I cant wait for fans to see what were building on the Playground.
Hell of a year for nostalgic video games.
First we get EA Sports college football back in our lives for the first time in a decade.
Now Backyard Sports is making a comeback.
I could argue that those two franchises are my two favorite video game franchises of all time.
I haven’t tried to play a Backyard Sports game in years.
If I were to play the original right now, I have no idea if it would hold up.
But in my head I associate Backyard Sports with the best times of my life.
For the sake of this blog, I’m going to stick to talking Backyard Baseball.
That was by far the best and most popular.
Part of me thinks the best thing they could do with Backyard Baseball is make it a phone game.
Or just stick with the classic computer game.
That’d be fantastic as well.
But I’m not sure the game can translate well to a system like XBox or PS5.
Once Backyard Sports moved to Gamecube back in the day it was over for me.
Hopefully Playground Productions can get Backyard Baseball right.
They just have to ensure to give us all the original characters.
Let me select them one by one from the bleachers.
Don’t get carried away with modernizing the graphics.
Based on the trailer it looks like they’re doing a good job in that department.
If they want to throw in a few new characters I’m fine with that.
That goes for the stadiums as well.
Unless I’m confusing the new teams & logos in higher divisions thing with Backyard Soccer… That’s how you know you’ve made it in the Backyard Baseball world.
Note: I also just remembered in Backyard Soccer how they have the mid-season Off-The-Wall Indoor Tournament.
Damn I really just want to play the classic games now.
I’m gonna have to download them on my computer ASAP.
Sorry I’m rambling at this point.
But naturally, since we’re talking Backyard Baseball, I have to put together a lineup.
I can’t really tell you why.
Maybe I didn’t like the shape of his head as a kid.
Maybe I didn’t respect the way he swung the bat.
Maybe I just thought he was too much of a dumbass.
But for some reason I wasn’t a Pete Wheeler guy.
I’d take Pete Wheeler instead of Kenny Kawaguchi and have Amir Kahn pitch.
I might move Pablo to the infield as well, but the problem is he’s short.
Line drives would go over his head a lot.
I like tall infielders.
Smack dab in the middle of the steroid era.
Curt Schilling was in the mix as well (not a steroids guy just a crazy person).
And shoutout Jeff Bagwell.
That’s the Backyard Sports game I played more than anything else.
I wouldn’t hate another version of the game with modern day MLB players as kids.
But for this first one, I want Backyard kids only.
Don’t fuck this up Playground Productions.
I’ve never heard of you before, but you have a big responsibility on your hands.
Just keep things simple.
People loved the Backyard Sports games as they were back when they were on PC only.
Backyard Baseball (most important game to get right)2.
Backyard Soccer (clear second best Backyard Sports game for me)3.
Backyard Football (clear third best, but still a great game)4.
Backyard Basketball or Hockey (fell off huge when they got to making basketball and hockey)
