Football
games have traditionally been played from a behind-the-player perspective.
Most titles let you change the view, at least to some degree. But with the
exception of the first-run games designed 20 years ago for the NES, the main
view has always been the same.
Backyard
Football is unusual for that very reason. It’s played from a side, almost
soccer-like perspective, changing the game of football before you even pick up
the Game Boy Advance. It’s also unusual for being the only game besides Madden
that’s been granted NFL licensing.
Why this
game and no other? Backyard Football 07 includes real pro players. However,
all of them are featured as children. This fictitious environment makes it
impossible for the pros of the Backyard to compete with the pros of Madden,
preventing a conflict with EA’s exclusive license.
Backyard
Football 07 stays true to the series name by taking the game to backyard and
fantasy locations: Chinatown, the zoo, an airport, and a drive-in movie
theater, among others. You’ll be staring at the yards most of the time, as the
camera is not positioned (or dynamic enough – this is GBA) to show each
locale’s unique background element. Consequently, most of the fields end up
looking the same.
But don’t
let a difference in surface deter you. BF 07 is one of the better sports games
designed for the GBA. Gameplay is fairly quick, very simple, and doesn’t have
many rules. The turbo button will be your best friend in this game, an element
that should be familiar to Blitz fans everywhere. Passing is a breeze – throw
the ball by tapping any of the button icons that appear over your teammates’
heads.
Catching is
all but automatic. On defense, you can step in and intercept, or block your
opponents to keep them from catching the ball. They can do the same. But the
general act of passing and catching is done with one button press. Unless your
opponents get in the way, you won’t have to intervene. Bad passes do occur,
that’s to be expected. But I’ve played nearly every console and handheld
football series made in the last 10 years – from the forgettable (NFL Xtreme)
to the Madden-dominance-threatening NFL 2K – and BF 07 is unquestionably the
king of simplified passing.
Which is
good if all you want is a quick game with frequent scoring. The ball goes back
and forth a lot. Stopping the offense early on is the best strategy – once
that turbo button is being used, the guy with the ball is almost invincible.
Turbo runs out, but you’ll be hard to catch once you’ve taken the lead. It is
not hard to sneak past the defense right after kickoff, hold turbo and run all
the way to a touch down. Your opponents can do the same, but the AI was built
for inexperienced kid gamers. Winning is not that difficult.
Running,
passing, catching, kicking, and block / tackle statistics are used to
differentiate player quality. Brief descriptions indicates how strong each
player is, what he’s known for, and how he’ll do in a game.
The stats
are informative, but I’ve found that with arcade-style games, the best player
with the worst team is still the best player. You could pick the lowest-rated
players, and if you’re the best player in control of them, it’s
unlikely you’ll lose.
A full
season mode gives you several games to complete, while strategy-altering
tactics add a slight amount of depth to your pre-play actions. This is mostly
an arcade game, and it pulls off the quick thrill experience pretty well.
Where it
fails is the long-term experience. You won’t find anything new after the first
couple of games. There aren’t many control options – no special tricks or
clever evasive techniques. You pass the ball and run. That’s the gist of the
experience. I suppose all sports games could be reduced to a single-sentence
description. But it’s the stuff in between – how you get from point A to point
B – that keeps them exciting.
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Gameplay: 6.4
Retro,
side-by-side football for the handheld equivalent to the SNES. The action is
fair, the speed is decent, and the style is different from other football
games on the market. Backyard Football 07 isn’t all it could be, most likely
due to the GBA limitations. The controls are also flawed, lacking responsive
consistency – an area not limited to system limitations, but is
damaging wherever it appears.
Graphics: 6.0
Not bad for a
handheld that’s long past its prime. The backgrounds are as bland as can be,
but the characters and animations are appealing.
Sound: 5.0
Annoying,
repetitious music and generic GBA sounds. Standard stuff for the handheld, but
that doesn’t mean it’s good.
Difficulty: Easy
Not a cakewalk,
but still nowhere near the challenge of a simulator like Madden, or an arcade
game like Blitz. The game is, however, vastly superior (in challenge and in
every other way) to the Blitz titles release for Game Boy Color.
Concept: 6.0
Backyard Football
doesn’t seem to have much room left for innovation on the Game Boy Advance.
That said, the game does offer a lot of options – especially when compared to
other big-name sports releases for the system.
Multiplayer: 6.0
You can only pass
and score so many times. Sooner than later, Backyard Football 07 loses it
luster.
Overall: 6.2
Don’t expect a
console-quality experience. Those who have been hankering for a handheld
sports game that actually plays like a sports game will find more depth
in Backyard Football 07 than in most GBA titles. But beware of its controls,
repetitions, and simplified mechanics.
