Jr. REVIEW: Backyard Football ‘10 – XBOX360

Backyard Football ‘10 from Atari is a dream come true for the little guys and gals that can’t quite wrap their minds around the complex plays and schemes of a Madden or NCAA football game.

Atari knows a little something about backyard sports, especially football as this is their tenth year of doing it. Finally after all of those years they took a chance and put the game out for the XBOX 360. It is also available on the Wii and PS2 systems as it was with the last edition. It carries over pretty well to the powerful 360. The animations, although obviously cartoony, are crisp and clean and their is always something going on in the background of the stadiums. It is a pretty little game for what it is. The game even starts off with a cartoon intro and theme song so convincing that my two year old son asked what the new show was on television.

This game is very safe all around for those parents who are worried about their little ones playing a sport that can be as rough as football. There is taunting, but it is just pressing a correct button sequence to make your opponent miss a field goal, there are no animations. There is also tackling but that is little more then bumping into the guy and him either falling down or not. There are no worries with the gameplay.

The audio is decent, kids will find the commentators to be amusing. Sunny Day and Chuck Downfield call all the action with Sunny providing the play by play and Chuck providing the jokes straight out of a third grade joke book.

There are also a few different features to choose from, single games, season mode, co-op and tournament mode are all available. The roster of NFL stars from Tom Brady to Adrian Peterson are all there. You can create your own players, make your own rosters filled with NFL, created and kid players that you can mix and match how you choose.

There are some negatives as well though. The game, even for a young kid is going to get repetitive. I am not sure how much replay value is there. Yes, it is a football game and it may be fun to do a season, but the games are quick and they just turn in to score fests. The “Power Moves” which are cute make it so that you are unstoppable and there is no way to counter act them. They also could have made the achievements a little tougher to… well… achieve. I had 1000 points after a game and a half. I know, quit bragging 30 something year old guy playing a game for kids. Just sayin’.

All in all, Backyard Football ‘10 is a fun game for the little football fan in your life. If you or your children have played any of the Backyard sports, you know they always do a nice job. I think it is worth sticking under the tree for Christmas.