If a team achieves "On-Fire" status (made famous initially by Midway's NBA Jam), Pat Foley's voice will occasionally announce: "Toasty", a reference to Mortal Kombat.

"[18] Bruised Lee of GamePro similarly said the game "proves that Midway will continue to dominate the arcade sports market long after the success of NBA Jam."

Jeff Kitts of GameSpot, The Rookie of GamePro, and Dean Hager of Electronic Gaming Monthly all agreed that it offered fun and fast NBA Jam-style hockey and was a faithful translation of the arcade version.

[13][23][17] Kitts acknowledged problems with the animations but praised the inclusion of novelty power-up codes, and judged the game an overall refreshing break from realistic hockey sims.

"[23][d] In contrast, Hager's co-reviewer Kraig Kujawa said it "doesn't seem to capture the magic that made [NBA Jam] so popular", and that it compares poorly to its similar contemporary, Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey for the Nintendo 64.