Review: Backyard Baseball ’97

Initial release date: October 10, 2024

Platform: Microsoft Windows

Developers: Humongous Entertainment, Mega Cat Studios

Genres: Sports video game, Casual game, Simulation Game, Sports

Publishers: Playground Productions, Playground Productions LLC

Series: Backyard Baseball

Engine: SCUMM

Humongous Entertainment is best known as the company founded by Ron Gilbert (of Monkey Island fame), who created and distributed all of those instructional point-and-click adventures we used to enjoy as children. Pajama Sam, Spy Fox, and Putt-Putt were all popular preschool games. Humongous was also recognized for an easygoing series of sports titles dubbed Backyard Sports, the most well-known of which being Backyard Baseball.

They were entry-level sports games geared at a younger audience, designed to teach kids about the laws of their respective sports while also providing some carefree, easygoing enjoyment, with simple controls and no challenge or content. With gaming preservation becoming increasingly popular, I’m always willing to revisit a re-release of an older title, even if it’s not quite a classic. Backyard Baseball ’97 isn’t a must-have, but the exaggerated, cartoonish graphics, the 4:3 presentation, and the overall “preschool PC gaming” vibes made me feel curiously nostalgic.

If you are over the age of 30, you will recognize the feeling I am describing. Those highly animated, sprite-based games, with extended animation cycles and a lot of meandering, neverending lines of dialogue, were all supposed to demonstrate how much content a developer could fit onto a CD back in the 1990s. It’s stupid, yet also strangely heartwarming. Backyard Baseball ’97 is an extremely basic sports game, but nothing about it feels broken or cheap. The voice acting is actually quite good, and the number of items you can personalize on your team is remarkable. The gameplay, while shallow, works quite well.

The game just demands that you use your mouse. Aim and click to pitch or bat. Allow the game to do the running for you. I never felt as if the AI was impeding my progress in this situation, thus I didn’t mind the lack of input. You don’t have to worry about physics, air resistance, or wind velocity because the ball will usually move wherever you direct it with the mouse. Aiming and batting become trivial as a result, but let’s be honest: you’re not playing Backyard Baseball for the challenge.

Backyard Baseball ’97 incorporates a lot of voice acting, as was common at the time.

I’m not going to say that the re-release of Backyard Baseball ’97 is a watershed moment for baseball titles, because MLB The Show is still as accessible and enjoyable, but I’m delighted it exists and is so widely available on Steam. It’s a pleasant and nostalgic throwback to a certain era of kid-friendly PC gaming, when titles included extended and high-quality spritework and animations, as well as engaging dialogue and simple controls. I guess you had to be there, but I was. So I’m delighted I can now revisit some of Humongous’ more “gamey” titles in a more accessible manner.

Review Overview

Gameplay: 78%

Controls: 80%

Aesthetics: 74%

Content: 70%

Accessibility: 83%

Value: 76%

Overall: 77%

GOOD

Summary:

“Backyard Baseball ’97” takes a retro, arcade-style approach to the sport, providing entertaining and lighthearted gameplay. The game is simple to pick up and play, making it appealing to both young and casual gamers. While the controls are straightforward and intuitive, the entire experience may lack the depth and personalization choices seen in more recent sports games. With its colorful look and replayability, it’s a fun, casual way to enjoy virtual baseball, albeit it may not capture the attention of die-hard sports fans for long.