I grew up playing the original Backyard Football, and we played it a lot. Heck, the Webmaster beta tested the original, and I had a 300-0 record in the campaign mode. Sadly, this game is a lot different compared to the one we played, and not in a good way. You basically make a football team filled with a bunch of kids from the Backyard Football league, and some professional players and, well, only the pros are kids. You get to pick the name of your team, which compared to past games, aren’t as nearly customizable. Sure you can still pick your colors, but that’s really about it for customization. Once you play through the entire season, you get to play in the playoffs and play for the Backyard Championship.
Now I realize that I do sound like I am doing nothing but bashing this game from every side. I must say that this review is going to be a little different than those in the past. This game is intended to be played by little kids. The controls are beyond easy to figure out. You only use 4 buttons max in the entire game. You don’t get to pick who you throw the ball to, instead you just press the A button and it automatically picks a receiver to pass it to. Plus, the achievements are really easy to get. At the end of the first game, I got 8 of the 10 achievements in the entire game. Each achievement is worth 100 points. The commentary is also pretty funny, but it gets old really fast for older players. The graphics are pretty good and you can somewhat tell where they put in some of the detail. On top of that, who doesn’t want to see a virtual kid version of Tom Brady tackling a scrawny little kid for a 8 yard loss?
Overall, this game is targeted for little kids. For those who want to teach your little ones how to play video games, this game is perfect. As for those who grew up playing this game when they were little… well that’s a completely different story. None of the players can talk anymore, no women players, and no more Super Colossal Cereal Bowl. On a personal note, I haven’t been so disappointed in playing a game that I grew up with since I played Blood Bowl.
