2026-04-12
Awesome
I will say one thing. THIS GAME IS AWESOME
Updating
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#80 in Top Paid Apps
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#54 in Top Paid Apps > Games
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#19 in Top Paid iPad Apps
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#13 in Top Paid iPad Apps > Games
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Description
Rediscover the joy of the original Backyard Baseball 1997! Build your roster from the iconic cast of 30 characters stacked with charming personalities and witty banter, and get the edge on the competition with power-ups, fireball pitches, super strength, and Pablo Sanchez!
Play pick-up games, practice batting, and compete in single games or a whole season with simple, intuitive controls that anyone can master!
Game Modes:
Random Pick-up: A quick way to jump right in! The computer chooses a random team for you and itself, and the game starts immediately.
Single Game: You take turns with the computer to choose players from a random pool of characters.
Season: You create a team and manage it through a 14 game series. The opposing teams are computer generated. At the end of the season the best two teams advance to the BBL playoffs (best of 3). The winner advances to the championship series which consists of the Super Entire Nation Tournament (best of 3) and then the Ultra Grand Championship of the Universe Series (best of 5)!
Batting Practice: Choose a batter and face Mr. Clanky for some batting practice. This is where you’ll learn just when to click to make your chosen batter hit that ball!
T-ball - Select T-ball mode for more accessible game play. Simply click to hit, run, and field!
BACKYARD BASEBALL RULES
The rules for Backyard Baseball are a hybrid of Pro and Little League rules:
No leading off
No Injuries
Bunting is allowed
Tagging up is allowed
Stealing is allowed
At our core, we are fans first–not just of video games but of the Backyard Sports franchise. Fans have asked for accessible and legal ways to play their original Backyard titles for years, and we are excited to deliver. Without having access to the source code, there are hard limitations on the experience we can create. Backyard Baseball '97 runs buttery smooth for iOS devices, looks better than ever, and creates a new installation for digital preservation within the Backyard Sports catalog that allows the next generation of fans to fall in love with the title that started it all.
What's New in Version 1.2.2
- Add push notifications
Seller
Name
Playground Productions LLC
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
1.2.2
Size
331.3 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated: 4+
Compatibility
iOS 16.6 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, iPhone 17e, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M5) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M5) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air11M4, iPad Air11M4Cellular, iPad Air13M4, iPad Air13M4Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation)
Languages
English
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.0 of 5 (1,438 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2026-03-30
FIX THE STATS AND STOP SENDING ERROR MESSAGES WHEN I PLAY OFFLINE!!!!!
I turned off my data and Wi-Fi on purpose!! I don’t need to be reminded every five seconds like I’m stupid.
Edit: Fix the bug with season mode statistics!!!!
2026-03-21
Amazing game but…
Don’t get me wrong this game is awesome and I really enjoy playing it, but if you added home stadiums for league play, it would be better than ‘01!
2026-03-16
recommend this!
fun game, but why is it almost impossible to hit with dante?!
2026-03-11
good game
great game but there is one issue. You can’t skip opponent homeruns or walks. I would be fine with this but the players go so incredibly slow during homeruns and it could take like 30 seconds.
2026-03-02
Pete is a all star
My favorite player is Pete. He is so fast
2026-03-01
Why 4.99
Why is this one 4.99 and the others are free? Need to add fullscreen and controller support. That would be awesome!
2026-01-24
What a throwback!
This game takes me back. I have a few complaints though. During one game, the pitcher would begin pitching before my batter’s animation was complete. This went on for a whole inning since before I closed the app. Now Pete Wheeler’s run animation is slowed down. I closed the app twice before reopening and no change. He runs slower than expected and what we all expect him to. I’m not talking about when he’s behind a runner and needs to adjust speed. I’m talking about stealing bases and he’s no where near what he was last night. If the game compensates by increasing the difficulty level, I’d like to know that. In a game I was just playing, Kenny reached second during a base hit before Pete reached third. I’m at a loss. Devs, what’s up?
2026-01-04
Weirdest bug I’ve seen in this game
I was pitching as Dimitri petrovich while playing season leading 80 - 0 since I’m very good at the game I pitched and the batter bunted and it just counts as a HOME RUN I was nowhere to seen so uh the games pretty buggy but very good and also can you add Pablo’s English line?
