So, it’s first and ten, and the quarterback calls a quick pass to the flat. You run up to the line and eye a cornerback who just glares at you behind his shades. The ball is snapped, and you start your route. As his pocket collapses, the quarterback launches the ball behind his back into your hands. Stutter-stepping away from your defender, you break down the sideline for a few yards before you get rocked into a chain link fence by the safety. But you’re stronger than that, so you bounce off the barrier and hurdle the back’s outstretched hands. As you spin the football on your finger and high step into the end zone, the biggest decision on your mind is whether to talk smack or break into that new dance you’ve been practicing.

If that description sounds a bit unorthodox, that’s just because you haven’t hit the gridiron of EA Sports Big’s latest “extreme sport,” NFL Street. Having conquered the slopes with their SSX franchise and dominating the boards with NBA Street, EA now turns their attention to America’s most popular game. Just like their other games, NFL Street has been modified from the typical simulation to feature a faster paced, more arcade-like battle between the hash marks.

The most immediately noticeable difference between Street and Madden, its distant cousin, is the 7-on-7 style play reminiscent of Midway’s NFL Blitz series. There aren’t separate squads for offense and defense, nor are there penalties or substitutions, meaning that your quarterback will have to get accustomed to the idea to playing as a defensive back on the other side of the ball. So, for example, if you’re going to use Tom Brady as a QB, you have to figure out whether or not he’d be a good cornerback or linebacker. Other subtle differences abound throughout the game. For instance, the field is marked out in about 5 or 6 separate first and 10 yard markers. However, it’s entirely possible to carry the ball 11 or more yards on a pass or running play and have the extra yardage count towards your next series of downs.

This oft-used playground convention actually has a practical application when you consider some of the arenas that you’ll play in. Not the typical manicured stadiums the NFL has grown accustomed to, Street games are played on rooftops or beaches, amongst other places. Trashcans, parking cones and spare tires are merely some of the obstacles placed on these fields, many of which inadvertently play roles as impromptu blockers or tacklers for plays. You probably have never said, “If only that damn beach ball wasn’t in the way,” when you’ve played football, but you will now.

If you couldn’t tell by now, Street, like its basketball counterpart, emphasizes style over scoring, primarily on offense. Runs and passes are both part of the playbook, but you also have trick plays like the flea flicker or the running back pass in your repertoire. As you execute a play, you can attempt to pass defenders with a number of secondary moves, such as jukes, stiff arms, charges or hurdles. However, thanks to the arcade-like nature of the game, these fakes can be augmented using a style button.

Combining the style button along with one of these moves can allow players to perform incredibly exaggerated steps. This can be anything from dribbling the football along the ground like a basketball to 720 spins away from opponents. Players can also pitch the ball to teammates an unlimited number of times, allowing for the possibility of virtual Stanford-Cal plays on every down. Throw in a turbo button for extra speed, and you’ve got the makings for some serious showboating on the field. However, being flashy has a price, because just about any hit from the defense during a stylish move can cause a fumble and costly turnover.

Each successful style move earns you points, which goes to fill up your GameBreaker meter. Once full, your team becomes virtually unstoppable, running over opposing players (and on defense, causing turnovers instantaneously). Your opponent’s can also gain these tide-turning abilities, turning the GameBreaker into much more of a strategic item than the NBA Street titles. Do you trigger the Breaker and get a quick score, save it for defense for the fast turnover, or keep it in case your opponent gets one to cancel their GameBreaker out? With the power it has, GameBreakers can often be the key to victory.

There are three main modes of play within NFL Street (four if you count the PS2’s Online Play mode). Quick Play allows you to choose any two of the 32 NFL teams and hit a field. Pick Up games are a bit more creative, because it chooses from the more than 300 players available in the game to throw into a randomly generated pool. From there, you get to be playground captain, choosing your team from those assembled. Either one of these modes can be played with up to four players also, which lets gamepad jocks play for bragging rights.

However, the real meat of the game is in the NFL challenge. Here, you get to take a team of unknowns and pit them against the teams of the NFL. When you start, you get to choose whether your team will be an offensive or defensive powerhouse, or a balance of the two. From there, you’ll slowly make your way through each NFL division, defeating teams and specific tasks along the way. Successful completion of these challenges earns you gear, plays for your playbook or additional development points that can be used to boost your players stats. What’s more, defeating all-star teams unlocks arenas and additional squads to play with, including a number of legendary players that are a load of fun to play with.

