Playing Footsies

As originally seen in The Davis Enterprise (reprinted with permission)

FIFA Street (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube; $39.99; Rated E; fifastreet.com)

(three stars)

One of the things I love about America is its persistent refusal to accept Soccer as legitimate, despite it being the rest of the world’s favorite sport. And even though we enroll our kids year after year in soccer leagues, somewhere in between the schoolyard and the stadium, European Football gets lost along the way for all but the very few Yanks.

And so the red-headed stepchild of American Sports gets a whole new look in “FIFA Street,” the newest addition to EA’s “Street” Series where the rules, time limits, and penalties found in the more rigid simulations take a backseat to fast, style-over-substance gameplay- emphasizing not just how you play, but how you look playing.

Games break down into four-on-four matches where the first to 5 goals wins. Although you’ll only have control of four players, the fifth, and sometimes the most valuable, is the big concrete slab known as “The Wall;” of which, you can bounce passes to your teammates or even to yourself for a quick give-and-go breakaway.

But it wouldn’t be a “Street” game without the signature “Gamebreakers.” Here, gamebreakers are earned by performing sets of freestyle combos. Show off your fanciest footwork, taunt the opposing team with the rock, or maintain an extended session of airborne passing to your fellow ‘mates to rack up a hyper-powerful “Gamebreaker.” When you feel like stopping all the showboating to take a shot at the goal, the Gamebreaker turns your shot into a veritable cannon- laying out anyone stupid enough to get in its way and almost guaranteeing GOOOOOOOOOAL!

Unlike the “NFL” or “NBA Street” series which use hip-hop and trash-talk as the very foundation of its game design, “FIFA” feels… well… better behaved. A less abrasive soundtrack of techno, reggae, and Euro-beat tunes are the aural backdrop of “FIFA,” making this game much more listenable than EA’s more recent releases. Also, the style moves and after-score celebrations are less in-your-face than “FIFA’s” siblings. Maybe this is a product of having to appeal to primarily a global audience, or perhaps it says something about the arrogance of the professional American athlete?

Extensive “Create-A-Player” and “Rule the Street Mode” return as staples of the “Street” series, but conspicuously absent is Online Multiplayer- of all games that need the ability to connect people with the same interest – a niche arcade soccer game is it.