2025-12-08
Great rerelease, just needs a couple tweaks
It’s amazing to have this game back — truly a labor of love to rebuild this whole thing without the source code! A couple needed tweaks: 1) iCloud saves are a MUST (why can’t I pick up my iPad game easily on my phone?), and 2) put the other Backyard players on other teams during the season.
2025-11-30
can’t even open the game
i can’t even open the game, i’ve restarted my phone and let it rest for a couple minutes and still doesn’t open - wasted my money
2025-11-21
Multiplayer?
Don’t get me wrong love the game and love the backyard sports series but in the newest updates for the game it says there are online tournaments I can’t find those for some reason I play on a iPad and the online tournaments don’t show up would like to see improvement ps for but all in all I just love this game
2025-11-15
Love but one problem
I wish you could play a season in different stadiums
2025-11-14
THE GREATEST BASEBALL GAME OF ALL TIME
AND ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS WRONG. PABLO4EVA
2025-11-13
I can’t play
I s t even play the game it just lord me out
2025-11-13
Online head to head missing
Until this feature is added back the rating will be 3 stars…game plays as I remember which is nice. We must be able to play against real people tho.
2025-11-12
This game is nostalgia
It’s mid for me for some reason. I played this game before and it’s fun but there are some bugs they have to fix.
2025-11-11
Great But a Little Glitch
The game is so good! However, there’s a glitch in the game where if you restart and go back to playing, whatever you made doesn’t count, same to the opposing team. As overpowered as it is, can you patch it? Thanks!
2025-11-09
The GREATEST baseball game ever-undaunted by MLB The Show 26
For starters, this game is just screams retro. This game is so classic. Secondly, the game has volume controls. Third, the game is ACTUALLY BETTER THAN MLB THE SHOW 26! Backyard Baseball ‘97 all the way!
2025-10-29
hate
hate it
2025-10-22
good port with a few problems
1. you can't hover your cursor when pitching to see the accuracy
2. the autosave breaks the stats
2025-10-19
DOWNLOAD THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best baseball game I’ve ever played
2025-10-17
Bugged
I try to open it and it immediately kicks me out what a waste of almost $2 including tax….
2025-10-17
Black background
Please either scale the game up to full screen or allow us to use a black background.
2025-10-13
An amazing port of a charming game!
After playing 10 baseball games on the phone, I can firmly say that this is a wonderful port. There was only one crash I went through during that time, but that was the only hiccup I had.
I was worried that I would barely be able to control well, due to it being on a small phone screen, the first game proved my worries wrong. The simple controls translate very well to the phone, and the game itself was already great to begin with!
While I will probably get the PC ports from here on out, I am glad that I purchased this game, and I recommend any backyard sports fans to do the same if you’ve never played this version.
2025-10-05
Glitch
I loved this game a lot but the one thing I dont like about it is that it costs 5 bucks but for a game like this it doesn’t matter but as soon as I got it on my phone it just wouldn’t let me in the app I thought it was the phone but a few days later my brother got it and it was perfectly fine I’m thinking I got scammed please fix this
2025-10-05
Fun arcade baseball game
This game is great for a fast fun baseball game. The characters are great and memorable so much so you feel bad not picking them for your team. It’s easy to pick up on the controls and they seem to be accurate. The game makes you feel like a professional game in a playful kids backyard. My only gripe is you can’t transfer a save from your phone to your iPad. That’s why it only got 4/5 and not 5/5. The game is worth $5 and super fun! Enjoy!
2025-09-29
Riddled with errors and lost games
Constantly crashing and losing saves.
2025-09-21
Amazing
I have won 10 games so far and that this game is amazing I rate it a 5 star cause screaming line drive and under grounder and crazy bunt
2025-09-08
Fun game but need fix
It’s nice and fun I would say I wish game speed would be more quicker and I also wish that u would play in more than one stadium on season mode
2025-09-06
Classic for a reason
I am obsessed with this game. There are so many loving touches poured into every detail. The dialogue. The walk up music. The walk up animation. Pablo!
Given the point and click roots this is a natural port to mobile and two seasons in I play almost every day. Kudos to the developers for the continued updates. Play ball!
2025-09-03
PLEASE ADD MAGIC KEYBOARD TOUCHPAD SUPPORT!
The title says it all. Also, there are slight screen vertical lines on the sides of the Megacat opening. Please maybe even add a CRT computer screen filter somewhere on the pause screen!
