NES Sports 1988

Blades of Steel

Reviewed by Marcus Webb & Elena Castillo · Updated June 2025

Konami's 1987 arcade hockey game on NES — Blades of Steel is distinguished by its fight system (two players who clash can drop the gloves for a boxing mini-game), fluid player control, and the Konami announcer voice lines that made it famous. One of the NES's finest sports games and a defining hockey video game.

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💡 Blades of Steel — Key Facts

→ Blades of Steel was developed by Konami and published by Konami
→ Released in 1988 on NES
→ Genre: Sports
→ We rate it 9/10 — an absolute classic
→ Konami's 1987 arcade hockey game on NES — Blades of Steel is distinguished by its fight system (two players who clash can drop the gloves for a boxing mini-game), fluid player control, and the Konami announcer voice lines that made it famous. One of the NES's finest sports games and a defining hockey video game.

Overview

‘Blades… of STEEL!’

Konami put a voice in a cartridge in 1987 and played it between periods. For NES players, this was remarkable — games didn’t talk. Blades of Steel did.

The voice is the signature. The fight mini-game is the design achievement.

The Fight System

Two players collide enough times and the gloves come off. Side-view boxing: left-right attacks, simple dodges, a few seconds to determine a winner. The loser gets penalized. The winner gets a power play.

This makes fighting a legitimate hockey strategy rather than an incidental collision. If you can win the fight mini-game consistently, you should be getting into fights intentionally — the power play advantage is worth the risk. Opponents who lose fights consistently know they’re also losing scoring opportunities.

The system creates hockey within hockey. Two games in one cartridge: the main hockey game and the moment when the gloves come off.

What the Announcer Did

The Konami announcer said four things: ‘Blades of Steel!’ between periods, ‘Face off!’ for puck drops, goal celebrations, and a few other state calls. Digital audio sampling in 1987 was not trivial — storing voice samples on a cartridge required engineering choices that other NES games didn’t make.

The result is a hockey game that felt inhabited. Someone was there calling the game. Players who heard ‘BLADES OF STEEL!’ enough times associated those specific words, in that specific voice, with the specific memory of winning or losing in two-player competition.

The NES Hockey Standard

Before EA’s NHL series defined what video hockey simulation meant, Blades of Steel defined what NES hockey felt like. The controls were fluid. The teams were visually distinct (even without real NHL licenses). The rules approximated real hockey closely enough to feel authentic.

For the NES generation, this was the hockey game. The comparison to NHL 94 that came later is valid — NHL 94 was simply more, better. Blades of Steel was the standard that NHL needed to surpass.

Our Review

Outstanding / 10

🎮

Gameplay

★★★★★

🎨

Graphics

★★★★★

🎵

Audio

★★★★★

🔄

Replay

★★★★★

Gameplay

Blades of Steel is a top-down hockey game with 8 NHL-team-inspired teams and three difficulty levels. Players control the player nearest the puck, passing and shooting with simple controls. The fight system triggers when two players collide enough times — both players control boxers in a side-view mini-game with the winner staying on ice and the loser being penalized. Power plays result from fights won. The Konami announcer provides commentary ('Blades... of STEEL!', 'Face off!'). Penalty shots, icing, and offsides are enforced. Two-player simultaneous competitive mode.

Graphics

Blades of Steel's sprites are large and readable for NES hardware — player animations are clear, puck tracking is visible, and the fight sequences are well-animated.

Audio

The Konami voice announcer — 'Blades of Steel!' between periods, 'Face off!' for face-offs — is the game's signature audio element. The crowd reacts to goals and fights audibly.

Replayability

Two-player competitive mode provides effectively endless social replay. Three difficulty settings provide single-player progression. The fight mini-game creates memorable moments that encourage return play.

Historical Significance

Blades of Steel (1987 arcade, 1988 NES) was the NES hockey game for most of the platform's commercial life — its combination of smooth gameplay, voice announcements, and the fight mini-game defined what video hockey should feel like for a generation. The Konami voice lines ('Blades... of STEEL!') became cultural touchstones for NES players. NHL series didn't exist yet; Blades of Steel was the NES hockey experience.

✅ Pros

+ Fight mini-game is uniquely memorable and creates social moments
+ Konami voice announcer lines are iconic
+ Smooth, responsive hockey controls for the era
+ Power play system rewards fight mini-game winners
+ The NES hockey standard-bearer

❌ Cons

- No real NHL teams or licenses
- Simple rules system compared to simulation hockey
- Fight system can feel like it interrupts flow
- Limited by NES hardware — small teams on ice

Also Known As

アイスホッケー Blades of SteelKonami Ice Hockey

Blades of Steel FAQ

What is the fight system in Blades of Steel?

Blades of Steel's fight system activates when two players collide a sufficient number of times — the game determines a fight is appropriate and transitions both players to a side-view boxing mini-game. The winner stays on the ice while the loser is removed to the penalty box, giving the winner's team a power play advantage. The fight mini-game uses simple left-right attack and dodge mechanics. The power play reward for winning fights creates strategic consideration: intentionally provoking fights against a skilled opponent is risky (losing means you're short-handed), but winning consistently pays off in power play scoring opportunities.

Who calls the games in Blades of Steel?

Blades of Steel features voice-sampled commentary lines from a Konami announcer — a significant technical achievement for 1987-1988 console hardware. The announcer says 'Blades... of STEEL!' between periods, 'Face off!' for face-offs, and goal celebrations. The voice lines are accomplished through digital audio sampling stored on the cartridge. For NES players in 1988, game announcer voice lines were exceptional — most games had no speech. The 'Blades of STEEL!' line became one of the most recognizable audio moments in NES gaming history.

Is Blades of Steel available on modern platforms?

Blades of Steel is not currently available through Nintendo Switch Online's NES library. The game was available on Wii Virtual Console. The game appears in some Konami NES compilation releases. Original NES cartridges are commonly available through retro game stores at low prices. For modern hockey gaming, the NHL series (EA Sports) is the dominant franchise. Players seeking retro hockey games often start with Blades of Steel and NES Ice Hockey (Nintendo, 1988) as the platform's two primary hockey options.

How does Blades of Steel compare to NES Ice Hockey?

Blades of Steel and NES Ice Hockey (Nintendo, 1988) are the two primary NES hockey games. They represent different design philosophies: NES Ice Hockey allows player size customization (fat/medium/thin players with different speed/strength tradeoffs) and Nintendo's characteristic clean arcade design. Blades of Steel has the fight mini-game, voice announcer, and Konami's more detailed sprite work. Both are excellent for their era. NES Ice Hockey is slightly simpler and more immediately accessible; Blades of Steel has more depth through the fight system and power play mechanics. The 'best NES hockey game' debate is primarily between these two titles.