Rules -- who needs ‘em? Try this league instead

Those guys who are putting on that big game on Sunday have been dubbed the “No Fun League.” Players are penalized for showboating. All the uniforms must be, well, uniform. And the playing surfaces are boring, unobstructed fields.

Not in NFL Street. On this street, players get style points for rubbing it in. They wear ripped T-shirts, baggy shorts and high-tops. They tussle on beaches and in warehouses.

While NFL Street is pretty much football on steroids -- with some messy side effects -- the originality and ease of game play add up to a whole new way to play America’s most popular sport.

This is not your daddy’s football. The characters are freakish characterizations of current (and former) NFL stars. With big, exaggerated torsos, giant hands and oddly-shaped heads, the players look more like the “Incredible Hulk” than Bruce Banner does. The game makers did put in some identifiable details, however, such as San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees’ birthmark and Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams’ dreadlocks.

Game play is fast and furious. You choose seven players who play both offense and defense -- kind of like the Arena Football League, only you’ve heard of these guys -- or the computer can select for you. Play-calling is simple, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to get comfortable with the controls. Then, it’s playground rules at their finest: no penalties, no game clock, no dress code. (But, sadly, there are no late hits.)

Controllers can also customize their very own teams, right down to their players’ tattoos. Let’s see Paul Tagliabue try that.

Power-ups and unlockable items -- such as new players and gear -- are attainable by completing creative skills challenges. Being ahead of the Broncos after 12 plays gets you 100 points to use to improve your QB’s throwing arm. These challenges also act as an interactive tutorial in an effort to make your game more John Elway, less Jim Everett.

Don’t want the commitment of building your own team? How about a pickup game for which you draft a team, playground style, from random NFL players? Luckily, these are professional athletes, so no one gets stuck having to pick the dorky kid with glasses because he was the last one left.

It might not sound like much on paper, but this is one of the coolest things in the game. It’s buckets of fun to watch Donovan McNabb wing a underhanded pass to Terrell Owens.

Serious fun.

Sharp shooter

Looking for a standard first-person shooter? Look elsewhere.

XIII is a stylish, angular graphic novel come to vibrant life with David Duchovny’s voice. It’s also remarkably brilliant.

Sure, some levels are of the run-of-the-mill “sneaky hidden spy” kind, while others are your generic shoot-em-ups. But because this title is based on a comic book, the “cell-shading”-style graphics are some of the most original to come along in a while. The game resembles comic pages come to life. When you cap a bad guy on your quest to rediscover your identity -- the old super-spy-with-amnesia formula -- the villains’ screams of “Noooo” are displayed in big, funky comic type. And when bad guys talk near you, word bubbles appear. If only that happened in real life.

Controlling the title character is intuitive, but following the complex plot is tough at first. I guess the president has been assassinated and the guy you control was supposed to be the trigger man. Whatever, let’s just hear some more of the snappy jazz tunes and look at the pretty pictures.

There is also a multiplayer mode in which you can chase a friend around the diverse levels.

War simulator

While Medal of Honor Rising Sun doesn’t immediately blow you away like Medal of Honor Frontline’s re-creation of the invasion of Normandy did, this chapter is still worth playing.

In the latest installment of the World War II action series, Rising Sun puts gamers in the middle of the attack of Pearl Harbor fighting incoming Japanese Zeros, then later fighting in the battle for the South Pacific. Confusingly, the story line doesn’t explain why you’ve been suddenly transported from Hawaii to the Philippines, which happens at the outset.

Game play is the same as in the other Medal of Honor games, which is to say way above average, but if you only buy one WWII simulator, head for the Front- line.

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Games

NFL Street

Good: A fresh, funky new way to play football; tutorials actually fun to play for a change.

Bad: Only two playing fields unlocked at start.

Details: All platforms; $49.99. Rating: Everyone.

XIII

Good: Slick, stylish graphics and jazzy soundtrack; intoxicating game play.

Bad: Can’t save your progress in midmission.

Details: All platforms; $49.99. Rating: Mature (blood, intense violence).

Medal of Honor

Rising Sun

Good: Same high quality as other games in series.

Bad: Missions seem a little disjointed.

Details: All platforms; $49.99. Rating: Teen (violence).

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Showdown

Will the streak continue? For the last eight years, 989 Sports has hosted “The Game Before the Game,” in which a player from each of the two Super Bowl teams squares off against each other on NFL GameDay for PlayStation 2. And each year, the winner of the cyber version went on to win the real one.

Troy Brown of the New England Patriots was scheduled to battle Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers Wednesday night in Houston. Will one man’s video game ability predict the Super Bowl winner again this year?

To find out the results, visit www.989SportsOnline.com.