NFL Street 2 Unleashed for PSP Reviews & Ratings by IGN

First the good, where the seven-on-seven game of iron-man football actually translates well to the small screen due to there being less players on the field than normal, not to mention the widescreen to help you see the width of the field and any hot spots on the walls that you need to hit. The gameplay is also the fast and fun type where you can pickup your PSP, break some ankles, perform some cool Gamebreakers, and be out in a quick game of 24 in an average time of 10 minutes.

NFL Street 2 Unleashed also hits the handheld with a surprising amount of depth in terms of game modes as you can play quick games (NFL teams), pickup games (you pick the players), mini-games like crush the carrier with up to four players alternating on the same PSP, and even the Own the City mode from the console version where you create your character and travel from block to block attempting to be the fiercest football player to ever run on concrete. There is also an NFL Challenge mode where you have 150 days to complete all of the various NFL challenges, like score on a drive while only using running plays or score 35,000 style points on a single play, to earn rewards that help build up your team before entering in a 32 team tournament against the real NFL teams.

But with the good, also comes some bad. It takes 50 seconds to load a game, 60 seconds to play a mini-game…something just isn't right with that ratio. In fact, it seems to take so long to load a game, it's like watching Sam Adams run 90-yards for a touchdown, it's just that frustrating to watch. Another downer is the fact that even though this game is being released three months after the console versions, EA Sports still didn't bother to update the rosters. That means no Roy Williams on Detroit, no Antonio Gates on the Chargers, and no Larry Fitzgerald on the Cardinals. It's not like these guys were just discovered yesterday, how hard could it be to add them to the roster? I mean, you have Tai Streets on the Lions but not Roy Williams…what a joke.

Another problem with the game is how geared the gameplay is toward the run. The addition of the walls and being able to jump up them to avoid tackles, only compounded the running addiction of the first game, whereas in NFL Street, at least the defense could push you to run out of bounds, now as you're running with the ball wide, you're able to simply bounce off of the wall, pull a Matrix-like hurdle, and jump right over the defender. Sure, it's fun to watch Ray Lewis miss a tackle and smack himself head first into a fence, but it just makes the gameplay too uneven in the end.

Not to say that overall the gameplay isn't fun, because it can be, especially when you flip a pass over your head or behind your back 50 yards for a touchdown, it would just be a lot more fun if you needed to mix things up on offense a little more. You get a quarterback who can run, a good running back, and three offensive linemen to block, it doesn't matter who else is on your team, you're going to dominate the ball with option plays. Forget Peyton Manning, in Street, Michael Vick, Culpepper, and McNabb are the three best quarterbacks based on their legs, and nothing else really matters.

In terms of WiFi, three new Street modes have been added, including Street Slalom (an obstacle course), a Style Point Challenge, and even an end zone dance contest that plays similar to Space Channel 5…if only Michael Jackson would come out and dance with T.O., now that would be a game.

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