2025-08-16
Love it ❤️
It’s challenging it’s fun, it’s just a really good game
2025-08-16
Good but make a new intro
Good but make a new intro please
2025-08-13
Backyard Baseball!
It’s a great game just didn’t let me open to frequently so if you wanna have fun but don’t care for glitches then it’s a great game!
2025-08-05
Lots of fun
Had no issues with crashing or any funny business, was a fun trip down memory lane. Played a full season and won the Ultra Grand Championship of the Universe tourney. Life’s good! Lots of good info/tips for how to play in the subreddit
2025-07-28
Great gameplay - crashes frequently
I would love to give it 5 stars - the gameplay is, I think, really good for a mobile adaptation of a desktop game. However, the app crashes on me about every two innings. I’m on an iPhone 13 mini. This is my only complaint - if it didn’t do this, it would be an easy 5 stars from me. This is frustrating considering that the gameplay is great and it’s a paid app.
2025-07-28
Good game!
I love this games 30 players and it’s super fun gameplay sometimes it doesn’t give power ups when I get a double play or a special pitch hit though
2025-07-28
Excellent game with minor drawbacks
The port to iOS is excellent and could only improve in minor ways (more generous tapping area to trigger a swing, picture scaled out to fill full screen). It’s a shame you can’t play a second season with a team in season mode but easy enough to create a second save for season 2 etc
Below are some gameplay notes on things that are consistently bothersome. BUT: since I exclusively played 01 and 03 growing up, these may just be original to this earlier title. Hence the full five star rating still.
1. No hitting power up for turning two. Only way to get a hitting power up is to hit the CPU’s pitching power up.
2. Impossibly low chance of making it on base or advancing a runner even on solid outfield hits (on hard mode at least). This kind of makes it more fun to play as an adult than the original, though, because it makes it harder to win. But it’s annoying regarding the internal “realism” of the game. In other words, an update that nerfed fielders’ arms just a little would be welcome.
2025-07-22
Best game
Just cause it is
2025-07-22
MLW
Can we please get MLW players in the game now?Now that they are sponsored by backyard sports I would love to have this as my line up.1:Kyle Schultz 2:Pablo Sanchez 3:Jimmy Knorp 4:Ryan Kracht 5:Jordan Robles 6:Pete Wheeler 7:Daniel Shultz 8:Sawyer Beyen 9:Mikey Thomas!!! Btw anyone saying that team wouldn’t be over powered is crazy.Overall great game,BUT GET MLW PLAYERS IN THIS GAME!!!!!
2025-07-21
Great nostalgia, but buggy
It’s great that when it works, it plays like the PC game. However, the game crashes too frequently - typically within a minute of opening it. I think that maybe sometimes a saved game file gets corrupted. Also, the record books don’t track for ERA and have other small bugs (it seems that only the top 4 show per category)
2025-07-21
I love the game but theirs 1 problem
The game is really fun but I bought the wrong one and it won’t let me return it someone please tell me how to return it
2025-07-17
It’s a Classic!
One of the best baseball games on mobile right now! I hold they continue to remaster these games! They’re timeless!
2025-07-17
Love this!! But here’s the thing…
Don’t get me wrong I love this game! But there is one tiny little issue.. WHENEVER I COME BACK INTO THE GAME IT MAKES MY TEAM START OVER WITH THE FIRST GAME!!!!
AND I HATE THAT!!!!!!! So please can you maybe try and fix that tiny little bug?
P.S- I LOVE This game!!!!❤️⚾️❤️
2025-07-16
Playoffs are rigged
Very fun game reminiscent of the OG. However, while I understand the playoffs should be harder than an average regular season matchup, the championship series in this game is clearly rigged against you. Suddenly your runners slow down, your pitchers get tired earlier and get less accurate, your hitters hit the ball right at the defense, and your fielders forget how to field. There needs to be a way to make the final series harder without rigging it. I don’t ask to win, I just ask for a fair game.
2025-07-15
Pure Nostalgia
I played all the backyard sports games when I was a kid, and this game has a special place in my heart. Although it was a trip down memory lane, I still experienced some general issues with gameplay (it’s not perfect, could be better).
The controls are a little wonky when the ball is hit in play. Controlling your fielder is very difficult even catching pop flies. I wish there was a touchscreen joystick for movement instead of tap to move. Makes catching pop ups almost impossible to catch with the tap controls.
