp, and the game can be challenging.”
- “The pixel art graphics are great and the atmosphere fits perfectly.”
- “NHL Hitz obviously has better graphics, and one could argue the fighting is better because you have more options in the fight (light punch, heavy punch, grab, block, and dodge) than Super Blood Hockey.”
- “A lot of people will remember Ice Hockey on the NES, which is a game to which Super Blood Hockey owes a pint or two (of type 'o' negative) in the aesthetics department.”
- “The art style and team colours are without question heavily inspired by Ice Hockey for the NES; perhaps a little too much in my opinion.”
music
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
39%
7%
The music in the game is widely praised for its catchy, retro-inspired chiptune soundtrack that fits the 8-bit/90s aesthetic perfectly and enhances the game's humorous, arcade-style vibe. While some find the music repetitive or wish for more tracks, most reviewers highlight its addicting quality and strong contribution to the overall nostalgic atmosphere. Composer Shawn Daley’s work is frequently noted as a key element that elevates the experience and immerses players in the action.
- “The music is great as well, Shawn Daley (famous for his 8-bit remix/cover work on YouTube) has put together a nice mix of upbeat tunes to match the mood on the ice and in the menus.”
- “The soundtrack is supremely catchy... I've caught myself whistling it even after refunding the game.”
- “This is a true retro gem - from the pixelated graphic to the sound/music!”
- “The music is annoying.”
- “Audio: as far as I can tell, it has a total of 3 background music tracks.”
- “Horrible non 8-bit hockey music, rather more suited for an RPG on NES than a hockey NES game.”
replayability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
72%
14%
The game offers substantial replayability through multiple modes like franchise, tournament, challenge, and local co-op multiplayer, providing varied and engaging experiences. While some challenge modes have limited long-term appeal, features like chaotic 12 vs 12 matches and unlockable modifiers enhance replay value. Online multiplayer, if added, could further extend the game's longevity.
- “With franchise mode, tournament mode, and exhibition games, I felt there was enough replay value here to recommend.”
- “Get this game if you want a chaotic time killer or a game that has a shocking amount of replay value that harkens back to a simpler time design and graphics wise, but has the ease of being a modern indie title (regarding design and accessibility).”
- “Franchise mode adds new depth and challenge to make this game replayable for hours.”
- “Sadly, these gameplay scenarios can only be active in their respective challenge mode and cannot cross into the other modes, making it so once you get the achievement for winning a game in that challenge mode, it loses most of its replay value.”
- “Challenge mode can be completed quickly and doesn't offer much replayability.”
- “At $8 it is not a bad value... not so much for me at this current difficulty setting :( I can see playing through a bit, but not sure there is replay value for me over time.”
story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
66%
17%
The game's story is limited mainly to franchise and tournament modes, with the latter offering brief humorous narratives and unique endings for each country. While the franchise mode allows team management and growth, it lacks a substantial or engaging storyline, often feeling repetitive and minimal. Some players suggest adding deeper narrative elements or side missions to enhance the overall experience.
- “The tournament mode offers a 'story mode' where you play as a team until you become champions for one season, with a different ending screen for each country.”
- “In terms of gameplay, it remains incredibly entertaining, but the story and non-game activities are far darker than any other hockey game, adding to the game's already huge personality.”
- “The story only comes up during franchise mode, and it's much darker than I'd expected from the cartoony-looking violence of the trailers.”
- “My only real complaints are that the franchise mode has no real story aside from the opening scene where you name your coach/team, and the training outside of games felt kinda useless since I just had my team hit the showers after every game.”
- “It's an ok game if you want to play something different, you really get excited about hitting the other players but in terms of story or gameplay I find it very repetitive.”
- “The story only comes up during franchise mode, and it's much darker than I'd expected from the cartoony looking violence of the trailers.”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
28%
43%
The game offers detailed player performance optimization through training, nutrition, and even controversial options like illicit substances, allowing significant control over team effectiveness. Additionally, it runs smoothly on older hardware, demonstrating good overall performance and optimization.
- “As you build your team from the ground up, you select your players, choose how they spend their time off the ice, what they eat, how they train, and can even give your players different drugs to help their performance on the ice.”
- “This game also ran fine on my old Toshiba laptop with Arch installed and amdgpu drivers (an old AMD 6310 card); performance was absolutely good enough.”
- “In this mode, player stats change for better or worse, and can really affect your team's overall performance.”
- “As you build your team from the ground up, you select your players, choose how they spend their time off the ice, choose what they eat, choose what and how they train, and for some of you meddling types, you can even give your players different drugs to help their performance on the ice.”
- “You can give your players illicit substances to boost their performance, you can check the referee, and you can even decide whether or not you want to provide your players with healthcare… although that last one isn't much of a pro.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences several stability issues, including random freezes during tournaments and buggy controller setup. While it lacks some quality-of-life features and online multiplayer, these drawbacks are somewhat expected given the single-developer effort. Despite these problems, it offers decent value for its price.
- “The game freezes in the middle of a tournament; the referee never comes out, so the two teams wait forever, and once you quit that game, you have to start all over again.”
- “Random freezes.”
- “Controllers were buggy to set up.”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is often seen as tedious and repetitive, particularly in franchise mode due to excessive micromanagement and quickly maxed-out players, leading to a lack of long-term engagement. Casual co-op play is enjoyable, but online play is inconvenient without workarounds. Gameplay elements like skating can also feel monotonous without quality-of-life features such as a boost button.
- “The franchise mode is cumbersome and tedious, with too much micromanagement and not enough fun.”
- “The franchise mode sounds cool at first but gets old quickly with the rather tedious running around trying to manage my players between each game.”
- “The franchise mode is also only fun for a single season, as your players max out really quickly and will never lose a brawl and become injured, leaving you playing the same players in what feels like a more tedious version of a quick match.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users praise the game's atmosphere for its fitting and well-executed pixel art graphics, complemented by great music that enhances the overall experience. The visuals effectively capture character styles, contributing to an immersive and enjoyable environment. While the atmosphere is promising, some users noted gameplay issues that prevented full enjoyment.
- “The pixel art graphics are great and the atmosphere fits perfectly.”
- “Graphics and atmosphere are great; these fellows look exactly how you would hope an updated skinny/normal/fatty/goalie would look.”
- “The controls are sharp, the graphics and music create a great atmosphere, and it's a blast to play.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate the detailed and well-crafted character designs, highlighting features like moustaches, and value the immersive locker room environment that adds depth to the players/prisoners.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Despite misleading advertising that understated the game's quality, users do not specifically criticize the monetization, suggesting it is not a major concern or issue.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game emotionally uplifting, as it evokes positive and feel-good experiences.
- “Made me feel good.”

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71%Critics’ scoreBased on 8 critic reviews

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9h Median play time

11h Average play time

5-13h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 7 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Super Blood Hockey is a arcade management game with comedy and violence themes.

Super Blood Hockey is available on PC, Mac OS, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 11 hours playing Super Blood Hockey.

Super Blood Hockey was released on August 17, 2017.

Super Blood Hockey was developed by LorenLemcke.

Super Blood Hockey has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its replayability.

Super Blood Hockey is a multiplayer game with local co-op support.

Similar games include Tape to Tape, Mutant Football League, Bush Hockey League, Kopanito All-Stars Soccer, Pixel Cup Soccer: Ultimate Edition and others.

Super Blood Hockey

Platforms

Review Super Blood Hockey (Nintendo Switch)