Hit the Ice: VHL the Video Hockey League
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Region: Prototype (USA)
Media: Cartridge
Controller: NES Gamepad
Genre: Sports > Hockey 
Gametype: Prototype
Release Year: Unreleased
Developer: Taito Corporation
Publisher: Taito Corporation
_________________________
One of the unique things about emulation is that it sometimes allows you to play not only games that are very rare, but also games that were never released at all. When a game is close to completion, prototypes are sent to the console licenser (and more recently, the ESRB) to review for any possible problems that would render the game in an unreleasable state. Sometimes these prototypes are of games that never actually saw the light of day for one reason or another.

Once in a great while, one of these prototypes is discovered in someone's attic or some other musty place, and it gets sold on eBay to a collector. Some of these collectors refuse to dump the prototype ROM onto disk because it would damage the cartridge, while others either don't have a problem with it or take money in exchange for dumping rights. One of the games that went through this long and winding path is the NES port of Hit the Ice.

Reviewer: pluvius
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/review/R104097.html