When the ball is hit in play, your infielders and outfielders will sometimes just move from their base, even if there’s a force out at that base. And it doesn’t let you tap to specify which player to move. It will just move the closest player to the ball.
Timing the swing and making contact is a lot harder than anticipated. But I guess thats a good thing, creates a challenge.
More players!! Old and current ones please.
Maybe a deeper tournament mode, multiple seasons for one team would be nice so you don’t have to make a new team every time.
Create an option to disable time consuming animations like the catcher Throwing the ball back to the pitcher after every pitch. Pointless added time to games.
Pitching locator when pitching is wonky. You have to click and drag your finger to the batting zone, and then release then tap again to pitch? Even though you put the ball where you want to throw it, your second tap most likely won’t be where you dragged your finger to. Making it harder to be accurate.
Hopefully devs see this feedback and tweak some things. I think the game is great. Nostalgic and fun, just how I remembered when I was a kid. I think if they make some small gameplay changes to fix errors and lower game time, with a deeper tournament mode, it would be a game I wouldn’t put down if I have some time to kill.
2025-07-14
Cheats
Game will cheat. Errors will happen conveniently for the computer to comeback (ball out of play, drop the ball, etc.) and will prevent you from scoring.
2025-07-13
Pete hits touchdowns!
As an 11 year old, I can see why adults and kids back in the day love this game. I am a huge fan of baseball, this game even made me learn some rules of a ball game. I don’t see anything wrong with the game so far. Hitting a homer is the best feeling so far. Pablo is the GOAT
2025-07-13
Just awful
Either you messed with the game or the game just doesn’t work well with touch screens. Lost all interest in the reboot of this series.
2025-07-09
Full Game
I am absolutely in love with this game when I was younger. I would sit for hours at the computer and play this without getting tired and to see that I’m able to download it on my iPad was just amazing. The only thing I can say that I wish the mobile version, I wish it would’ve gave me the full game experience like I Had with the the CD as far as different things to do within the game as far as batting practice and all that stuff, and I figured it would’ve came with it because we did have to pay and usually with the free apps it’s little things that you have to pay for, but that’s just the only thing that I’m concerned about us not having the full version of the game.
2025-06-30
Very good but 2 problems
My first problem is sometimes I’m mid game and I decided to get off the game and do something and when I go back on the game the game doesn’t save
My next problem is you can’t sim games like the games are like 30 minutes to 1 hour and the season is like 14 games
And I’m not trying to spend that long on a game
Something else that could help is making it so you can have an option to change the innings to whatever you want instead of having each game be 9 or 6 innings
But other then those 2 thing the game is really really good and I suggest playing it
2025-06-28
Just a couple feature requests/bug reports
Love the game. Would love it more if I could play more than one season in league play mode. Also, Vinny says “swung too late” if you swing early, and “swung early” if you swing late. Also would love to see some of the other Backyard kids on opposing teams in league play. But overall a very fun way to kill some time and the nostalgia value is super high.
Can’t wait for Backyard Baseball 2001!
2025-06-20
Fan of the game
Love the backyard sports series, keep them coming. A couple things. 1. Put the backyard kids on other teams during the season mode. It did on the computer drive, not for mobile. 2. Pete wheeler has been going slower as the season goes lately, instead of refreshing for every game. Fix that please, thanks. 3. Don’t wait to put the other backyard games on mobile. I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking that. Thanks!
2025-06-19
Great Game, change two things
I enjoy this game a lot , however couple changes I would like for this game. The first one is when season play mode, I just don’t want to play at one field the whole season whether my team was home or away.
The second thing I would change on this game is to make it full screen. Other than those two things, it’s been a great game!
2025-06-01
Love the game but just one problem
I am a huge backyard baseball and and when I heard it was coming back I was very exited, when the mobile version came out I bought it immediately. When I play I like to listen to music but there’s no option to mute all the sounds, I’m aware you can mute most things in the settings but you can still hear the bat noises, the crowd cheering, and other things. Please fix this.
2025-05-31
Good port, sound issues, inconsistent “skip animation”, settings don’t persist
The game itself is pretty good. The only gripe I have gameplay wise is the “skip animation” feature. It seems to only be activated after the ball gets back to the pitcher, even if there’s no one on base. Also, if I can skip my own home runs I should be able to skip the opposing teams home runs.
The sound of the game is never really fully off. I don’t understand how this hasn’t been fixed yet. You can uncheck literally every option and you’ll still get sound from swinging the bat or throwing a pitch.
