NFL Street 3 review

Also new is a game type called Playbook Elimination, in which you and an opponent start with only a handful of plays, and every time you run a play that doesn't move you further down the field - say, a runner gets tackled in the backfield or a pass gets dropped - that play is then removed from your playbook for the rest of the game. When you or your opponent run completely out of plays, the team with the most points wins. It's both tense and infuriating. Other game variations count total yardage or defensive points instead of touchdowns, or pour points steadily into a pot, but then award the whole pot to whomever scores next.

Of course, you've also got customizable teams, a career-style "Respect the Street" mode, some great mini-modes like Hot Potato tackle-fest Crush the Carrier, and ad-hoc support for head-to-head football or four-man minigames.

The PSP version is remarkably similar to the full-sized Street, with the expected tweaked control scheme (only two shoulder buttons), longer loads, and trimming of a few non-essential components. It has a fewer songs, you won't get the players' quick audio comments or cut scene taunts (actually a blessing), and the online play is actually not here - it's just ad-hoc. This last omission hurts, but ironically, the game's other flaws are far more forgivable as a handheld game.