Since 1992, Humongous Entertainment has been a main stay of entertaining and educational games for children. Millions of Moms and Dads have shared the adventures of Pajama Sam, Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Spy Fox and all the great Humongous characters with their early learners and elementary school age children.
Playing Our Favorite Childhood Sports. Backyard Sports Club is a co-ed adult sports club with leagues in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Hampton Virginia. This alternative sports league is built on being social and fun with a new twist to the old pastime sport of picnic outings and field day from elementary school. Backyard Baseball is a high quality game that works in all major modern web browsers. This online game is part of the Arcade, Sports, Emulator, and GBA gaming categories. Backyard Baseball has 168 likes from 199 user ratings. If you enjoy this game then also play games Backyard Football and Backyard Football 2006.
- Backyard Sports: Basketball 2007. Click the 'Install Game' button to initiate the file download and get compact download launcher. Locate the executable.
- This is a list of all known Humongous Entertainment games. It also includes the Backyard Sports titles released from 2004 to 2010 under the Humongous brand name and the games published by Humongous Entertainment under Tommo ownership after they purchased Humongous Entertainment from the Atari bankruptcy auction in 2013 (however, it does not contain games published under the Humongous.
Backyard Sports | |
---|---|
Genre(s) | Sports |
Developer(s) | Humongous Entertainment |
Publisher(s) | |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Android, Game Boy |
First release | Backyard Baseball 1997 |
Latest release | Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 and Backyard Sports: Basketball 2015 2015 |
Backyard Sports (originally branded as Junior Sports)[1][2] is a series of video games released for consoles, computers and mobile devices. 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).
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[edit]
The series began in late 1997 with Humongous Entertainment creating the first game in the franchise: Backyard Baseball. Humongous Entertainment was then owned by GT Interactive.[4] Later Infogrames bought GT Interactive[5] and along with it came all of the game titles. Infogrames allowed Humongous Entertainment to expand the series, and Humongous developed more titles such as Backyard Soccer, Backyard Hockey, Backyard Skateboarding, Backyard Basketball and Backyard Football. Following the buyout by Infogrames these titles from the Backyard series were released for game consoles, including the Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Wii. Infogrames in North America eventually changed its name to Atari Interactive.
On July 24, 2013, private equity firm The Evergreen Group, bought the Backyard Sports franchise during the Atari bankruptcy proceedings, for its portfolio company Epic Gear LLC.[6] It was later sold by Epic Gear to Day6 Sports Group.[citation needed]
On December 11, 2014, Day6 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.
In 2016, Day6 Sports Group was 'acquired by a European investment group'[7]
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.[8][1][2]
Games in the series[edit]
Title | Released | Developer | Publisher | Platforms |
---|---|---|---|---|
Backyard Baseball | October 24, 1997 | Humongous Entertainment | Humongous Entertainment | Macintosh, Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Soccer | September 24, 1998 | Humongous Entertainment | Humongous Entertainment | Macintosh, Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Football | September 14, 1999 | Humongous Entertainment | Humongous Entertainment | Macintosh, Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Baseball 2001 | June 6, 2000 | Humongous Entertainment | Humongous Entertainment | Macintosh, Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Soccer: MLS Edition | October 3, 2000 | Humongous Entertainment | Infogrames | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Football 2002 | September 19, 2001 | Humongous Entertainment | Infogrames | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Soccer Junior Sports Football | September 28, 2001 (US) November 3, 2001 (PAL) | Runecraft | Infogrames | PlayStation |
Backyard Basketball | October 30, 2001 | Humongous Entertainment | Infogrames | Macintosh, Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Baseball | May 30, 2002 | Game Brains | Infogrames | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Baseball 2003 | June 7, 2002 | Humongous Entertainment | Infogrames | Macintosh, Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Football | September 25, 2002 | Torus Games | Infogrames | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Football | October 10, 2002 | Left Field Productions / Humongous | Infogrames | Nintendo GameCube |
Backyard Hockey | October 18, 2002 | Humongous Entertainment | Infogrames | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Soccer 2004 | March 18, 2003 | Humongous Entertainment | Infogrames | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Baseball | March 31, 2003 | Humongous Entertainment | Infogrames | Nintendo GameCube |
Backyard Football 2004 | September 4, 2003 | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Basketball 2004 | September 4, 2003 | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Hockey | October 9, 2003 | Mistic Software | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard NBA Basketball Junior Sports Basketball | September 4, 2003 (US) November 19, 2004 (PAL) | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | PlayStation 2 |
Backyard Baseball | March 23, 2004 | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | PlayStation 2 |
Backyard Baseball 2005 | June 22, 2004 | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Hockey 2005 | September 21, 2004 | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Basketball | September 22, 2004 | Mistic Software | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Skateboarding | September 27, 2004 | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | Microsoft Windows |
Backyard Skateboarding | October 4, 2004 | Full Fat | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Baseball 2006 | March 16, 2005 | Game Brains | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Skateboarding - Kids Game of the Year Edition | October 4, 2005 | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Football 2006 | September 20, 2005 (Windows) October 4, 2005 (PlayStation 2) | Humongous Entertainment | Atari | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 |