Settings don’t persist, which is really frustrating. Every time I re-open the map I have to go and adjust the settings again.
2025-05-26
The Original “Backyard” is Back! (Minus One Pivotal Feature)
Outside of a few app crashes and adjusting to the 4:3 aspect on the iPhone screen… Backyard is back and as great as ever!
There’s just one missing feature that really dampens the ole experience… you don’t play season games at the different fields! In the old game you not only chose your home field for the season, but rotated to other backyard fields when you were the away team. Here, unfortunately, you play all league games at “Parks Dept. Field #2,” a great field yes, but should be reserved for the playoffs.
2025-05-23
Great Start
Love the game and super nostalgic but it’s very hard to click on bases while running. Very hard to tap and I continually try to hit. Is there a way to make the base’s hit marker bigger? Also the tapping for pitches is hard to be precise. Maybe adding a 2-tap feature to click and/or drag the pitch to see where you want it. Then another click to pitch. Great game though and can’t wait to see more!
2025-05-18
Smooth but needs a couple updates
Great port, nostalgia, fun. It needs 1 change to be playable. A big part of the game is hovering your mouse over the strike zone to see where your pitch would go. Then picking the spot and firing. In this version you don’t get an indicator there because there is no “hover” over mouse. It would be better if I could tap and hold to see the pitch locator, then release to pitch.
Do that and you have an amazing game. Until then I just won’t be able to play it.
2025-05-17
Crashes a lot
Have really enjoyed playing this childhood classic, but once you get about 7-8 games in it will start crashing. I have made it all the way to the end of the season and am one game away from moving on and my game has crashed 10 times in a row. And every time i get on to play it again I have to start over. Glad this game is out but they really need to fix that. Its making it very enjoyable for me. Hoping they resolve this issue
2025-05-11
Buggy
I love backyard baseball!! Played it a lot growing up and this is the perfect mobile game. However it’s still buggy. Thought the latest update would have fixed it but it did not. It’s frustrating not having confidence in the app and have to exit the game every inning to save it so that if it does crash I don’t lose my progress. The pitching mechanics are a little buggy now. I have had several pitches go to the complete opposite side of the screen from where I tapped. Paying for the app I definitely expected it to be more stable than what it is. If not for the buggy nature of the app, this would for sure be 5 star.
2025-05-10
TURN OFF THE SOUNDS
This game runs perfectly fine for me and captures that same magic as the original… but please, please make it so you can turn off all the sounds. I’ve gone into all the settings and no matter what, there’s still clapping and pitch/hit noises. I would love to be able to listen to my music while I play it, but it’s impossible without intrusion of the game noises that should be able to be disabled.
2025-05-06
Season mode
So I’ve been playing this and my goodness I’m so excited it’s now mobile! My only take away is that I’m only able to play on one field during season mode and it’s kinda boring to keep it the same every time. I remember in prior games that certain teams had different home fields and I would like that to be the same here in this game if that’s possible. Overall, this game is fantastic.
2025-05-05
Nostalgia with minor bugs
I was so excited to see this game on iPhone but I do have some issues that make me regret purchasing it. The crashing in the middle of the game is frustrating. Also not being able to save a game midway. I’ve stepped away from my phone for a brief moment and come back and the game restarts so that is extremely frustrating. Please fix these issues and I will re rate to a 5 star if these are fixed. Brings me back to the 90s.
2025-04-27
Love the game almost perfect
Game is great almost perfect but some of the batters hit times are so delayed it’s almost impossible to use them and it doesn’t feel as responsive as it should be when i tap for a runner to return or advance a bag i find i have to tap multiple times before they go, also instead of tapping the screen since part of the screen is black on both sides couldn’t you put buttons for hit/steal/pitch/throw etc. overall great game but the reactiveness of taping where to throw and when to run needs some work and specific batter delays need work as well(ie, Dante Robinson and Keisha Phillips)
2025-04-23
Fix the bugs
Been waiting for this game to come out on mobile for way too long. Overall, very happy it’s back but disappointed with some of the execution. First and foremost the bugs are a big issue that are getting bad enough that I may just stop playing until they are fixed. 2 league games in a row where I played the entire game just for it to crash right at the end. Also, just like I’ve seen in a ton of other reviews please fix the sound; if all sound settings are off there shouldn’t be sound… Last thing, not sure why we couldn’t make it full screen? Lots of unnecessary black space. Final suggestion would be to add a brief tutorial option as a reminder for the nuances of the game those who haven’t played in over 20 years. Would happily upgrade my review once these bugs are addressed.
