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The NFL is a gigantic franchise that specializes in football tournaments and other various types of pig-skin things. When the NFL meets a football game produced by EA, you can be sure that the game is authentic, and incorporates a lot of quality. All of the previous sports/football games were based around a stadium, limiting you with rules and regulations that are always in play. NFL Street moves the action to the playing fields of beaches, towns, junkyards, and various other out-door settings, each with their own weather and feel; all while removing most of the rules that kept the boundaries on this country's home game fun and worthwhile.
Gameplay:
Obviously football is based around two teams, each trying to get the 'rock' (NFL Street's slang for ball) to the opposite side of the field. In NFL Street, that hasn't changed, but now it is unrestricted warfare for the two teams; fighting against one another for the ball, doing all kinds of stylish moves, throws, and blocks to confuse the enemy. In other words, the game is filled with fast reaction and taunting.
You start out by choosing a mode of play (NFL Challenge, Quick game, or 'Pickup'), each of which has a different play style. NFL Challenge is perhaps the most innovative of the three, as it lets you create a team that is just starting out in football, and you have to play through pro teams like the Cardinals or Rams. The innovative features of this, are the fact that you can change pretty much any aspect of the team (size, height, weight, gear, headgear - all of which affect play, mind you), and also all of each player's attributes, like speed, catching, defense, so forth. This allows for a completely customized team, which could be trained up to fight against the elite AFC, NFC, or some of the other elite teams. Gameplay is one of the strong points in this game.
Hundreds of pounds crushing skinny bones of the poor opposition, fill this game with flavor. Rap or Rock bands play in the background, to set the mood of the game, with quite a selection of artists like 'The Executioners', one good band of many available. All of the music and voices sound great, except that after 1-2 hours of playing, the voices get repetitive. Comments after a touchdown often come out like "Ain't no one in the NFL better than me!" or sometimes a little dance or weird move, then "What?!".. it gets a little annoying, but provides a small laugh at times.
Graphics:
Brightly colored uniforms (mainly T-Shirts, armoured pads, socks, shoes, so forth... whatever you want) and a hundred yards (on most playing fields) litter the game. As I mentioned before, you can customize team mates (headware, clothing, gear, all of it). All of these items are textured nicely, and almost never look jagged or bad. Player models and textures look very smooth and real. All of the levels look detailed and worthy of a playing field, as each of them has a specific setting and weather type (A beach that's sunny, a small back alley in N.Y. that's snowy) which sets a nice mood during play.
Multiplayer:
Online connection has made today's PS2 games so much more than what they are. Up to 2 players can play online, together or against each other, as any member of their team. 4 players can play off line with 2 PS2's and a multitap, which provides quite a lot of fun for a few hours. There's nothing special about MP except creating two teams in SP and building them up to go against a friend, but it's a very fun experience nevertheless.
Conclusion:
A great football game, with a lot of replay value included. Large selection of music, and vast customization of teams (with the official NFL logo and teams included) open up many possibilities, as with the online playability to challenge people across the network. A good buy for below 50$, if you are sick of all the rules and regulations you have to go through in normal football games. Rent first if you are unsure, otherwise, buy it.
