In the beginning, sports
games were made for all players. Ice Hockey for the NES, Madden for the Genesis,
NBA Jam in the arcade – young or old, we loved and played these games to death.
With the sports market
growing more competitive, some developers thought it would be wise to buck the
mainstream and target one gamer segment. Blitz: The League was an adults-only
affair with blood, swearing, and drug use. Backyard Sports is at the opposite
end of the spectrum – a game that features no violent content and is designed
primarily with children in mind.
Backyard Football 08 is the
series’ first attempt at bringing the beloved, easy-to-grasp gameplay to
Nintendo’s most profitable platform since the SNES: Wii. Coming out one year
after launch, you’re probably expecting the game to be more refined than, say, a
launch title like Madden. You’re probably also expecting the gameplay to be
upgraded with superior speed and controls that are enhanced for motion play. And
if you’re really big into anticipation, you may expect the game to drench our
television sets with the most beautiful polygon effects known to man.
Sadly, Backyard Football 08
does not meet these expectations, and that’s not entirely where the game goes
wrong. Starting with the controls, players will not be happy the first time they
pick up the controller. That’s the magic moment for most games. Here, it’s the
complete opposite. Both the Wii remote and nunchuck are used, a smart (but not
unexpected) move. However, their implementation isn’t at all extraordinary.
Ordinary would have been acceptable – at least then the controls might have felt
right. Instead we get a game that feels jerky. When you push the thumbstick,
it’s as if the little athletes are being herded out of the farm and into the
field. Heads bobbing, bodies skipping, the kids move instantly but still feel
reluctant. You could see the game in motion and fail to recognize the controls’
strange quirks. Only after trying Backyard Football 08 yourself will it make
sense – but after that, any curiosity you had about the game will be lost.
If you must utilize the
Wii’s motion controls (isn’t that the whole point of making a game for this
system?), grab the manual, read the descriptions, and study the diagrams. Try to
"snap" the Wii remote backward for a hike, and "shake" the remote (as the manual
says) for a juke. Shake the nunchuck to stiff-arm. Theoretically, this isn’t a
crazy setup. But it doesn’t work that well or feel intuitive in the least bit.
Include the other moves – like jumping by flipping up both controllers – and
you’ve got a collection of cumbersome motions that don’t add anything to the
Backyard Sports experience.
Play selection is a bit
awkward as well. Backyard Football 08 uses the A, 1, and 2 buttons to pick
plays. The A button is fine – every Wii game uses it extensively. But the 1 and
2 buttons are typically reserved for games that don’t use the nunchuck. With
both hands tied up, you’ll have to uncomfortably move your thumb to the bottom
of the remote every time you want to select one of those plays. It’ll make you
want to forget them and press the A button every time – which doesn’t really
matter since the playbook isn’t very exciting.
Graphically, the game is the
Wii’s biggest oddball. First of all, it doesn’t take full advantage of the
system’s progressive scan mode. When playing on a widescreen high-def TV, the
screen is only partially wide. Players will be distracted by one-inch black bars
on the left and right sides of the screen (the reverse of traditional
letterboxing, you could say). The game is very washed out and without any of the
qualities you’d expect from a new Nintendo machine.
The mode selection isn’t
standout either. Kick Off! (quick game), Season Game, Pickup Game, and Practice
are the only options.
Backyard Football 08 doesn’t
have what it takes to be a standout game for Wii. Parents who thought about
getting this for their kids need to think again. It’s going to one of those
games that sits on the shelf and collects dust.
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Gameplay: 3.0
Backyard Football 08
feels very small – like a Game Boy game (the original Game Boy) being projected
onto a TV screen using the Super GB adaptor. It sounds like a great idea until
you actually sit down to play the games on a large screen.
Graphics: 1.0
Is this a Wii game?
A GameCube game? Or a PSone game that’s being squeezed onto a new-gen platform?
Whatever you call it, and whatever you’re willing to accept, there’s little hope
that anyone will be able to withstand the left and right black bars that appear
when playing the game on a widescreen TV. Aside from being annoying, there’s
also the risk for permanent screen damage via burn-in (if you have a plasma or
certain LCDs).
Sound: 3.0
The usual kiddie
voice-overs and sound effects.
Difficulty: Easy
It
looks like cakewalk is on today’s menu.
Concept: 1.0
Alright, we get it.
The Backyard Sports games are about kids who want to play sports, and
professional athletes who want to play as kids. That was a nice idea when it was
introduced several years ago. Since that time, the series has not had any
advancements – no growth, no additions, no change whatsoever.
Multiplayer: 3.0
Not the kind of game
you’ll want to spend any length of time playing with friends.
Overall: 3.0
Backyard Football has had a fun run on other game machines, but its lackluster
content and dated gameplay can’t bring it into the next generation.