Backyard Football 2006 | October 18, 2005 | Torus Games | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007 | June 12, 2006 | Game Brains | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007 | September 5, 2006 (PlayStation 2) September 11, 2006 (Windows) April 3, 2007 (Nintendo GameCube) | Game Brains | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Sports: Football 2007 | September 26, 2006 | Torus Games | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Sports: Basketball 2007 | November 14, 2006 | Mistic Software | Atari | Game Boy Advance |
Backyard Sports: Basketball 2007 | February 13, 2007 (PlayStation 2) February 20, 2007 (Windows) | Game Brains | Atari | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 |
Backyard Basketball | September 25, 2007 | Mistic Software | Atari | Nintendo DS |
Backyard Hockey | October 9, 2007 | Mistic Software | Atari | Nintendo DS |
Backyard Football 08 Backyard Football (Wii) | October 16, 2007 (PlayStation 2 and Wii) October 23, 2007 (Windows) | FarSight Studios | Atari | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Wii |
Backyard Football | October 23, 2007 | Torus Games | Atari | Nintendo DS |
Backyard Baseball 09 | March 25, 2008 (Windows) June 10, 2008 (PlayStation 2, Wii) | FarSight Studios | Atari | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Wii |
Backyard Baseball 09 | October 23, 2007 | Mistic Software | Atari | Nintendo DS |
Backyard Football 09 | October 21, 2008 (PlayStation 2, Wii) October 29, 2008 (Windows) | FarSight Studios | Atari | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Wii |
Backyard Football | October 21, 2008 | Torus Games | Atari | Nintendo DS |
Backyard Baseball 10 | March 27, 2009 (Wii) April 28, 2009 (PlayStation 2) | FarSight Studios | Atari | Wii, PlayStation 2 |
Backyard Baseball 10 | 2009 | Mistic Software | Atari | Nintendo DS |
Backyard Football 10 | October 20, 2009 | FarSight Studios | Atari | Wii, PlayStation 2 |
Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers | May 25, 2010 | HB Studios | Atari | Microsoft Windows, Wii, Xbox 360 |
Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers | May 25, 2010 | Powerhead Games | Atari | Nintendo DS |
Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush | October 20, 2010 | HB Studios | Atari | Wii, Xbox 360 |
Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush | October 20, 2010 | Powerhead Games | Atari | Nintendo DS |
Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 | February 6, 2015 | Day 6 Sports Group, LLC | Fingerprint Network | iOS, Android |
Backyard Sports: Basketball 2015 | February 6, 2015 | Day 6 Sports Group, LLC | Fingerprint Network | iOS, Android |
Film[edit]
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.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ abSchmidt, Eugene (April 24, 2019). 'Humongous Entertainment coming to consoles'. Barrelrolled. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
- ^ abFrech, Ricky (April 24, 2019). 'Humongous Entertainment is Bringing Their Collection of 90s Classics to Consoles'. DualShockers. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
- ^http://gamesdbase.com/list.aspx?in=1&searchtext=backyard&searchtype=1
- ^News, Bloomberg Business (1996-07-11). 'COMPANY NEWS;GT INTERACTIVE ACQUIRES HUMONGOUS ENTERTAINMENT (Published 1996)'. The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
- ^'History of Infogrames Entertainment S.A. – FundingUniverse'. www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
- ^http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130724006402/en/Evergreen-Group-Agreed-Acquire-Backyard-Sports-Video/
- ^Kram, Zach (2017-10-10). 'How 'Backyard Baseball' Became a Cult Classic'. The Ringer. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
- ^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.
- ^Fleming Jr, Mike (March 30, 2016). ''Backyard Sports' Video Game In Movie Deal With Cross Creek & Crystal City'. Deadline.
External links[edit]
- Official website (2007 archive on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine)
- Backyard Sports series at MobyGames
Available Platform: Windows
Backyard Baseball is a baseball game created by Humongous Entertainment and released for Windows and Macintosh in 1997.
Year | 1997 |
Genre | Sports |
Rating | 91/100 based on 4 Editorial reviews. Add your vote |
Publisher | Humongous Entertainment |
Developer | Humongous Entertainment |
OS supported | Windows XP, 2000 & Windows 7, MacOS 10.6-10.14 |
Updated | 2 November 2019 |
Game Review
Backyard Baseball is a baseball game created by Humongous Entertainment and released for Windows and Macintosh in 1997.
It's the first of a long series of successful titles, the last one of which was released in 2015.
The idea of a videogame about kids playing baseball was developed by Nick Mirkovich, illustrator and animator. He presented the concept to the legendary Ron Gilbert (not only the creator of Maniac Mansion but also the founder of Humongous), and after a while, he approved. The design team was made of Mirkovich, Richard Moe (a programmer), and Mark Peyser (a graphic designer).
Backyard Sports Games Pc
The game created by the trio was brilliant and totally unique. High-quality hand-drawn cartoon graphics, fluid animations, excellent gameplay, and, most importantly, a fantastic character design. The baseball players, 30 kids, were designed with their own look&feel and personality. Vaguely inspired to the Peanuts, they are also a great example of diversity: 15 boys, 15 girls, all in different sizes, colors, and races.
Backyard Sports Games Pc Download
Somehow the kids remind me of movies such as The Bad News Bears (an amazing 1976 movie with Walter Matthau), and 'The sandlot', except that in the game, there are many more girls :)
Backyard Sports Games For Pc
Anyway, the kids in Backyard Baseball are so cute it's impossible not to fall in love with them. For each one of them, composer Rhett Mathis created a specific theme song. This was probably one of the most memorable elements of this game.
As you could expect from a sports sim, there are also top players. In this case, the real star is a short kid called Pablo Sanchez. Even if he looks like the worst player, he is the greatest one, and everybody loved him. Believe it or not, Pablo Sanchez is one of the most beloved videogames characters ever created.
Curiously, Backyard Baseball was developed using the SCUMM game engine, the same used in many graphics adventure. It's a great example of the flexibility of the engine invented by Ron Gilbert. Apparently, creating a sports sim was totally possible. The basic mechanic is indeed quite simple. Still, the game supports different fields, tournaments, different stats for the players, and even a sort of Mario Kart-style power-ups.
Backyard Baseball is simply one of the most popular videogames ever created. So what are you waiting for? Download and play it!
Review by: Manu
Published: 3 November 2019 9:13 pm