Backyard Sports, formerly called Junior Sports, is a sports video game series originally made by Humongous Entertainment, which was later bought by Atari. It is the only game series that has licensing from all the major professional sports leagues in the USA: the MLB, MLS, NFL, NBA, and NHL.There have been over 30 games published in the series, the first few of which are regarded as quite good and the last few of which are regarded as awful. There are six main brands associated with the series: Backyard Baseball, Backyard Soccer, Backyard Football, Backyard Basketball, Backyard Hockey, and Backyard Skateboarding (which has only produced one game and its Game of the Year Edition). The series has spawned a TV special (NFL Backyard Basics: Football Tips from the Pros) and a few books, as well as a Comic Book Adaptation (a prequel to the game Sandlot Sluggers) which can be read here.The series was originally only Competitive Multiplayer, but starting with Backyard Football '10, Co-Op Multiplayer is also in the games.A demo version of Baseball 2001 can be downloaded from Infogrames, and a trial version of Sandlot Sluggers can be downloaded from Atari.
The series in general provides examples of:
Anachronism Stew: The pros being kids in modern times. Not only that, but also by the time some of the pros were born, others would've already been teenagers or even adults. NFL Backyard Basics handles this by having the present-day pros turn into kids while they're in the Clubhouse.
Cash Cow Franchise: This franchise was the cause of Humongous Entertainment making a profit.
Seemed to evolve further into this as soon as Atari hijacked the series.
Celebrity Power: The pros, who are always better than the neighborhood kids. Justified if you think about it, since the pros specialize in their respective sports while the neighborhood kids play many different sports.
Commuting On A Bus: Amir, Gretchen, and Stephanie in Backyard Baseball 2007.
Conspicuous CG: When the player sprites were changed to pre-rendered images, the spectators in the background were still 2D drawings. Likewise, when the camera zooms in on the game (i.e., when someone's at bat or doing penalty kicks), the players look like cartoons again.
Holiday Mode: Some games have a dynamic menu that changes with the season. However, in all games, playing the game on a kid's birthday will buff their stats for the day.
Jack of All Stats: Meta-example—the neighborhood kids are always overshadowed by the pros because the pros specialize in their respective sports, while the neighborhood kids play many different sports. Each specific game also has their own general Jack of All Stats. In Baseball, it's Jorge Garcia, while in the 2001/03 versions it was Sally Dobbs.
Magnum Opus Dissonance: Humongous had no intention of this series outselling their Junior Adventures, especially since Backyard Baseball performed poorly in its first year.
Market-Based Title: The series is sometimes called Junior Sports, its original title, in Europe.
Took a Level in Badass: The kids' stats vary between sports, causing kids with awful stats in one sport to suddenly become very good in another. Some also invert this trope, going from being good to awful.
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Upon winning a championship, photos of your team's players celebrating their victory are usually shown alongside the credits. How they celebrate depends on the game.
World Of Pun: Most team names are puns, as are those of most of the announcers.
Awesome Music: Invoked and lampshaded in Backyard Baseball 2001/Soccer: MLS Edition/Soccer 2004; one of the Credits Gags is "Click here to listen to the awesome credits song. Oh, and see the Smarty Pants who made this game."
The GBA games, except Football, which has no ending.
Backyard Baseball 2001 and Soccer: MLS Edition removed the rewards for winning, besides getting a picture in the Hall of Fame.
In the Football games on the PC, beating the game as Mr. Clanky's Tackling Dummies gives you a simple victory photo. Justified as this team only consists of robots who probably aren't programmed to ride rides at an amusement park.
Covers Always Lie: Although Soccer 2004 was the last game to feature the kids' original designs, the box art depicted their then-new appearances.
Credits Gag: If you simply hover the mouse over the credits button in Backyard Baseball 2001, Backyard Soccer: MLS Edition and Backyard Soccer 2004, you get some humorous messages at the bottom of the screen.
Department of Redundancy Department: Football 2002 has the NFL license, and thus the Miami Dolphins are a playable team. However, one custom team name is the Orcas, which are a species of dolphins.
Drive-In Theater: Starlite Orchards Drive-In in Backyard Baseball 2005.
Entering "Houstons" as a coach name in Backyard Football 2002 adds the Houston Texans as a team name and logo.
In the original Football, the kicker for the Dolphins in season mode is named Ray, the same name as the kicker who wanted to kill Dan Marino (who happens to be in the game himself).
Feelies: Earlier installments came with promotional cards of the Backyard kids and pros. The ones that came with Baseball were an Obvious Beta, however, as some kids' clothes are differently colored, and their pitching and fielding stats are inaccurate and labeled as "Throwing" and "Catching".
Fire, Ice, Lightning: Powerups in Baseball are based off all three, along with water (the spitball).
Power-Up Letdown: The Chameleon play in Football, which turns your team uniforms into the offense uniforms. It really backfires, as it's still easy to tell what players are yours, and it's impossible to fool the computer. 2-player mode doesn't do any better; you can't highlight the pass icon over the defense, so the power up becomes worthless.
Although probably not intentional, Ronny Dobbs is also the name of quite possibly the most well known recurring character from [[Mr. Show]]
Silliness Switch: Cheat codes in Basketball for the PS2 make really big and small heads.
Even more so in Football 2006, where cheats can give characters big/small heads, big/small hands, etc; even different footballs— from a watermelon to a chocolate eclair to a banana slug.
Slippery Skid: A powerup in Hockey causes this to happen.
Soundtrack Dissonance: The pros in Soccer: MLS Edition did have unique themes, but they can't be heard in the "Meet the Kids" screen. Instead, the menu song/previous kid's theme keeps playing, resulting in things like a lot of pros using Billy Jean Blackwood's cajun leitmotif.
Spinning Paper: Whenever you unlock something in Baseball 2005.
.The series was originally only Competitive Multiplayer, but starting with Backyard Football '10, Co-Op Multiplayer is also in the games.A demo version of Baseball 2001 can be downloaded
0 reviews