PlayStation 2, home of the iconic NFL Street 2 video game, turns 20 years old this month. The PS2 is the best-selling video game console of all time and has given our generation of gamers some of the greatest games ever. Games such as Battlefront II, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Tony Hawk's Underground, Lego Star Wars, and MVP Baseball 2005 all originated on this console. However, none of these compare to the beautiful game of NFL Street 2. Released by EA Sports BIG on December 22, 2004, NFL Street 2 instantly became the “must-have” item of the Christmas season.
If you are like us, at some point in the mid-2000s you woke up Christmas morning and ran downstairs to see that Santa had brought you the hottest new Street game. Of course, the first thing you did was launch Internet Explorer on the family Windows XP desktop to look up cheat codes. The ethical conflicts of cheat codes will not be discussed here, but are to be assumed as a given during this politically promiscuous age.
NFL Street 2 and other Street games were unlike other sports games because they allowed you to truly relate to the players in the game. For example, the average 11-year-old wasn’t gearing up in shoulder pads and a helmet to play a game of backyard football, but the creators of Street Football leveraged this 11-year-old attribute for the advantage of the game. Professional players in the game wore everyday attire such as cargo pants and a tank top with a gold chain. It made it all the more real for people playing the game, while they simultaneously had the ability to make a 40-yard off-the-wall style throw as Michael Vick.
Games in NFL Street are played 7v7 with players ambidextrously playing both offense and defense, which makes for some amazing match-ups as Brett Farve tries to tackle LaDainian Tomlinson. The soundtrack is arguably one of the most critically acclaimed in the industry, with songs like “Breathe, Stretch, Shake” by Mase and P. Diddy. The biggest improvement from the first NFL Street is the “Gamebreaker 2”. By acquiring 100,000 style points through wall jumps, broken tackles, and taunting, the user can gain the coveted Gamebreaker ability, which transforms your team into Hulk-like players for a drive. However, if you save your style points and wait until you have 200,000 points, then you unlock Gamebreaker 2. The power of Gamebreaker 2 is hard to put into words, but it basically means an automatic touchdown no matter what side of the ball you are on. This function is really what differentiated NFL Street 2 from similar games like Madden or NCAA.
Both of us grew up playing NFL Street 2 as blossoming youths, and after reminiscing about the game we ordered it last semester off of eBay for $20. We stuck it into a PS2 that was collecting dust in the closet and were instantly transported back in time. Now, instead of nae naeing on our siblings, we spend countless hours honing our craft hoping to one day go pro. Xavier has an uncanny ability to find wall hotspots for extra style points, and good luck tackling Amos in the backfield as he elusively ducks around looking for the long ball. If NFL Street 2 or any other PS2 game is part of your childhood, then head over to 205 Princess Trail (The Thunderdome) and catch these hands. Just bring your own controller to prove your gamer status, no fakes allowed.
