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There was a time when EA made more than just simulation-focused sports titles. The Street line of sports games is a good example. These include NBA Street, NFL Street, and FIFA Street. Honestly, up until I did some research for this review, I had no idea there was a FIFA Street series. Anyway, the Street titles are arcade style sports games and I vaguely remember ads or commercials for at least one of the NFL Street titles around the time it came out. I remember thinking the concept was interesting. The first game came out in 2004, back when I was a teenager, and that year I ensured any money I got I saved to get Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. But I always wanted to check out NFL Street and I finally got the chance. Almost two decades later. Developed by EA Tiburon and published by EA Sports BIG, NFL Street was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube in January, 2004. For this review, I played the Xbox version.
NFL Street is modeled after street football and features NFL teams and players. Games are seven-on-seven and players can fill any position. There is no punting, field goals, game clock, penalties, or injuries. Games are played to certain scores or style points which I’ll get into in a bit. Similar to the NFL Blitz games, Street leans into the arcade realm and emphasizes aggressive play. Players hit hard and play with style. NFL Street comes with several game modes including one that needs to be unlocked. You can jump into a quick game, play a pickup game where you assemble a team of NFL stars, and play through the NFL Challenge mode where you take on teams and unlock rewards.
The core gameplay is actually quite fun. While NFL Street may not feature the same kind of depth as the more simulation-focused football titles, there is quite a bit here to keep you occupied and it can be enjoyed with friends. Tackles are hard and look awesome and some hits are just brutal. Players will slam each other into walls, level each other, and do it all in style. The game places an emphasis on style. By performing certain moves, you earn style points but there is a higher risk of fumbling the ball if hit or tackled during a style move. Earning style points fills the GameBreaker meter and when full, you can activate a GameBreaker before the snap and it will last for the drive. When on offense, you can easily shake defenders and on defense, you can plow through blockers and cause fumbles more often. However, a GameBreaker can be canceled if both teams activate theirs in the same drive.
The more I played the game, the more I disliked the GameBreaker mechanic. In a way, it lives up to its name and breaks the game. I guess that’s the idea. It’s a gimmick that almost guarantees a score or forces a turnover. I can see how it’s fun if playing casually and/or with friends but otherwise, I don’t like it. While NFL Street is more of an arcade game of football than a simulation, it’s still a game of strategy. Choosing the right plays is important. But the GameBreaker mechanic basically renders the strategy part futile, at least for that drive. And that could cost you the game. Granted, a turnover will end the drive and GameBreaker but in my experience, that’s not always easy to pull off. Ultimately, I would save my GameBreakers to cancel out the other team’s. It’s not necessarily a bad mechanic and I can see why players find it enjoyable but I don’t like it. Couple this with the CPU Assist option which ensures games against the CPU stay close and things can get frustrating.
There is no franchise or coaching mode of any kind but the NFL Challenge mode is pretty cool. Playing through it is how you unlock things including fields and certain teams. I see this mode as a sort of football RPG. You create a team and can customize the players. Everything from their name to appearance to attributes. To progress through the mode, you select a division and can complete challenges for rewards, and some challenges cost tokens to initiate. When you feel you’re ready, you can take on the ladder, meaning you play against each team ending with that division’s All-Star team. Each division has it’s own challenges and many award you development points that can be spent to improve your players’ attributes so they perform better on the field. Other challenges award you plays, gear, and NFL players. You can equip your players with any unlocked gear and some will affect attributes. Because many challenges cost tokens to initiate, you won’t be able to take on every challenge. So you will find yourself having to choose if you want to unlock an NFL player or something else like development points.
I found that NFL Challenge puts up a decent fight in the beginning when your team basically sucks. Once I nabbed my first NFL player, I was doing so much better. From that point forward, I stuck to challenges that would award players. But I imagine you can stick to challenges that award points and simply improve your fictional players to dominate. Basically, this mode allows you to craft a team of NFL stars from different teams or improve your own. It’s a neat concept that offers a good amount of replay value. Now even if you turn off GameBreakers in the options menu, it will not be disabled in NFL Challenge and I’m pretty sure the same applies to the CPU Assist setting. That said, I did notice that if I got too far ahead of the CPU team, the game’s efforts to ensure they catch up does become obvious. And this is why I came to dislike the GameBreaker mechanic. The CPU catches up and then activates a GameBreaker to possibly win. I expected the CPU Assist since that kind of thing is commonplace but the GameBreaker can fuck you out of a win no matter how well you perform. I don’t like it.
As indicated earlier, NFL Street centers on seven-on-seven football and players can fill multiple positions. For example, a running back can also be a wide receiver. Players will frequently taunt each other and I found some of the dialogue to be humorous. The animations look good in my opinion and that coupled with the great audio work, specifically the sounds of tackles, make each hit feel powerful. Plays are often exciting and there’s an addictive quality to the gameplay. With the right attributes, a player can juke and evade defenders more easily than others. Another player may not be brought down so easily and can possibly carry defenders as he marches towards the end zone. Instead of stadiums, games are played on fields set in different environments, most of them urban. People will cheer and make noises during a game and you can even see people in the backgrounds watching the game.
NFL Street doesn’t look too bad in today’s world. It’s a colorful game with good animations and a solid audiovisual presentation, overall. It’s kind of a got a cartoon-y look and the brutal hits and tackles only adds to it but also gives it a charm. The game does borrow from hip hop culture and in my opinion, nails the urban aesthetic. Each field is distinct and detailed, with their own look and feel. The soundtrack consists of licensed tunes, a mix of hip hop and rock and the Xbox version does support custom soundtracks. In my opinion, the audio work is fantastic. Specifically, the tackles and hits which sound amazing and like they could actually hurt. On the technical side, I encountered no major issues.
Ultimately, I feel NFL Street is a wonderful arcade-style football game. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It’s a cool concept and easy to pick up and play. I think the GameBreaker mechanic is neat if playing casually or with friends but otherwise, I don’t much care for it. There’s nothing really wrong with it and it fits the arcade-style gameplay but I feel it can result in frustration at certain points, at least if playing solo. Nevertheless, I can see why people would be drawn to the gimmick in the game like this. I do really enjoy the NFL Challenge mode. While it may not be as in-depth as a franchise mode in any of the golden era simulation-focused football titles, it plays out like a football RPG of sorts and it feels unique and fun. You create a team and then complete challenges to improve your players so they can take on NFL teams or you can just nab players from NFL teams and basically craft your own team of NFL stars. You have options and that’s cool. Most importantly, the gameplay is a lot of fun. You don’t have to worry about penalties or injuries, hits and tackles look and feel awesome, and games can be fast-paced and exciting.
I absolutely recommend NFL Street. When it comes to arcade-style football games, this is up there with NFL Blitz as one of my favorites. Similar to Blitz, it emphasizes aggressive play and the tackles and hits are often brutal. It retains the element of strategy but very much centers on the more exciting aspects of the sport. It’s also easy to pick up and play and can be enjoyed with friends. Definitely check it out.