Inspired by an article by Zach Kram at the Ringer last year, Bobby and Alex take a deep dive into the history of “Backyard Baseball,” the kids-video-game-turned-cult-classic that they grew up with. They bring on Nick Mirkovich, one of the game’s co-creators, to talk about the game’s inception and its evolution through the years, and speculate on why the game remains so firmly embedded in the minds of this generation. They dive into the colorful personalities of each character and reminisce on what made the game so special in the first place. It’s a full-on nostalgia sesh, featuring real gameplay and cameos from Sunny Day, Vinnie the Gooch, and the one and only Pablo Sanchez.
Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers Play Free Mlb Baseball Games Online. This is another great baseball game Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers. When the weather's bad outside, there's a realistic summer sandlot waiting for you. Backyard Baseball is a free online sports game with charming characters and fun challenges. You pick a team and players to compete against others on the field, like in Pablo's backyard. Try to hit a homerun, don't strike out and score enough points each round to move on to the next level.
Do you want to play the game too and get all the memories rushing back? Here’s how!
On a Mac:
1.Download the video game emulator ScummVM.
2. Open the DMG file and drag ScummVM into your Applications folder.
3. Download Backyard Baseball 2001 here.
4. Once the ZIP file has downloaded, double click to open it. It will reveal an ISO file called Backyard Baseball 2001.
5. Double click to open the ISO file. It should open a drive that looks like this.
6. Create a new folder on your desktop (or wherever you will remember) and call it Backyard Baseball.
7. Select all the contents of the ISO drive and drag them into the folder you just created.
8. Now, open up ScummVM and click “Add Game” on the right hand side. Find the folder you created and click “Choose.”
9. You should see a screen like the one below. Press ok, select the game, and press start!
On a PC:
1.Download the video game emulator ScummVM.
2. Save to your desktop, or wherever is convenient for you.
3. Download Backyard Baseball 1997 here, or Backyard Baseball 2001 here.
4. Double click to open the zip file. It should open a folder called Backyard Baseball.
5. Open ScummVM and click “Add Game.” Navigate to find the Backyard Baseball folder and click “Choose.”
6. You should see a screen like the one below. Press ok, select the game, and press start!
Enjoy!
All music sound clips, and photos from “Backyard Baseball,” courtesy of Humongous Entertainment/The Evergreen Group.
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I am a big fan of the Backyard Baseball series and Backyard Baseball 2003 is one of the more fun entries in the series. Many people do not realize just what a big deal this series was. It lasted for around a decade and showed up on a ton of different systems over the years.
Batter Up!
The point of Backyard Baseball 2003 is to give players the chance to play baseball like they did when they were kids. It is such a clever idea as when it comes to kid sports there is just something so very wholesome, fun and adorable about baseball. While the game is all about kids, it features kid versions of some of the players of the day and that is pretty awesome if you ask me.
Like A Cartoon
One of my favorite aspects of the series is the presentation. I know that you could easily make the argument that Backyard Baseball 2003 does not look a whole lot different from the previous game and that is fair. However, there is so much charm here and I do think that things look that little bit sharper and the kids look awesome and just like the kids you would play with at recess when you were at school.
Speaking of recess that is what the graphics actually remind me of, Recess the TV show. That along with other late 90s early 00s kids shows like All Grown Up.
Step Up To The Mound
While it has a cutesy kind of art style and a look like it is a game for kids. Backyard Baseball 2003 actually plays a really great game of baseball. This is the perfect blend of realistic baseball action and arcade fun and as a result, it is very addictive. No matter if you are pitching or batting, the gameplay is nice and tight and you have plenty of different moves that you can do so you can play the game just the way you want.
Plenty To Do
The main game mode is your season. Here you make up your team and then try to take them to backyard baseball glory. It is awesome how they managed to use actual teams in the game and it does make it that little bit more fun if you ask me. The season is very addictive, but if you want to just jump in and have a quick game you can do that. What is neat about that is you can pick all kinds of options ranging from the park you play in, the difficulty, how long the game lasts and so on.Backyard Baseball 2003 also puts a lot of effort into the actual players. You can customize them if you want and that is cool, but what I really like is the way the game will track stats and it even has a hall of fame which for a stats nerd like me was a lot of fun.
In all, I feel that Backyard Baseball 2003 is another solid entry into the series. It is a fun baseball game and the kid style it has really does have a lot of charm. This is a game that can be found on many old game sites, but even tracking down a physical copy is easy and cheap to do. If you like older baseball games, you know before they got all serious. Backyard Baseball 2003 is one that you will have a lot of fun with.
8/10
Pros:
- I really do love the presentation
- Kid versions of the pros are adorable
- The season mode is very addictive
- The actual baseball is a lot of fun
- Getting players into the hall of fame
Cons:
- Not a whole lot different to the last game
- Despite the kiddie look, it can be tough