Control Guide

# *Control Guide*

### Basic Controls: 

In SHIH, there are 4 basic inputs in a single player match. This being Left Arrow to move left, Right Arrow to move right, Up Arrow to jump, and Spacebar to swing your stick. In two player mode, these controls change to A for left, D for right, W for up, and Spacebar to swing your stick for the left side player and Left Arrow to move left, Right Arrow to move right, Up Arrow to jump, and P to swing your stick. for the right sided player.

### Left/Right/Jump:

These controls are much simpler to understand. There are 4 main powerups that affect only these aspects of the game (There are a couple more that do which will be explained in more detail in a later guide dedicated to powerups). These powerups being Speed Boost, Decrease Speed, Increases Jump, and Decreases Jump. The movement in this game is also sometimes glitched out while some powerups are active in a two player match. Whenever the player on the right becomes small, it disallows the player on the left from jumping and whenever the player on the left becomes big, it disallows them from jumping too. Whenever your sports head becomes small, they gain a disproportional jump compared to when they are normal sized. On the contrary, whenever a player becomes bigger they also get a disproportional jump. Whenever an opponent is big it seems that your jump also increases slightly.

During a campaign, it seems that some bots can jump higher than the player and some bots can run faster than the player as well. That will be explained more thoroughly in a character guide later on.

To perform "Jump Tech" you and a bot (or player 2) have to be running at each other going backwards to where the two sports heads are going into each other and the two SH's will be in a state where they can't seem to move properly until one of the two breaks the trap and performs "Jump Tech" where they are slung into the air. This can be used to get on top of the goal in a timed base match, successfully draining the clock to prevent any more goals being scored in a speedrun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=154N1eGIOFw

Some surfaces don't allow for jumps to be made. The main two being on top of either goal and on top of the Zamboni. However you *can* jump off the rink, puck, and most times other players/the streaker.

In a two player match, if there are too many keys being held down on the keyboard itself, it prevents players from moving. This is called "U-Tech" and is considered to be extremely disrespectful when done on purpose, with many sets of house rules stating that it is a disqualification if done/abused.

### Swing:

Most of the controls are very easy to comprehend, but the swinging feature is slightly more complicated. Instead of just clicking it, if you hold spacebar/p down it gradually gets more powerful and the stick itself goes behind your player. On release, the stick will go higher than the player as well as it effect on the ball becomes more powerful. This can help save shots that look impossible. In basic conditions (no powerups enabled) all shots are saveable simply by jumping and releasing a fully powered swing at the perfect time to swing your stick higher than your body. This is called "Save Tech". It isn't the easiest tech in the world but with practice it becomes easier to consistently hit it.

![](/static/blob/oeow8q0z.png)

(Left side is a normal jump, Right side is with Save Tech)

Power-Ups Guide

# *Power-Ups Guide*

## **Overview:**

In SHIH, there are 19 power-ups that can be activated during a game. On average, a power-up will appear every 6.5-7ish seconds. Only 3 power-ups can be on the field of play at once and if another one tries to spawn in but there is already 3, the oldest one gets replaced. I am fairly confident each power-up is weighted the same to appear but I am not for sure. The power-ups are separated into Green, Red, and Yellow. With green being good for the player who gets it, red being bad for the player who gets it, and yellow affecting both players equally. These power-ups get activated whenever the puck itself hits the power-up's circle and is activated for whichever player hit the puck last (counting both body shots and stick shots). For the most part, they seem to last a random amount of time and reset after a goal is scored. Yes I am aware the names are pretty lame, I am going off of what the game calls them.



## **"Green" Power-Ups:**

### Speed Boost:

As the name suggests, the power-up speeds up your characters movement speed.

![](/static/blob/yzr53wgn.png)

### Increases Jump:

As the name suggests, the power-up increases your characters jump height.

![](/static/blob/rz28dolz.png)

### Ices Opponent (Preventing Movement):

As the name suggests, the power-up freezes your opponent and doesn't allow them to move. It can last just a few seconds one time and then another time half the match. When frozen, the opponent can still swing their stick and jump. If time allows, it is sometimes smart to bump the opponent into their own goal to leave the goal as open as possible.

![](/static/blob/pzmd3lwz.png)

### Big Goal:

As the name suggests, it creates a big goal. The big goal is more specifically your opponents goal that grows. It makes it a lot easier to score, especially from distance.

![](/static/blob/yzr53xmn.png)

### Grow:

As the name suggests, it grows your character. It also notably makes it a pain to swing the stick, taking longer to wind up and feeling much less smooth.

