After the wild success of College Football 25, it was only a matter of time before beloved sports games from millennials’ childhoods came back for a cut of that sweet, sweet nostalgia bait cash. Earlier today, it was revealed that ‘Backyard Sports’ would be making a comeback, after nearly a decade since the last release in the series.
In an official statement, Playground Productions, the company responsible for producing ‘Backyard Sports’ games, announced that the series would be returning ‘in the coming months,’ with its iconic aesthetic and fan-favorite characters such as Pablo Sanchez, Kenny Kawaguchi, and Pete Wheeler all set to return as well.
‘We’re incredibly excited to reintroduce Backyard Sports to a new generation of players,’ Chris Waters, Chief Product Officer at Playground Productions, said. ‘We’re taking great care to preserve the look and feel that made the original games so special while updating them with modern features and gameplay that today’s audience expects.’
The return of this beloved series has some people wondering what other beloved sports video game series could see a comeback in the near future.
Here are a few we would love to see.
Game series that deserve a comeback
Mario Super Sluggers
Mario is iconic, and his side hustles as a professional soccer player, golfer, and partier are still going strong. However, Mario’s tenure as a pro baseball player only lasted two games. ‘Mario Superstar Baseball’ (2005) and ‘Mario Super Sluggers’ (2008) are both much-beloved games in the Mario sports series with diehard fans that still make content for the games today. However, in more than a decade and a half, there has not been a single addition to those series. While ‘Mario Tennis’ enjoyed a recent edition to the Switch.
With incredible games like Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Bros. Wonder being added to the Mario series as of late, there is tons of new material and characters to draw from to give players new experiences.
NFL Blitz The League
Let’s be honest. This game was so violent that there is almost no chance it could be made today…but imagine how cool it would be if it did. With Madden continuing to disenchant players for several years now, a new, unrealistic football game could be just what NFL fans need to bring themselves back into the NFL video game landscape.
The Bigs
Much like Mario Baseball, ‘The Bigs’ has not seen a new release since before 2010, but boy, was this game fun. The quick minigames in the field, the impact that elite players had on games, the integration of the Wii’s motion controls. Everything meshed together perfectly to make an MLB video game just unrealistic enough to feel special without taking away from the key aspects of baseball.
Also, Jack Cust was a monster in ‘The Bigs 2’ with constant no-doubter home runs. That alone was enough to make that game incredible.
SSX Tricky
When was the last time a snowboard racing game was released? It’s been a long time. That’s a niche market that needs filling, and the reintroduction of ‘SSX Tricky’ would certainly get some heads turning. Much like ‘NFL Blitz The League,’ ‘SSX Tricky’ might be considered too violent to be made today. After all, one of the main mechanics was punching your adversaries on the slopes. However, the high-pace, outlandish nature of the game would certainly still sell copies today.
NFL 2K
Now, here’s a game that we can all agree on. Some fans may not want a cartoonish game. They’d rather have another simulation-style game like Madden. Unfortunately, Madden will have zero competition in simulation-style NFL games until at least 2026. Even when their exclusive rights expire, it will take another company millions of marketing dollars to get on the same level as Madden.
That’s where 2K Sports comes in. This is a company that has the money to market a new game, and they know how to make NFL video games considering they’ve done so before, with their last installment coming in 2004. NFL 2K5 is widely-considered one of the best simulation-style NFL games of all-time, with mechanics and animations that still hold up today.
