Nostalgia Wins

Backyard Sports is Coming Back, Further Proving Gen Y is All About 'Vibes on Demand'

Today, it was announced that Playground Productions, the team behind the “Backyard Sports” series is relaunching their series of video games. The games were true to their name, offering kid-sized versions of real athletes playing their chosen sport in suburban backyards. The early version didn’t have any real athletes at all, which was wild during a time when every sports game pined for realism. This led to the rise of “Pablo Sanchez” (left in the above picture) attaining a bit of a cult status among those who played the game. Pablo was easily the best player in the game and for people of a certain age, he left an everlasting impression.

So the legend goes, years after falling into obscurity the game was mentioned by the Kelce Brothers on their podcast. Sure, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend has some clout but there had LONG been a gamer following that still continues to play the old versions until this day. The announcement that games are coming back is from the generation that remembers the game and has the power to bring that sort of thing back. Move over boomers, it’s Gen Y/Millennial's time to latch onto something like how Gen X bombarded us with 80s nostalgia the last ten years.

And well, I got to thinking. Sports games are a funny thing. When you’re a huge fan of a sport, you want things as real as possible. There’s a rush to feeling that maybe it’s you on the field/pitch/grid/court, making decisions that only a champion would. Other times, a more casual game is also important. Maybe you want to unwind after a long day? Maybe you want to introduce people to a sport but don’t want to confuse them with a bunch of buttons and plays.

Though I’ve played a bunch of sports games growing up, I was the best at two of them: NBA Street Vol. 2 and NFL Blitz. Blitz was a madcap game of football where players had to go 30 yards per drive (that’s 3x longer than in real football) and tackles were so over the top, it provided hours of gleeful entertainment. The NFL eventually pulled the license, wanting to be seen as a “safer” sport. And while the unbranded “Blitz: The League” games weren’t the same, NFL Blitz took so many quarters from me at the arcade.

Now NBA Street was something else entirely. There’s like a bunch of games in that franchise, but I’m only counting the first two. The Original NBA Street was a classic in its own right. The core gameplay was solid, you felt like you were on the AND 1 Mixtape tour and games went by on a clip. But Vol 2 was a masterpiece. The art got an upgrade, the commentary (by Bobbito Garcia) became all-time status, the soundtrack was one of the best old school and lyrical-based hip-hop ever, AND they found a way to give a nod back to street ball culture as a whole, but also the legends of the NBA. The vibes were there.

Trust me, the graphics felt better back then ha.

Backyard Sports is primed to be something great for a whole new generation of players and as a creative, that’s something special. Being able to do something that’s so great it can be passed down is like the true meaning of legacy. And I love the fact my fellow 31-49 year-olds are the ones currently leading the charge to make sure this pivotal generation of gaming (That would be gens 5 through 7) doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

Play ball!