![](/static/blob/qzpwxlwe.png)

### Opponent Loses Stick:

As the name suggests, the opponent... loses their stick. There is a glitch in the game where this power-up (and its red counter part) doesn't reset whenever a goal is scored.

![](/static/blob/5e18w15n.png)



## "Red" Power-Ups:

### Decreases Speed:

As the name suggests, this power-up causes the player to become slower.

![](/static/blob/5ngo9wke.png)

### Decreases Jump:

As the name suggests, this power-up causes the player's jump height to decrease.

![](/static/blob/qzpwx8we.png)

### Ices Yourself (Preventing Movement):

As the name suggests, the power-up freezes the player and doesn't allow them to move. It can last just a few seconds one time and then another time half the match. When frozen, you can still swing your stick and jump.

![](/static/blob/5e18wv5n.png)

### Small Goal:

As the name suggests, the power-up causes your opponents goal to shrink. This makes it much harder to score. If the game is close in a first to seven and this power-up gets activated, there are cases in which I would suggest own goaling. For example if the game is already 6-0 in my favor and I hit that power-up and the bot is in his box defending, next time I got the puck I would own goal to reset the field of play.

![](/static/blob/oeow38jz.png)

### Shrink:

As the name suggests, this power-up causes you to shrink. When this power-up is activated, there is an insanely apparent difference in sizes. It makes it very hard to hit the puck with your stick, so you need to go for mainly hitting it with your head (and it has to be extremely accurate!). It appears you do get a jump boost whenever your character is shrunk.

![](/static/blob/3ek0j85n.png)

### You Lose Stick:

As the name suggests, you... lose your stick. There is a glitch in the game where this power-up (and its green counter part) doesn't reset whenever a goal is scored.

![](/static/blob/xz080q1n.png)



## "Yellow" Power-Ups:

### Bombs:

Three bombs will drop from the sky, if any of them explode on your player while your player is on the ground, your character will shift itself into the "Exploded State". In this state of being, your character can't move, jump, or swing their stick; effectively making it worse to be in the exploded state then the frozen state.

![](/static/blob/4zjo4r1n.png)

### Slow Puck:

As the name suggests, the puck becomes slower. Whenever it slides on the ice, it just slides for less time and for a shorter distance. One of the uses for this power-up is hitting it above the goal (like for a corner) and if you hit it with the right amount of power, it will just sit up there until the power-up runs out. This is really good in timed games when trying to keep the score low but really bad in first to sevens.

![](/static/blob/qny5m3dz.png)

### Big Puck:

As the name suggests, the puck grows in size. This makes it a lot harder to score, especially when combined with a small goal. It can be annoying but other times when you aren't looking for a goal, its not the end of the world.

![](/static/blob/7z305mlz.png)

### Slippery Puck:

As the name suggests, the puck slips and slides more. Whenever it slides on the ice, it just slides for more time and for a longer distance faster. In game, it is a lot harder to see the direct effect this power-up has then most other ones.

![](/static/blob/ynl03pmn.png)

### Small Puck:

As the name suggests, the puck shrinks in size. While at first it might seem like it would be easier to score, most times it ends up making it a lot harder to make contact with the ball. Sometimes when getting in a 50/50 on the ground, the puck doesn't even try to make an effort to adhere to what the physics normally are and will just slide under one of the two players even if nobody jumps.

![](/static/blob/7e90vk1e.png)

### Streaker:

This power-up causes another bot to spawn on the field. This bot doesn't have a goal, he just bounces extremely high up left to right. Sometimes he is a blessing and scores for you, sometimes he is a curse and blocks what would of been a goal (vice versa for the bot too).

![](/static/blob/rnq73wwe.png)

### Zamboni:

This power-up causes another bot to spawn on the field but it is more rectangular and doesn't jump. It's movement patterns consist of moving left and right and that's about it. Whenever they first spawn in, they bounce a couple of times. Without a jump boost or another player to go off of, you can not normally get over it so Zamboni's can kill your run in first to sevens a lot of the time.

![](/static/blob/7n69qpmn.png)



## Tier List (for Any%):

Tier Lists are separated into Timed Matches/First to Seven. All rankings based off if the player hits the power-up. Left most in a tier = best in that tier.

### Timed Matches:

![](/static/blob/dz4vx2wz.png)

Keep in mind that in timed matches, for the first 50 or so seconds you are doing whatever it takes to keep both teams from scoring. Most of the power-ups are not the end of the world... besides maybe Ices Yourself, that one is rough.

