[1] Next Generation reviewed the Saturn version of the game, rating it five stars out of five, and stated that "Attempts at finding fault in Powerplay's design just provokes knit-picking [sic] more than substantive criticism.

The small puck is sometimes hard to pick out on the ice, but then you could say that about real-life hockey.

Also, the number of stats the game tracks may be less than what a die-hard hockey fan would demand.

Sony be warned: NFL Face Off was a great game, but NHL Powerplay '96 is better.

"[1] In 1996, Next Generation listed NHL Powerplay as number 40 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time", commenting that, "NHL Powerplay offers all the excitement, ferocity, precision, and strategy of the real thing without the pain.