2025-04-22
Nostalgic, but needs modern updates
The game is exactly how I remembered it, as it seems to be a direct port from the original PC version. You use your finger to tap in the strike zone for hitting and pitching, which is difficult due to the small screen size. Your finger often obstructs your ability to swing on time. Adding a swing button for batting and virtual joystick to select pitch location in the unused (black) space on the right side of the screen would be a huge improvement.
2025-04-19
Crashed less than one inning into my first game
Very excited for this game to be good, but it crashed in my first game. I thought this would have been fixed by now, which is why I delayed in buying it. I’d love to play it if it doesn’t keep crashing.
Update: my next 5-6 games went well with no crashes, then I had a game crash after the final out with a pop-up of something like “Game Overstacked” (or something like that) and it didn’t save that game as having happened.
2025-04-16
Nostalgic but lacking
Love the game, absolute classic. Brings me back to my childhood. They’ve made pretty much 0 changes to it, which is awesome in some ways and… not so awesome in others. It doesn’t translate super well and there are a few glitches, the ball indicator on pitches literally doesn’t show up. The game doesn’t even fit to the screen. It’s honestly a bit difficult to play on mobile. Really thought they would at least make it somewhat mobile friendly lol. Somewhat disappointing.
2025-04-15
Love the Nostalgia but frequent crashes
It’s awesome to have this game available on iPhone and iPad but there are a few things that frustrate me.
I primarily play on my iPad. I have only finished a couple of games because the app will close before I can finish. Sometimes it happens in the 2nd inning, sometimes in the 6th, sometimes in the 9th. Nothing more frustrating when you get to the end of a game and it crashes!
On the iPhone, I don’t understand why this game can’t be full screen. It’s small as it is, so to cut off the sides of the screen makes it not as enjoyable.
2025-04-14
Nostalgia✨
This is my all time favorite computer game as a kid..I’ve played a lot of different PC games too..Oregon trail (eh) Myst, monster truck racing, doom, who wants to be a millionaire, I even played those games from General Mills when they gave them out with their cereal, they were the best honestly. One of the best parts of my material childhood. This is just like the pc game. Takes a while to get used to the new placements to swing and throw, use the controls, it’s all touch and finger timing but it’s still a classic. Well worth the $5. I hope they launch all the other games too! The one with the MLB stars too would be awesome as well, please make it happen 🙏🤟😁
2025-04-10
Great port but…
This port is solid but something is very off when you hit with Keisha Phillips. When you do practice swings with her, her swings are responsive like normal, once the pitch starts, her swing is very very delayed, to the point where she can’t even hit the ball because she’s swinging so late, even if I press the screen right as the pitch starts, her swing is still late. This is the only character so far where I’ve experienced this kind of delay. Everyone else feels normal and responsive. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed.
2025-04-09
Crisis with Errors
This game could absolutely rock. So many fond memories associated with this game. Was beyond excited to have a mobile version. I can stomach the issues around hits rarely leaving the infield. However, the constant, unforced errors are beyond maddening. The errors happen to the best players in the game in seemingly routine situations. Multiple errors on a single play. I hate turning off the errors setting, but I feel like I have to do so to have a more realistic experience. Errors need to be a part of the game but should not be anywhere near as prevalent as they currently are.
2025-04-06
Just like the original
Game is nostalgic, bringing back great memories. If you’ve played backyard baseball in the past, you know what you’re signing up for - a light hearted, quirky, fun baseball game. Most of the poorer reviews don’t understand the old game. It’s meant to be a simple game with simple controls made to be an exact copy of the original (that’s what makes it great). It does crash occasionally (like almost any game) so make sure you save your games every so often (mid game every ~2 innings or so). While not perfect, the game is well worth the price and 5 stars. I played it for hours growing up and have already played it for hours over the last week. Hoping more backyard games are available on mobile soon!
2025-04-05
BYB on iphone!
Great classic game we can finally play on iphone! I’ve been waiting for this a while now. The app has crashed 1 time during a season game but has functioned well all other times after the update.
I’m glad to introduce my young kids to the game I once played on the computer when I was a kid.
Thank you for remaking Backyard Sports! I hope y’all continue to make more games for iphone. Especially Backyard Baseball 2001 with MLB players.
