NFL Street

With EA’s own Madden series of simulation football games consistently ranking at the top of the videogame sales charts, it seems like the arcade football sub-genre has taken a backseat to the real deal.  Sure Midway’s Blitz games have kept the fire burning, but that franchise has grown more than a bit long-in-the-tooth.  Luckily, EA Big’s latest gridiron offering does for football what NBA Street did for basketball: infuses the sport with an over-the-top sense of style and excitement that would only work in an arcade football game.  While it may not be quite as refined as its NBA counterpart, NFL Street is still hands down the best arcade football game yet.

Much like the Blitz titles of yore, NFL Street is a seven-on-seven game of football.  Unlike any football outing before it, however, you won’t be playing in well-known arenas.  Instead, the action takes place in urban locations across the country.  Downs are denoted by specific markers on the field spread 10 yards apart, and yardage is carried over to the next possession.  Field goals have been ditched in favor of running and passing point conversions.  Since there are no referees to nip at the heels of a player’s every sleight of hand, you don’t have to worry about things like “rules” and “regulations.” 

The gameplay in NFL Street is unmistakably of an arcade ilk.  The action is fast and the potential for anything to happen is high.  Spinning, juking, and jumping and brute force pushing your way through defenders are all fundamental moves for playing a good offensive game.  But the best way to keep a play active is through utilizing the quick pass maneuver; by constantly pitching the ball from player to player before getting sacked, you can keep the ball alive all the way to the end zone.  While playing D is nowhere near as fun or engaging as chucking the pigskin, defense does have its own set of moves designed to keep the dogs at bay.  Deflecting passes, power dive tackles, and straight up ripping the ball away from the carrier are all great ways to keep your opponent’s trigger finger shaking.

But it’s the ability to infuse these moves with style, speed, and power that really puts NFL Street in a league of its own.  As expected, there is a turbo button that noticeably increases the speed of the character you’re playing as, which, when used properly, can give your running game a decisive edge.  The L trigger is essentially your trick modifier, allowing you to execute a slew of different spirit-crushing maneuvers that give you points and fill up your gamebreaker meter.  These tricks include such things as dribbling the rock basketball style on your way to the end zone, pulling off a superman over the defensive players below, and spinning the ball on your finger like a Harlem Globetrotter.  Executing style moves can be a risky proposition since they make you more vulnerable to fumbling and turning the ball over, but earning style points is the only way to raise your gamebreaker meter.

The gamebreaker meter implemented in NFL Street works exactly as it did in NBA Street.  Once filled you can press a button to initiate gamebreaker mode, which transforms your team into a group of bloodthirsty, rampaging animals for the duration of one possession.  When playing offense you’re able to cut through defenders like a hot knife through butter.  Playing on defense during a gamebreaker will practically ensure a quick turnover.  The benefit you get from gamebreakers is substantial, and as the name suggests, they have the potential to turn the tides in any game. 

There is a healthy amount of game modes in NFL Street and while a few of them are nothing special, the one-player NFL challenge mode serves up over 15 hours of meaty game play.  You’ll begin NFL challenge with a group of wet-behind-the-ears football players and travel the country taking on the best the NFL has to offer.  Each NFL division you play has its own set of challenges as well as a more traditional ladder style tournament.  By successfully completing challenges and winning games you’ll earn points that can be used to open up a new division and increase your player’s abilities.  The challenges start out pretty straightforward, tasking you to do such things as being the first to score, or accumulating a certain amount of style points – but as you progress they get tougher and require you to accomplish multiple goals in a game while also making sure you win.

The challenge mode is a great place to learn the ins and outs of NFL Street’s gameplay, but you’ll be beating the snot out of the computer well before you’ve reached the end of the campaign.  Luckily, Street’s multiplayer offerings are excellent and extend the lifespan of the game considerably.  You and another player can go the quick game route, which is the easiest and fastest way to set up a head-to-head multiplayer game.  But once you get three or four people in on the action you’ll be in for some serious fun.

Visually, NFL Street doesn’t look quite as refined or polished as NBA Street Vol. 2, but it does do an excellent job of capturing the same hip-hop, urban style that made that game such a treat to watch.  The players have an exaggerated look about them, which helps to reinforce the game’s focus on impossibly hard-hitting collisions.  Animation is fluid and seamless, every move in the game transitions flawlessly to the next.  The Xbox version of the game is definitely the best looking of the bunch, but the differences between the three ports are negligible.  The sound presentation is also top notch and features an addictive mix of licensed rock and hip-hop from artists such as Korn, Lil’ Flip, and the X-ecutioners.  Unfortunately, most of the musical tracks are only heard during the menu screens.  The sound effects for things like tackles, getting smashed against a concrete wall, and crashing to the ground from a high-flying jump compliment the on-screen action perfectly.

If NBA Street is any indication, I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing future installments of this game.  It seems like the developers purposely, or perhaps because of time-constraints they, left out certain aspects of the Street franchise that were present in the latest NBA Street (double gamebreakers, for example), but at least we know what to expect with the sequel. 

Gameplay: 8.7

Like NBA Street, the gameplay is easy enough to be pick-up-and-play friendly but deep enough to stay entertaining for weeks.

Graphics: 8.7
Every visual aspect of NFL Street is brimming with stylish, urban flava that gives the game an impressive and unique look.

Sound: 9.1

The soundtrack is off-the-hook but the sound effects are what will really get your blood pumping.

Difficulty: Easy

After accruing enough ability points to sufficiently increase the skill level of your players, most will be able to breeze through just about any challenge unscathed.

Concept: 9.1
EA Big was certainly on to something when they overhauled the game of basketball with their unique vision and the same feat has been accomplished here.

Multiplayer: 8.2

After a while the computer starts to get a little too predictable, luckily there’s no telling what another human player will do.

Overall: 8.6

If you’ve been hankering for some solid, action-packed, arcade-style football then NFL Street should fit the bill perfectly.