The overall look of NFL Street is quite vibrant and cartoon-like, with a surprising amount of care paid to each NFL athlete. From Keyshawn “the crybaby” Johnson to Ricky Williams, each league player looks very similar to their real life counterpart. This extends to the character modeling for each player. You’re not going to have someone as skinny as Matt Hasselbeck confused with a big man like Michael Strahan because of the basic models for each body; big guys are huge, and little guys are noticeably smaller.

Animation throughout the game, such as style moves or bone crunching hits, look incredibly slick, and run smoothly throughout the game without any slowdown. (This even includes the numerous rapid camera rotations on repeatedly turned over fumbles!) However, I would’ve loved more options for style moves, or even the ability to create my own from some of the ones available. Once the novelty of seeing the same flashy move wears off, the concept slowly becomes stale. One quick aside also: if this is supposed to be football without rules, where’s the Sharpie or the cell phone? Terrell and Joe’s fine-inducing celebrations should fit in perfectly with NFL Street’s attitude, and yet they’re missing…

The 8 fields are unique setting wise (for instance, not many players would know what EA’s Redwood City campus looks like), but many of them seem to be rather non-distinct, which is just the downfall for non-“stadium” play. Without specifically being told that Da Roof is in Atlanta, for example, you might not be able to tell where this field is or why it’s so special that people play there. Even worse, out of bound markers can be noticeably absent, making it all too easy to make a move for a huge gain only to kill the play.

The sound of NFL Street is solid, however, proving that once again, EA’s sports titles are heads above other franchises in terms of effects. When I say bone-crunching hits, it sounds like someone needs to go to the doctor immediately. The sheer amount of smack talked between players is nothing short of amazing, especially since the comments actually correspond to recent events during the game. Hearing your wide receiver say, “Hey, my bad,” when he blows coverage, or a lineman joke, “Were you trying to run,” after he stops someone for a loss is simply perfect. What’s even better is that there’s no longer play-by-play commentary, allowing gamers to fill in their own dialogue on the on-field action. The lone downside is the fact that the soundtrack, full of rap and rock acts, is relegated solely to instrumental versions during a game. With the amount of dialogue present in the game, you really won’t notice the songs until you’re on a menu screen. Xbox owners will really be better off supplementing their play with a custom soundtrack.

While multiplayer shines within Street, there are still three main faults within the single player game that handicaps the title. First of all, the game does tend to be a little short. Once you’ve gotten the hang of how the challenges work, you can quickly unlock the remaining players and teams, making fast progress with Street’s secrets. From there it’s simply a matter of tracking down opponents (either friends or, for those lucky PS2 owners, online).

However, you probably won’t face that much of a challenge by then, because the AI isn’t particularly adaptive to your offense or defense. For example, you can run the same play in the same direction three or four times before the computer will start to prepare a defense against it. By then, you simply need to perform a pass or another play to the opposite side and then return to your old course of advancing the ball until you score. The same can be said on the defensive side of the ball, which can be disappointing.

Finally, the amount of unlockable items, while considerable, isn’t really anything special. Many of these objects are random clothing objects, like shoes or baseball jerseys. While some of them impart statistical bonuses, the majority of them are simply cosmetic. This isn’t really worth the time to play through some contest for a pair of shoes or a headband. What’s worse, the majority of unlockable teams are simply comprised of players from other squads. The designers could’ve made this entire feature better by stocking the unlockable section with only status boosting items or a much larger roster of legendary players. As it is, there are only 9 legends available, which leaves out a ton of people. What about Earl Campbell, Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, John Elway, Mike Ditka, Mike Singletary, or a host of other mythological players that strapped on a pair of pads? Perhaps we’ll have to wait for NFL Street 2.

While football fans will have quite some time to wait for the next season and the next installment of Madden, NFL Street should be able to provide them with a healthy fix to last them through the winter months until training camp. With a strong dose of attitude, very accessible control scheme and creative spin on the sport of football, NFL Street is a bold and worthy addition to the EA Sports Big family. “Extreme” sports fans should go out and tackle this title into their consoles as soon as possible.