Nostalgia is a powerful force.
It can hit a home run and take you back to a time when things were simpler, and video games came on disks only.
Conversely, it can strike out and remind you that all in life is fleeting, and when you think you are running the bases on your way to scoring a run, you’re really just about to be tagged out.
Mega Cat Studios has clearly gone to bat to create something with nostalgia for those of us on the digital sandlot back in ’97, but also something those who are kids now can put their stamp on.
Backyard Baseball (2026) sadly feels like it falls into the swing-and-a-miss category of nostalgia — at least for now.
Slugging it with Backyard Baseball’s New Story
When the original Backyard Baseball stepped up to the plate in 1997 in the designated hitter position for what would become a sports video game empire, we grew to love 30 neighbourhood kids and their love of baseball, mostly through the walkup announcing antics of Sunny Day and Vinnie the Gooch — who were exactly what makes a good baseball commentator: the right amount of baseball IQ and general personality.
We grew to love this cast of kids that looked like us in a time when games were all about the instant celebrity like James Bond and Lara Croft…or anthropomorphic mayhems like Crash and Spyro.
The Backyard gang grew the way so many other gaming heroes did, through franchising, baby!
We took them through countless other sports games, found out in which sport they excelled and created our own lists of pick-firsts and last-to-be-pickeds.
Now, there will be a show to share with those who are kids now, and that’s a wonderful way for this game to introduce itself again… or for the first time.
Starting this all off positively, I’m so glad Backyard Baseball (2026) is going to reimagine itself in today’s multimedia cross-platform world. Yet, it still has that vague, one-liner video game-only identity we older players fell for.
Mega Cat Studios also brings a positive new collecting element to the game with 10 additional characters unlocked through challenges and by playing to unlock card packs.
There are no microtransactions as of yet, which is refreshing. And the collecting aspect encourages more playing, which is also good.
Swing and a miss
Sadly, for now, the good kind of ends there.
The original value proposition for the Backyard franchise was simplified takes on sports presented in a 2D format that got kids interested in a way that felt as close to getting up, going to the backyard and touching grass as the ’90s could muster in video game form.
The hitting, pitching and fielding were slow and clunky, but that’s what worked.
Here, the speed of the game is seemingly close to what I remember it being, but gaming is faster than it used to be. And here, it just feels too slow.
Actions take a long time to input and play out, which becomes an issue in fielding and in pitching.
Also, the CPU currently appears to have an unfair advantage, as I had several instances where the assisting auto-player selection would pick the wrong player, forcing me to adapt.
Annoyingly, CPU hitters would seemingly hit even the most impossible of pitches.
I think Backyard Baseball (2026) is aiming for singles in performance during its Early Access phase before hitting a home run. And that’s perfectly fine; it just makes for a less-than-exciting outing so far.
The second point I’ll make may be on me, but I don’t remember hitting being so extreme.
To be fair to Backyard Baseball (2026), it has an incredible ability to adapt the game to your own skill level, with options like being able to play tee ball instead of pitch, turning off errors, and four difficulty levels. But I feel like you’ll need the batting assist regardless. This is because the pitching animations don’t seem to make any sense. And yet, turning on the batting assist makes this experience just a little too easy. I feel like this causes an extreme on either end of the hitting assistance spectrum; it could use some tweaking.
Best broadcast on the block
Let’s focus on another positive: the show.
Backyard Baseball (2026) seems to stake its eye-watering $52 Early Access price tag in its full 3D makeover, and it mostly makes a strong case for it.
Walkups are superb, with no two being identical and each kid stamping on the plate with gusto and panache.
Each kid also gets a new home run animation that is likewise unique. It is hard to deny that this is a remake from Mega Cat Studios and not just another one of the many ports there have been over the years. However, it is still a lot to ask for in Early Access for a game that is still missing so much content, like online multiplayer and all ballparks.
Similarly, there are new animations for ballparks and the new “night mode” that make the backyard or alleyway feel like a living place.
There’s still the classic little league/junior baseball aesthetic to everything in terms of the visuals, which is oddly comforting in the age of baseball sims that are trying to be TV broadcasts.
Sadly, the visuals can’t save what isn’t there in terms of gameplay yet.
Verdict
Backyard Baseball (2026) is not struggling in terms of being a modern-looking reimagining of a ’90s classic. And it is rounding the bases easily as a bridge between generations.
However, the gameplay experience needs some more time in the batting cage before this new experience receives the title of being a hit. Clunky controls and a batting situation that is either far too easy or inexplicably hard are currently holding things back.
And with a $52 price tag, this is just as expensive as seeing an actual baseball game, which is wild for the current entertainment proposition.
There’s a Hall of Famer here; it’s just not quite here yet.
[The publisher provided an Early Access copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PC
