Coleco Head To Head Electronic Hockey is another handheld sports game that was popular from the time of its introduction in 1978. It’s a 2-person game and is played head to head as the game title would suggest. So it’s best played on a table or other solid surface so each player can have access to their end of the game to either control the offensive players trying to score or the goalie trying to stop the offensive attempts.
Alternatively you can play the game yourself and control the offense and play against a computer-managed defense.
Instructions
Game Play
Like Coleco’s Electronic Football which resembles a stripped down mini-football game with fewer players and streamlined options, Coleco Head To Head Electronic Hockey is more of a modified game of shinny AKA target practice on the goalie where you’re effectively just trying to score goals when on offense and stop the goals when playing goal.
You have 2 options that effectively amount to a shot clock to help keep the game moving, a feature that doesn’t normally exist in regular hockey:
Skill 1: When you choose the Skill 1 option, you have 24 seconds to score a goal.
Skill 2: When you choose the Skill 2 option, you have 12 seconds to score a goal.
If the timer runs out before you score a goal, you lose possession of the puck. If time runs out, the goalie makes a save or the period ends, you also turn the puck over to your opponent.
As you can see, game play is fairly basic. It essentially involves the ability to pass the puck (the red round dot) among your five players and take a shot on a net manned by a goalie. The small dashed line that you see onscreen above represents one of the five defensive players that tries to prevent you from scoring.
While the game has charm and historical relevance, I prefer the game play of Coleco’s Electronic Quarterback game from the same time period as the game play is a bit more fun and fluid.
