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Developer: Humongous Entertainment
Publisher: Atari
Genre: Sports
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 04 Oct 05
User Rating
7 (4 votes)- Preview
- Review
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- As sports game constantly focussing on adults, this effort brings the great american sport to the younger crowd with simple but solid gameplay and presentation.
Overview
With the holiday season readily approaching and many parents wonder what to buy their young ones for Christmas, a pretty good guess I would have to say is a video game may just be the answer. Now of course the younger kids may need some of the younger kid's games, and at times it doesn't seem like there are a whole lot of these sorts of titles. Well today we are actually going to check out a pretty simple football game that tries to become a hot seller this Christmas season, mostly by giving a cute style with America's favorite sport. So will Backyard Football 2006 manage to continue to wow kids with its fun gameplay? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
The whole purpose of the Backyard series is really to make very accessible games for kids who are too young to play some of the big kid style games. So in order to do this, one of the key things the developers, Humongous try to do is shrink the players to little kid form, and really just allow them to play a simplified version of the game of football. Now how does this all come out you might ask?
Well one of the first things I noticed right when I opened up the game and put it in my Playstation 2, was that this game was definitely designed with the young in mind. The simple and colorful menu could easily be navigated and has plenty of colors. Once you get into your game, you will find that the gameplay is really just the game of football, with really the most minimal amount of options possible. Basically you are given a few pass plays and a few run plays and that's about it on the field. From there, you really have the option to run or throw the balls, which usually are pretty short passes.
Since this game is made for kids, I won't be judging the game on its realistic nature, but instead on its accessibility to young kids, in which the game actually has problems doing. First off, completing a pass in this game can be actually considered a lot harder to do then in any other football game I have played in the last ten years. Playing defense is really a difficult task as well, and I can see the young crowd becoming very frustrated with the gameplay.
The one thing Backyard Football 2006 does well is that it is simple, and this is a good quality to have when you're aiming for a younger audience. I do feel that things should have been made much easier in terms of throwing the ball, but running the ball of course can be done in a breeze. There is nothing else particularly wrong with the game, the controls work well, and the overall feel of the game feels like you would expect it to, like a kid's game.
Graphics
By far the strongest quality in the game is its presentation, which definitely gets the whole little kid atmosphere down pretty well. I was very impressed with how the players were made into little players and the whole view of the game definitely has a very "cute" look. Of course with this cute look really comes this lack of detail and a total lack of trying to take this game anywhere further then where they have had it in the past. Sure the game has a cute look to it, but I just wish they had put more work into it.
Fun Factor
Now of course I am not in the target age group of this game, but I can definitely put myself in that perspective and see that this game could be quite enjoyable. The game is very accessibly to kids, and besides the difficulty of passing the ball, the game is a fun to play, and dads can definitely enjoy the game with their kids.
Overall
So sure this may not be my first choice in for this holiday season, but it is a game that I would recommend to parents who have young children at home and want to give them a fun football game this Christmas season. If you have a child, then I would definitely recommend this game as I truly believe the young crowd will have a fun time with this game.
- Gameplay
7.0 - Graphics
7.0 - Fun Factor
7.0 - Overall
7.0
