Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers

Backyard Sports is a series of video games that have been released for both consoles and computers. The series is best known for its kid-friendly versions of popular professional athletes such as Albert Pujols, Paul Pierce, Barry Bonds, Tim Duncan, Clint Mathis, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Thornton and Andy Macdonald. The Backyard Sports series is licensed by the leading US professional sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS). The series includes Backyard Baseball, Backyard Basketball, Backyard Football (American football), Backyard Soccer, Backyard Hockey (ice hockey) and Backyard Skateboarding. In the games, the players put together a team of backyard kids and professional players, which they lead through a "Backyard League" season and try to become champions. From Backyard Football (1999) onwards, players can create their own athletes. Another aspect of the games is the use of power-ups, which players can use to gain "super abilities". With "Super Dunk", for example, a basketball player can make an incredible dunk from almost anywhere on the court, with "Leap Frog" a soccer player can jump over the entire defensive line and with "Ice Cream Truck" the other team is completely distracted for a short time.