PSP

FIFA Street 2

FIFA Street 2 is a decent PSP game. It gives you the chance to create your team to your likings and with your players you can do some breathtaking tricks that result in fantastic-looking matches. The main downpoint are the controls which haven't been done all too great and take a lot of time to get used to resulting in a high rate of boredom and irritation after a while. For the hardcore soccer fans, this is definitely a must have though but for the standard gamer it will probably ask a bit too much patience.

Cette version PSP de FIFA Street 2 nous offre un divertissement de qualité. Pèchant juste par son mode multi limité à 2 joueurs, par l'absence de vue depuis les cages et par des contrôles légèrement moins précis et rapides que sur la console de salon de Sony, le jeu ravira néanmoins les amateurs de foot arcade grâce à son côté spectaculaire et sans prise de tête.

With the World Cup taking place this year, it was easy to get caught up in the excitement of the world's most popular sport. Having received more airtime this year than before, partly due to the United States' exciting run back in 2002, the World Cup in 2006 arguably pushed soccer into the minds of more people in the US of A than ever before. It's too bad that the US didn't make it nearly as far as they did four years ago, but there's no doubt that the exposure the sport is now receiving in the States will boost popularity here. So it was with some excitement that I sat down with EA's FIFA Street 2 and anticipated some of the excitement of the sport the rest of the world calls "football."

When FIFA Street was released in February of 2005, the game boasted far more style than it did substance and offered a gameplay experience that was as flawed as it was flashy. Nevertheless, when we reviewed FIFA Street we alluded to the fact that we'd very much like to see its problems addressed in a sequel at some point, and now, one year later, EA Sports Big has done just that. The PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube versions of FIFA Street 2 represent a significant improvement over the lackluster original, but the same can't be said for the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS games unfortunately.

Eigentlich akzeptable Spaßbolzerei, die mit verqueeren Steuermacken nervt.

Was denkt sich EA eigentlich immer dabei, die PSP-Umsetzungen derart zu beschneiden? Schon auf den Konsolen ist Fifa Street 2 nur Durchschnitt, aber auf Sonys Handheld frage ich mich, was in dieser abgespeckten, wenn auch optisch ansprechenden Fassung überhaupt noch Spaß machen soll. Die immer gleichen Kick-Runden gegen immer schwierigere Mannschaften? Das Auslachen des eigenen oder gegnerischen Torwarts, wenn er mal wieder ein läppisches Schüsschen durchgehen lässt? Oder vielleicht doch die wahnsinnig tollen und einfallsreichen Minispiele, in denen ihr euch Mann gegen Mann gegen den Torwart messt, bei dem in diesem Fall tatsächlich eine Spur von Können aufzublitzen scheint? Wer sich all das antun und nicht auf den mobilen Kick im Hinterhof verzichten möchte, wird sicher einige Partien lang Freude an der schnell öde werdenden Torjagd haben und sich an den freispielbaren Klamotten und Goodies erfreuen.

The console versions of FIFA Street 2 tried something a little fresher at least, and the result, while uninspiring, was better than the original. That's why it's so perplexing that the handheld versions are actually just portable installments of the original FIFA Street. While you'll find the original game more or less intact, none of the goodies in the console version made it to the PSP iteration. While it's better than what the DS got manhandled with, it's still plagued with its own issues, and even worse, without a right analog stick or any approximation (at least the DS version tried), you're stuck with the auto-trick function, which sucks out some of the fun. After all, what good is pulling off stylish soccer tricks if you don't even choose which one you're going to do?