Today I received my copy of NHL 2K9 for the Wii in the mail. I had pre-ordered it a few days before it was to be releaased in stores, making the assumption that I would get it around the same time or a little before. That was incorrect. The game launched last Tuesday and I am just now getting it. Let this be a lesson: pre-ordering through Amazon is no better than just ordering when it becomes available.
The game crashed every time I went to use the tutorials or practice modes. While most people might just dive right in, I usually like to try out the controlls first. After starting a game, playing through it and then restarting the disc, all the modes seem to be working now.
Gameplay is very different from its PlayStation 2 counterpart. There is a lot of jabbing and moving the Wiimote and Nunchuck around to perform basic tasks like shooting the puck or checking another player. The opening sequence for each team is rather impressive for a video game. I think they obscured the goal songs just enough to avoid paying royalties, but you get the idea. Nice touches like having the growls count up to the number of goals on the scoreboard are impressive.
I hope there was not anything important that I was supposed to be doing with my free time at home. Those prospects are looking fairly dim.