Backyard Sports

Backyard Sports (originally branded as Junior Sports)[1][2] is a series of video games released for consoles and computers. The series is best known for starring kid-sized versions of popular professional sports stars, such as Albert Pujols, Paul Pierce, Barry Bonds, Tim Duncan, Clint Mathis, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Joe Thornton and Andy Macdonald. The Backyard Sports series is licensed by the leading professional U.S. sports leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Soccer (MLS).

Backyard Sports
Series Logo
Genre(s)Sports
Developer(s)Humongous Entertainment
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Android, Game Boy
First releaseBackyard Baseball
1997
Latest releaseBackyard Sports: Baseball 2015 and Backyard Sports: Basketball 2015
2015

The series includes Backyard Baseball, Backyard Basketball, Backyard Football (American football), Backyard Soccer, Backyard Hockey (Ice hockey), and Backyard Skateboarding. In the games, players form a team consisting of Backyard Kids and pro players, which they take through a "Backyard League" season, attempting to become the champions. Players can create their own athletes, starting in Backyard Football (1999). Another aspect of the games is the use of Power-Ups, allowing players to gain "super-abilities". For instance, "Super Dunk" allows a basketball player to make an incredible dunk from nearly anywhere on the court, "Leap Frog" allows a football player to jump over the entire defensive line, and "Ice Cream Truck" causes the other team to be completely distracted for a brief period of time.

Some of these games are playable with the ScummVM emulator.[3]

History

The series began in late 1997 with Humongous Entertainment creating their first game, Backyard Baseball. Humongous Entertainment was owned by GT Interactive. Later Infogrames bought the company, and along with it came all of the game titles. Infogrames allowed Humongous Entertainment to expand the series, and they developed more titles such as Backyard Soccer, Backyard Hockey, Backyard Skateboarding, Backyard Basketball and Backyard Football.[4] Following the buyout by Infogrames these titles from the Backyard series have seen releases for game consoles, including the Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Wii.

On July 24, 2013, Epic Gear bought the Backyard Sports franchise during the Atari bankruptcy proceedings.[5]

On December 11, 2014, Day 6 Sports Group announced the relaunch of the Backyard Sports series with Backyard Sports NBA Basketball for smartphones and tablets, with Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry as the cover athlete.

On April 19, 2019, Humongous Entertainment tweeted an image of the original Junior Sports logo, hinting at a possible re-release of the original games and/or the developer having re-secured the rights to the series proper.[6][1][2]

