"Bringing Socca to the streets!"

I have played every street game on the market but I think that Fifa Street is by far the best one.

Gameplay: (10/10)
From the moment I saw the street training video in this game (tutorial) I knew the gameplay was going to be great. Unlike in NFL Street there is no stopping and no downtime except when a goal is scored. The tricks that you can pull off in this game are amazing. You can press the y button to perform a random beat trick, however, you could add originality using the c-stick. When trying to get past the defender, pressing left or right on the trick stick (c-stick) while make your player do a rollout move in that direction. Pressing up or down on the trick stick will either lob it over your opponents head or put it between their legs. By holding L, standing still, or having your back to the defender will pull off better tricks worth even more points. Pressing the X button on offense makes your player pull off a high pass. By pressing the button at the right times, your players can juggle the ball in the air, and then one-time it into the net.
Once you get the hang of the basic tricks, you can perform tricks off the wall and even pass off of it. FIFA Street, like every other street game, has a gamebreaker move. When you fill up your trick bar with juggling and beats you will be able to use a super shot that will nearly always go in. Be sure to use it when there are no defenders around. For experts, pulling of trick after trick in succession will fill up your combo bar. The combo bar lets you slap multipliers on all the following tricks and makes it easier to score. Sadly, juggling the ball for any given time counts as only one trick on the combo bar.

Graphics: (9/10)
The graphics are easily comparable to NBA Street Vol. 2. However, the animation flows much better, it looks much more like they are dribbling the ball then having it glued to their feet. Each FIFA player looks unique and just like their real life counterpart. One of the most stated flaws in graphics in this game is when you are tricked out by your opponent. The circle around your character turns gray and you are not able to move. Little do these accusers know, but this is just as true as faking someone out in NBA Street and juking in NFL Street. They just do not have the animation to show why you can not move.
There are a total of ten pitches in this game and they are all unique and breathtaking. Each field is from a different FIFA team's country. They also reflect each country very well. For example, the court in New York is on a basketball court. There are no ball trails like there were in NBA Street with gamebreakers. It makes it all seem very down to Earth, even though what you are doing is definitely not. Which brings me to my next topic:

Sound: (8/10)
Just like the other games in its series, Fifa Street has a great soundtrack featuring many artists. All of the bands are from out of the States, and nearly every one has lyrics in a language other then English. The only artist that I knew on the track was Fatboy Slim, but the other ones started to grow on me as well. Just like NBA Street, Fifa Street has a commentator on the action, but this one speaks less then Bobbito and is usually not as funny. The in-game sound effects are very realistic and blend in nicely with the gameplay music.

JDA (10/10)
JDA stands for Jaw-Dropping Ability. This rating goes into the kinds of games where you pull off an amazing stunt and you just want to play it over and over again. Not only did my mouth gape open like a fish while playing this game it did so consistently. Whether it is a triple player fakeout that graces the net, a Spiderman save by the Keeper, or an off the wall header to a bicycle kick. Unlike other games, where replays are done only after a score or after a play, FIFA Street has the In-Demand Replay button. By pressing Z at any time during play, you can replay what just happened again and again. Every time you replay the replay, the camera angle changes, giving you the most pleasure possible out of your last stunt. In-Demand Replay is also a great way to diss your friends in Head-to-Head again and again.

Buy or Rent: Buy.
Overall, I believe that Fifa Street is the most overlooked sports game on the market today. It is a game that is better to buy but if people are worried of its originality then they should rent it first.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/05