Here is a list of almost all Humongous Games, excluding remakes or ports. And also, there were too many Backyard Sports titles. And while I certainly got som. Abandonware games published by Humongous Entertainment. BACKYARD BASEBALL 2001. 2000 Humongous Entertainment. FREDDI FISH 2: THE CASE OF THE HAUNTED SCHOOLHOUSE.
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 |
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).
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.
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 :)
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
The Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack gives you instant access to our entire humongous catalog (35 games in total!):
• Big Thinkers! 1st Grade
• Big Thinkers! Kindergarten
• Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
• Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse
• Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell
• Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch
• Freddi Fish 5: The Case of the Creature of Coral Cove
• Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness
• Freddi Fish and Luther's Water Worries
• Freddi Fish and The Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds
• Let's Explore the Airport (Junior Field Trips)
• Let's Explore the Farm (Junior Field Trips)
• Let's Explore the Jungle (Junior Field Trips)
• Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't So Frightening
• Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Head To Your Feet
• Pajama Sam 4: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff!
• Pajama Sam: Games to Play on Any Day
• Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside
• Pajama Sam's Lost & Found
• Pajama Sam's Sock Works
• Putt-Putt® and Fatty Bear's Activity Pack
• Putt-Putt® and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama
• Putt-Putt® and Pep's Dog on a Stick
• Putt-Putt® Enters the Race
• Putt-Putt® Goes to the Moon
• Putt-Putt® Joins the Circus
• Putt-Putt® Joins the Parade
• Putt-Putt® Saves the Zoo
• Putt-Putt® Travels Through Time
• Putt-Putt®: Pep's Birthday Surprise
• Spy Fox 2 'Some Assembly Required'
• Spy Fox 3 'Operation Ozone'
• Spy Fox in 'Dry Cereal'
• Spy Fox In: Cheese Chase
• Spy Fox In: Hold the Mustard