2025-04-03
Terrible
Not sure how this is getting good reviews at all. Impossible to hit, and when I do get one, the runner gets thrown out at first even if it’s a base hit to the outfield because he’s slow. Fielders drop the ball constantly. I’ve given up 3 inside the park homers because every one drops the ball, even if I’m just throwing it back to the pitcher. Awful.
Update: no, I’m not going to go to the options and do that. Don’t be condescending, and fix your game instead. Don’t charge people $5 for the nostalgia and give them a product that isn’t good. The people commenting positive reviews aren’t being 100%, and are only focused on the nostalgia. This is not a good product.
2025-04-02
My favorite game but crashes
UPDATE: increased to the rightful place of 5 stars. The developer made the needed improvements and no more crashing! On my way to winning my league championship! Thanks for listening and responding!! Hope to play against other people one day maybe in 3 inning games!!
Original Review: I grew up playing this game and was excited for this to come to mobile. I want to thank the developer for bring a piece of my childhood back for me to enjoy. However for a paid app and having it crash now two times in a row that was in a league game right at the end is very frustrating. There is no auto save so I will need to play the same league game a third time. I know this game just came out but please get these bugs fixed. I hope to increase my rating one day soon.
2025-04-02
Love it but needs some improvement
Love this game, but it crashes when I’m in the middle of games a lot. Would really love if they could add an automatic save feature to league mode. It would be incredible if you could save in the middle of a game. The average game for me takes roughly 30 minutes. Sometimes I can’t finish the game in one sitting, and when I come back I have to restart the entire game. Overall great game, just minor improvements would help me enjoy it more.
2025-04-02
It’s just fine.
Was excited for this game to come out but unfortunately just does not live up to all the hype of the marketing campaign.
It’s basically a worst version of the game that came out almost 30 years ago. The no MLB license was to be expected but still could have been a good game without it. The game does not look any better than it did in 97 either. Feel like that could have been improved. Game also only takes up like 70% of screen space.
Thought this game would be a daily game for me but it’s just not good. I’ll probably keep it on my phone for long trips but definitely disappointed that this is what we got after all the hype.
2025-04-01
Needs improvements
The quickest $5 I have spent in a long time. I so wanted this game to be everything. I sat down to show my 7 yr old one of my favorite games when I was young. However I was disappointed with the clunky game play. This game needs better optimization for a phone. The swing box is a lot smaller than it should be. I find myself sitting in the batters box striking out because my finger is slightly off.
The 4 stars is more for nostalgia than anything. The recent “fix” wasn’t enough. I hope this wasn’t just some quick cash grab.
This could be so good. A perfect game to move to mobile.
2025-04-01
Loving it!
I preordered and have played numerous hours already. I’m absolutely loving it and it’s bringing me right back to my mom and dad’s computer when I was a child. The game has only crashed once for me in my many hours of play. Hitting is a little more difficult without a mouse, but I’m loving the challenge. I can’t wait for them to bring more sports and the “newer” versions of the games with the pros! I couldn’t have asked for a better mobile port!
2025-04-01
My Childhood is Back!
It’s so nice having this game available to me on my phone!! I loved this game as a kid and now I can play when ever where ever! Great game can’t wait to see what else they bring to mobile. Because the format of this game works perfectly for mobile hopefully the bring other sports next. Classic game great diversity of characters must play for baseball fans and good starter for kids.
2025-03-28
A little buggy but the fun is still there
First off, I wanna thank you guys for reviving this franchise I’ve enjoyed for over 20 years. I am happy to support and continue to support your efforts so Pablo Keisha and the gang can reach new audiences.
However, please keep working on fine tuning this. I just had won 11-0 and at the end of game screen I get a “scummerror” and crashed the game, causing me a wasted 45 minutes. There’s also been some audio choppiness at times. I believe in you guys to get it right, I know it isn’t as easy as you make it seem, but it is a little frustrating. Guess I’ll just have to save more often.
2025-03-28
Backyard Baseball is back Baby!
This game is exceeding all expectations! As a kid from Chicago who played this when I was young, this is everything you remember. Pablo Sanchez homers. Angela Delvecchio Spitballs. Kenny Kawaguchi Heaters. Grade A commentary and all the nostalgia ! If you are a millennial who wants to relive the good old days or you just want to introduce the next generation to a one of the classic games of our childhood, this truly is worth every penny. So what are you waiting for…your team is waiting!
