Backyard Baseball ’97

I saw great reviews for ‘Backyard Baseball ’97‘ and decided to try it out for myself.

I got to say I was impressed from the very beginning of the game, reviewers say it is exactly like the original, so nobody has made alterations to the style of the game making it authentic experience.

You’ve got a nice array of team names and colours to choose from; I went for the Blue Bombers though Crazy Socks was tempting to use as a team.

You get to pick your team from the kids that are assembled for picking or you let the computer do it for you and then away you go to start, there’s a wide variety of kids from the tall and skinny to one in a wheelchair, batting actually isn’t one size fits all, batter heights do matter.

All team members have strengths and weaknesses so make sure you have players in the right positions.

Pitchers have a couple of options when it comes to what sort of pitch to throw, energy levels can be topped up by juice, the drink variety of course and you can replace a pitcher when needed by calling a Time Out and shuffling your players around.

When batting you get to pick what sort of hit you want to do from a power hit to a line drive and then it comes down to figuring out what the ball is going to go.

Fielding is very interesting, your players can drop catches, overthrow the ball and give the opposition a free base as the ball is out of the field, fielders can collide with each other complete with sound effects.

I love the commentary in this game, two kids in commentary with childlike observations, they commentate throughout the entire game, I was amused when they said my Blue Bombers were living up to their name when I was down 6-3 at the top of the sixth and final inning, I won the game 7-6 in the seventh inning.

I love the sayings the fielders and/or crowd are saying, one example is ‘We want a batter not a broken ladder’, what an enjoyable experience this game has been.

Personally, I can’t wait to try Backyard Football, Hockey, Soccer and Basketball to see if they are just as good to play.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Tiggy.