Backyard Baseball '97 Review ("Big Pussy" Bompensiero)
This game is better than anything EA sports has made in at least 15 years. It's sports games like this that show this genre has such unfulfilled potential! Sports games *can* be a lot of fun, if the developers actually give a damn. This game is excellent! Lots of different players with interesting stat makeups. It's fun building your 9-kid team and setting your line up. There are plenty of unique players to choose from. Some players have hidden attributes, like playing better (or worse) if their sibling is on the same team as them!
The banter is funny, and the kids are always talking smack. The graphics and music have held up surprisingly well! There is decent depth to the game. You can position your fielders, approach batters differently, and there are different approaches as a better as well. There is a surprising amount of strategy in this game. It's good, since baseball is a cerebral sport. The different fields add for variation. This version doesn't have the overpowered pro players, which I don't mind. This is great game for kids, or for a child's first video game. If you played this as a kid, definitely try it again! It's a lot of fun. Definitely a bargain for the price.