Blades of Steel

コナミック アイスホッケー (Konamikku Aisu Hokkē)NES, Arcade, Famicom Disk System, MS-DOS +31987

  1. JP1988
  2. NA1987
  3. EU1990
  4. RU—

Blades of Steel was called Konamic Ice Hockey (コナミック アイスホッケー) in Japan, where it came out on the Famicom Disk System and later on the Game Boy. No current re-release was found in the sources checked.

Blades of Steel is an ice hockey game that Konami released in North American arcades in October 1987. In Japan the Famicom Disk System version came out on 22 July 1988 as コナミック アイスホッケー (Konamic Ice Hockey), and the NES version reached North America in December 1988.

Fights break out when two players bump into each other three times in a row, and the loser gets a two-minute penalty. Its voice samples were unusual for NES games of the time. The second-intermission mini-game advertises Contra, Jackal and other Konami games, with a small spaceship attacking a much larger one in a nod to Gradius.

Novotrade made the 1990 Commodore 64, MS-DOS and Amiga versions, and a Game Boy version followed in 1991. The game sold over 1 million units.1

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Blades of Steel Arcade October 1987 Konami 1
NA Blades of Steel NES December 1988 Konami 1
NA Blades of Steeldeveloped by Novotrade Amiga 1990 Konami 1
NA Blades of Steeldeveloped by Novotrade Commodore 64 1990 Konami 1
NA Blades of Steeldeveloped by Novotrade MS-DOS 1990 Konami 1
NA Blades of Steel Game Boy August 1991 Konami 1
JP コナミック アイスホッケーKonamikku Aisu HokkēFamicom Disk System Famicom Disk System Jul 22, 1988 Konami 1
EU Blades of Steel NES Nov 23, 1990 Konami 1
EU Blades of Steel Game Boy 1991 Konami 1
JP コナミック アイスホッケー Game Boy Nov 27, 1992 Konami 1

Also known as: コナミック アイスホッケー JP1Konamikku Aisu Hokkē JP1

Box art by region

  • Blades of Steel box art, North America release
    NA Blades of Steel
  • Blades of Steel box art, Europe release
    EU Blades of Steel

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • AudioArcadeNES

    The arcade version has more voice clips and commentary than the NES game, thanks to better speech hardware and more memory.1

  • AudioArcadeNES

    The NES pass sound is garbled and has been heard in several ways; in the arcade version it is clear enough to support the phrase "Get the pass".1

Reception

The game sold over 1 million units. AllGame gave the NES version 4.5 out of 5 and IGN 7.5 out of 10. Reviews of the Virtual Console release were mostly positive, though Eurogamer criticized graphics that reuse one player model.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.