### First to Seven:

![](/static/blob/rz28d38z.png)

This one aligns a lot closer to the colors of the power-ups. You have to get goals as quick as possible in this mode so power-ups like Small Goal and Big Puck can be really bad. Zamboni has potential to be worse, but sometimes it works out really good in the players favor so it is slightly higher. Decreases Jump is so low due to the easiest way of scoring in first to seven being headers off of corners... which becomes a lot harder if you can't jump as high.

Speedrunning Guide

# *Speedrunning Guide*

### **Setting Up:**

Before beginning to play, you can choose between playing on a web browser or using an emulator. I personally have began to prefer using an emulator, but the WR (as of 3/22/26) is ran on a website. I would suggest using Flashpoint Archive which can be found here: https://flashpointarchive.org/ -- from this website go to downloads and download Flashpoint 14 Infinity Installer. After setting it up, to find the game just search in the all games tab "Sports Heads: Ice Hockey". Most of the time it shows up and you can load the game from there, but occasionally it doesn't (at least for me). Whenever that happens I would suggest searching "Sports Heads: Football" and click on that game and off to the side click on the Sports Heads series and it *should* appear there. For livesplit, I personally set mine up into 10 splits, one for each match (with the final one including Submit). This of course isn't mandatory, and I personally used to do 4 splits: M1-3, M4-6, M5-9, M10/Submit. After getting on the game, there is an option to start "New Game". Keep in mind your time doesn't start until after you click on Match 1, so you are good to rest on the new game page. From here you can choose from 1 of 11 characters. Each character has the same stats movement speed and jumping height wise... HOWEVER, they MIGHT have different hitboxes. I can't tell. Maybe its better to choose a bigger character like Mousebreaker or John Believer. The main reason for changing characters is just for appearance.

### **The Run Itself:** 

There are 10 matches to be played during an Any% run. Half of these matches (the odd numbered ones) are timed, 1 minute long matches. The other half (the even numbered ones) are first to 7 goals. Most of the time save possible is from the latter, but both matches matter. After amatch is won in favor of the player, they get sent back to the menu and have to click on the next match to start a new one. The game is ended whenever match 10 is finished and the player clicks the submit button (that shows up after M10 is won), which is found to the right of the achievements button.

### **Time Saving Tips:**

For starters, each goal that is scored for either team creates a time loss of around 3.5 seconds (.5 seconds for the screen that says "goal" and 3 for the countdown after the puck spawns in the middle). In an ideal run, each timed match is won 1-0 and each first to seven is won 7-0. However, just because a goal does get scored that doesn't need to be scored doesn't mean the run is dead. I find the best strategy on MOST timed matches is to just boom the puck down the field and play full defense. The only time I do not do that is if the time is around ~15 or so seconds, then I push on the attack and try to net my 1 goal. For first to 7's, my main strategy is to knock the ball above my opponents goal and wait for it to come down (I call this a corner) before jumping up and hitting it in with my head. Whenever I go up in a corner, I make sure to hold my stick back and release because when your stick hits the bot, the bot gets sent back a little into their own goal which should free up room for you to make contact. This does take a little bit of time to get used to.

If a timed match remains tied after the minute of time is over, the game goes to a golden goal overtime. When a goal is scored in this overtime, the player doesn't have to wait the 3.5 seconds because it sends you right back to the menu. In a perfect scenario, all games timed games are taken to overtime and goals are instantly scored when OT hits. This strategy is very hard and luck based though, I have hardly ever been able to do it in even 1 match. One notable example of me doing it is in my 14:32 in the very first match of the game.

After the first goal is scored or there is a bit of downtime before having to move, I suggest moving your mouse to where the next match should be. It isn't very hard to memorize where they are, its just a simple 2 rows by 5 columns where each box is the same size. After the game ends, just start spamming left click and spacebar to get into the next match as fast as possible. During Match 10, move your mouse to where the submit button would be located. Spam left click after this match too.

Each AI has a different playstyle and I am not really sure how to describe most of them, but Matches 5, 7, 8, and 10 always give me the most trouble, Matches 3, 4, and 9 seem to be the easiest to me, and Matches 1, 2, and 6 are in the middle of difficulty. This probably varies from player to player on what they think is easier.

That sums up the main tricks for saving time. I would love to see some more developments on how to speed up runs in any way, but as of now it mostly is about how good you are at the game itself (and how lucky you can get!).

JustSquid

Sports Heads: Ice Hockey

DieselR8

tlak

USA / NTSC

1P Mode

2P Mode

Played on the "2 Player" mode of the game. Note that you can play both player 1 and 2 in this or have a friend be player 2.

Name	Autor
Control Guide	JustSquid 6 months ago
Power-Ups Guide	JustSquid 5 months ago
Speedrunning Guide	JustSquid 5 months ago