Games in the series
Title Year Developer Publisher Platforms
Backyard BaseballOctober 24, 1997Humongous EntertainmentHumongous EntertainmentMacintosh, Microsoft Windows
Backyard SoccerSeptember 24, 1998Humongous EntertainmentHumongous EntertainmentMacintosh, Microsoft Windows
Backyard FootballSeptember 14, 1999Humongous EntertainmentHumongous EntertainmentMacintosh, Microsoft Windows
Backyard Baseball 2001June 6, 2000Humongous EntertainmentHumongous EntertainmentMacintosh, Microsoft Windows
Backyard Soccer: MLS EditionOctober 3, 2000Humongous EntertainmentInfogramesMicrosoft Windows
Backyard Football 2002September 19, 2001Humongous EntertainmentInfogramesMicrosoft Windows
Backyard Soccer
Junior Sports Football		September 28, 2001 (US)
November 3, 2001 (PAL)		RunecraftInfogramesPlayStation
Backyard BasketballOctober 30, 2001Humongous EntertainmentInfogramesMacintosh, Microsoft Windows
Backyard BaseballMay 30, 2002Game BrainsInfogramesGame Boy Advance
Backyard Baseball 2003June 7, 2002Humongous EntertainmentInfogramesMicrosoft Windows
Backyard FootballSeptember 25, 2002Torus GamesInfogramesGame Boy Advance
Backyard FootballOctober 10, 2002Humongous EntertainmentInfogramesNintendo GameCube
Backyard HockeyOctober 18, 2002Humongous EntertainmentInfogramesMicrosoft Windows
Backyard Soccer 2004March 18, 2003Humongous EntertainmentInfogramesMicrosoft Windows
Backyard BaseballMarch 31, 2003Humongous EntertainmentInfogramesNintendo GameCube
Backyard Football 2004September 4, 2003Humongous EntertainmentAtariMicrosoft Windows
Backyard Basketball 2004September 4, 2003Humongous EntertainmentAtariMicrosoft Windows
Backyard HockeyOctober 9, 2003Mistic SoftwareAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard NBA Basketball
Junior Sports Basketball		September 4, 2003 (US)
November 19, 2004 (PAL)		Humongous EntertainmentAtariPlayStation 2
Backyard BaseballMarch 23, 2004Humongous EntertainmentAtariPlayStation 2
Backyard Baseball 2005June 22, 2004Humongous EntertainmentAtariMicrosoft Windows
Backyard Hockey 2005September 21, 2004Humongous EntertainmentAtariMicrosoft Windows
Backyard BasketballSeptember 22, 2004Mistic SoftwareAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard SkateboardingSeptember 27, 2004Humongous EntertainmentAtariMicrosoft Windows
Backyard SkateboardingOctober 4, 2004Full FatAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard Baseball 2006March 16, 2005Game BrainsAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard Skateboarding - Kids Game of the Year EditionOctober 4, 2005Humongous EntertainmentAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard Football 2006September 20, 2005 (Windows)
October 4, 2005 (PlayStation 2)		Humongous EntertainmentAtariMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 2
Backyard Football 2006October 18, 2005Torus GamesAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007June 12, 2006Game BrainsAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007September 5, 2006 (PlayStation 2)
September 11, 2006 (Windows)
April 3, 2007 (Nintendo GameCube)		Game BrainsAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard Sports: Football 2007September 26, 2006Torus GamesAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard Sports: Basketball 2007November 14, 2006Mistic SoftwareAtariGame Boy Advance
Backyard Sports: Basketball 2007February 13, 2007 (PlayStation 2)
February 20, 2007 (Windows)		Game BrainsAtariMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 2
Backyard BasketballSeptember 25, 2007Mistic SoftwareAtariNintendo DS
Backyard HockeyOctober 9, 2007Mistic SoftwareAtariNintendo DS
Backyard Football 08
Backyard Football (Wii)		October 16, 2007 (PlayStation 2 and Wii)
October 23, 2007 (Windows)		FarSight StudiosAtariMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Wii
Backyard FootballOctober 23, 2007Torus GamesAtariNintendo DS
Backyard Baseball 09March 25, 2008 (Windows)
June 10, 2008 (PlayStation 2, Wii)		FarSight StudiosAtariMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Wii
Backyard Baseball 09October 23, 2007Mistic SoftwareAtariNintendo DS
Backyard Football 09October 21, 2008 (PlayStation 2, Wii)
October 29, 2008 (Windows)		FarSight StudiosAtariMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Wii
Backyard FootballOctober 21, 2008Torus GamesAtariNintendo DS
Backyard Baseball 10March 27, 2009 (Wii)
April 28, 2009 (PlayStation 2)		FarSight StudiosAtariWii, PlayStation 2
Backyard Baseball 102009Mistic SoftwareAtariNintendo DS
Backyard Football 10October 20, 2009FarSight StudiosAtariWii, PlayStation 2
Backyard Sports: Sandlot SluggersMay 25, 2010HB StudiosAtariMicrosoft Windows, Wii, Xbox 360
Backyard Sports: Sandlot SluggersMay 25, 2010Powerhead GamesAtariNintendo DS
Backyard Sports: Rookie RushOctober 20, 2010HB StudiosAtariWii, Xbox 360
Backyard Sports: Rookie RushOctober 20, 2010Powerhead GamesAtariNintendo DS
Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015February 6, 2015Day 6 Sports Group, LLCFingerprint NetworkiOS, Android
Backyard Sports: Basketball 2015February 6, 2015Day 6 Sports Group, LLCFingerprint NetworkiOS, Android

Film

In 2016, it was reported that Cross Creek Pictures and Crystal City Entertainment were developing a film based on Backyard Sports with Brian Oliver and Ari Daniel Pinchot producing.[7]

gollark: Except the monopoly autoscorer, which works quite nicely, perhaps.
gollark: Of course not.
gollark: `alright`
gollark: Or at least, it will, but you can't complain.
gollark: By the anthropic principle, it won't be one you're in.

References
  1. Schmidt, Eugene (April 24, 2019). "Humongous Entertainment coming to consoles". Barrelrolled. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  2. Frech, Ricky (April 24, 2019). "Humongous Entertainment is Bringing Their Collection of 90s Classics to Consoles". DualShockers. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  3. http://gamesdbase.com/list.aspx?in=1&searchtext=backyard&searchtype=1
  4. "Backyard Sports - Backyard Basketball and Backyard Football". Barcodespider.com.
  5. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130724006402/en/Evergreen-Group-Agreed-Acquire-Backyard-Sports-Video/
  6. Humongous [@HumongousEnt] (April 19, 2019). "[Image-only tweet; image shows a red exclamation point on a transparent background overlaid with the words "It's Junior Sports" in blue.]" (Tweet). Retrieved May 17, 2019 – via Twitter.
  7. Fleming Jr, Mike (March 30, 2016). "'Backyard Sports' Video Game In Movie Deal With Cross Creek & Crystal City". Deadline.
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