2025-03-28
Play Bol
I loved this game as a kid and was excited to see it was coming in App form! Works just as the old game did. In this mobile format though, the screen is so small that it’s hard to see pitches and where the ball is hit in the outfield. Also it gives the option to turn off background sounds, but they were still playing. I think after an update or two and if the game is somehow switched to full screen it will bring back all the magic of the computer game.
2025-03-27
Near flawless mobile experience, but have experienced a few bugs
All an all, this is a near seamless mobile port of BYB97. Because of the aspect ratio, I do find the mobile experience to be significantly better on IPad than on IPhone. A few small bugs I’ve noticed after playing for about an hour are 1) I didn’t receive a hitting power up after recording a double play in the field and 2) One character always seems to be missing from the bleachers when picking a team vs the computer in a pickup game.
2025-03-27
For nostalgia only
I was super excited when I heard about this coming out and quickly preordered the game, waiting for the release date. I’ve tried to play it a bit today and have been mostly disappointed in this straight port to mobile. For starters, I was hoping it might offer a little something new or extra like a couple of new players, new modes like homerun derby, playoffs, or seriously, even a modern control system. Nope, this is a straight port of a game from 1997 that you can easily play for free on your computer by downloading an old ISO.
Controls are really insane trying to hit or move players by touching your phone screen. Not to mention it’s made even smaller by crimping the size to give it a real 1997 feel….
Also, once I finally started to somewhat figure out the awful controls and was looking to hit a grand slam with Pablo Sanchez, yeah the game crashed. It’s crashed 3 times while playing.
Save your money and find a way to play for free on a PC with a mouse.
2025-03-27
It’s okay to make some updates
I’m rating 5 stars because I’m a big fan of the franchise and think it’s awesome these games are being brought back.
However, to bring this to iPhone you need to make some updates. Firstly, you need to fit the game to phone screen size. It’s crazy that half my total screen is filled with black bars. Secondly some kind of indicator that shows where you tap would be a massive upgrade. I think making just these 2 changes would greatly improve the games QoL.
Thanks for bringing this back!
2025-03-27
Nearly Perfect 🙌🏼
This game is exactly what I was looking for! The game is such a throwback and so well done. My only criticisms are that it would be nice to see the game brought to full screen to utilize the entire screen of the phone, and that sometimes the game crashes and the app shuts down and upon restarting you find that you have to restart the entire game that you were in the middle of playing. I’m sure with a little more polishing. This game can be refined and become even greater. Thank you guys so much for putting out the effort to make this happen and bring it to the mobile platform. I really hope you guys continue developing this further and consider releasing even more titles in the future. Maybe you could release them as add-ons so that we could play different versions released in following years all under the same app? I’m thinking either one backyard sports app with all the different sports and different versions released in subsequent years? I’m sure it will take a lot of time, but…what do you think? I’m just saying, I think it would be amazing. Goodbye death scrolling on social media and HELLOO backyard sports!
2025-03-27
It’s fun but different.
I get that it’s hard to translate from computer to mobile but the hitting aspect is so off. There’s a massive delay and there’s no rhyme or reason to when you should swing. So many misinputs. The touch mechanic is pretty bad. Touching the base will sometimes throw the ball other times run and trip. I love this game so much I feel I had too high of expectations. It’s a faithful recreation but not optimized for mobile. Maybe hitting can have a swing button because tapping anywhere on the screen is not working.
2025-03-27
Great Nostalgia but….
Backyard Baseball mobile is a great game for nostalgic reasons and I hope they make Football and Basketball or even later years of the games on mobile as well. Okay let’s talk gameplay putting your finger in the middle of the screen covering the screen is rough and makes the game hard to play I wish there was a button on the side in all the empty space they didn’t use or found a better way for hitting and pitching and fielding, a lot of it feels impossible with big fingers. I would give it a 2.5 out of 5.
2025-03-27
Run it back!!!
Well Done Mega Cat and Playground Productions!!! You guys have successfully brought back my childhood. Thank you thank you thank you, for bringing back this absolute gem of a game and the series as a whole. This game deserves more than 5/5 stars, it deserves 5,000,000/5 stars for everyone involved in bringing back this series. On top of that releasing it on MLB Opening Day is clutch and on Thursday talk about A true Throwback Thursday treat. Well done once again. :) 👍👍