October 10, 1997
Backyard BaseBall is a baseball video game developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. It is the first video game released for the Backyard Sports franchise (originally known as the Junior Sports series) and the long-running Backyard Baseball series. The game was released on a hybrid Windows and Macintosh CD-ROM on October 10, 1997.
The game was remastered in 2024 as Backyard Baseball '97. The remaster was released for Windows via Steam on October 10, exactly 27 years after the original's release. It later received a mobile port for iOS and Android on March 27, 2025.
Gameplay
Backyard Baseball is a baseball sports video game designed and aimed for children. There are three main modes: Pick-Up Play, League Play and Batting Practice. A spectator mode exists which pits two randomly chosen computer-controlled teams together. The player can also view their trophies won, their records and view baseball cards of the characters. Before playing a pick-up game or starting a season, the user can change the set difficulty, toggle tee-ball (in Pick-Up Play only), switch from 6- or 9-inning games, and toggle errors. In both modes, a player can create their own team by customizing their team's name and color and drafting 9 players from a pool of thirty characters. During the game, there are many powerups that can be used either by a pitcher, which can be achieved by recording a strikeout, and by the batter, which can be achieved by getting a hit on a power-up pitch when playing offense.
In the pick-up play mode, the player can choose a field from seven different fields of varying size and field material: for example, the field Tin Can Alley makes it unique, due to its hard surfacing and difficulty to score a usual home run. After creating their own team, the player takes turns drafting their players against a computer. In league play, the player is restricted to Parks Department Field No. 2.
In league play, the player signs a coach in the Backyard Baseball League. The player guides their chosen team through a 14-game season against 7 other league teams. At the end of the season, once the team wins enough games to place first or second in their league, their team plays against the other qualified team to win the league pennant in the best-of-3 All-City BBL Playoffs. Once the team wins the pennant, the team is invited to play in the postseason tournament, starting with the best-of-3 Super Entire Nation Tournament, and then the Ultra Grand Championship of the Universe (analogous to the real-life World Series).
Also See
- Backyard Baseball 2001
- Backyard Baseball (GBA)
- Backyard Baseball 2003
- Backyard Baseball (GCN)
- Backyard Baseball (PS2)
- Backyard Baseball 2005
- Backyard Baseball 2006
- Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007
- Backyard Baseball 09
- Backyard Baseball 10
- Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers
- Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015
- Backyard Baseball '97
- Backyard Baseball '01
Sound Effects Used
- Hollywoodedge, Descending Whistle CRT058006 (Heard In The Intro.)
- Hollywoodedge, Woman Screamsahhh M CRT028203 (Heard slowed down in a normal pitch and used for hitting the ball on Screaming Line Drive.)
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, BLUEBIRD - BLUEBIRDS CHIRPING, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, BOINK, CARTOON - BOINK 01
- Sound Ideas, BOINK, CARTOON - TIMP DOINK (Heard when Dante Robinson lands on to bat.)
- Sound Ideas, HIT, CARTOON - SHRILL BILP (Heard in the intro.)
- Sound Ideas, SCI FI - JETSONS SPACE CAPSULE: IN FLIGHT 04 (Heard while the Home Run blimp passes by after Mr. Clanky or an unplayable player hits a home run.)
- Sound Ideas, TAKE, CARTOON - WHISTLE TAKE (Heard when Dante Robinson flips The hot dog.)
- Sound Ideas, ZIP, CARTOON - SHARP ZIP (Heard when Pete Wheeler steps up to bat.)