NHL 2K11

2K Sports' NHL 2K11 gives you two options when booting up: Quick Game, in which you choose your home and away teams to play when you've got some downtime, and Hit the Ice!, which breaks into four modes, including a Full Season mode (work your way up to the Stanley Cup), Free Skate (practice), Winter Classic (outdoor rink), and Shootout (penalty shootouts). Once a mode is selected, players can tweak a few things, such as choosing difficulty level, period length, and game speed. You control the game in one of two ways: mimic a console controller (where your left thumb moves a virtual analog stick for your skater's movement and your right thumb is to shoot and pass) or a one-finger method, where you'll simply tap a player and control him directly with your finger movements. While the game is fun and full of features, modes, and customizable rules, the action is still choppy at times. Plus, while the artificial intelligence is OK, it's unlikely that a junior Toronto Maple Leafs defense player could steal the puck away from Penguins captain Sidney Crosby that effortlessly. Overall, though, hockey fans will likely get a lot out of this decent and affordable NHL game for their beloved idevice. [Note: the iPhone version will play on the iPad, but there is a separate version for the iPad as well].