Welcome to the Pro Evolution of ice hockey games. A sports game so full of depth, game modes and options that you'd think its own mother had been, er, shafted by the great Wayne Gretzky himself. Put it next to its significantly better-known EA equivalent NHL 06, and it's almost like looking at man against boy.

Only, and here's the annoying thing, EA's ice- hockey playing boy is by far the better looking of the two - and also the most approachable. What NHL 06 might lack in depth of control, tactics, tutorials, classic teams, mini-games (including, bizarrely, darts and air-hockey!), party modes, advanced Live options and swathes of unlockables it makes up for in graphics, presentation and general user-friendliness. For fair-weather ice hockey fans who don't know their power plays from their dump shots, or even care for that matter (we're talking the majority of the UK population), NHL 06 is perhaps still the better choice, playing as it does a slightly faster, if more arcade-driven game.

But for the really serious ice hockey fan, NHL 2K6 is unquestionably the superior title. With simply dozens and dozens of bonus teams, kits and venues to unlock, a hugely involving franchise mode, and some of the best multiplayer party games we've seen for quite some time in a sports title, it really is ice-cool stuff.

Technically far superior to EA's NHL game, but lacking in user-friendly polish and presentation.