It's the bottom of the ninth in the fifth and final game of the Super Ultra Championship of the Universe Series. My Mighty Monsters are trailing by two runs and down to their final out. Kenny Kawaguchi, the league's best pitcher coming off a record-setting season for strikeouts, is at the plate. No one would doubt his repertoire at the mound, but his strength has never been in the batter's box. With runners on first and third, the count goes full--could it be any more dramatic? The 3-2 pitch screeches inside, but Kenny makes great contact. Incredibly, the ball is launched. The kid only had four homers all year, but this one could count for much more. It's high enough if it's got the velocity. Back, back, back… gone! The Monsters win! A walk-off three-run blast from the team's pitcher sends the squad of neighborhood pals into the history books of the Backyard Baseball League. Do you believe in miracles?
My true story of sports heroics took place roughly 24 years ago on one of those colorful Mac computers many had in the late '90s and early aughts. Backyard Baseball, once handed out merely as the prize inside a cereal box, would go on to become an institution in the lives of Millennial kids everywhere, and if you're around my age, you might have some nostalgia for it yourself. Over a quarter-century since the game first debuted, Backyard Baseball '97, as it's now officially called, has debuted on Steam--where shady download links and eBay price gougers can't hurt you. It's been great to discover the game still holds up, even as it's also very obvious that I am no longer the target audience.
Backyard Baseball '97 is a re-release of the original game that kicked off the Backyard Sports series. Under new rights-holders, the plan is to bring back several games lost to time, eventually paving the way for a Backyard Sports multimedia universe. With such grand plans for the future, the first release of the bunch has thankfully turned out great, and could feasibly serve as the series' grand re-opening. It's said that the game is remastered, though I can't see how. Every inch of it looks identical, not just to my spotty memory, but also when I compare it to gameplay videos online.
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