Football games have traditionally been played from a behind-the-player perspective. Most titles let you change the view, at least to some degree. But with the exception of the first-run games designed 20 years ago for the NES, the main view has always been the same.

Backyard Football is unusual for that very reason. It's played from a side, almost soccer-like perspective, changing the game of football before you even pick up the Game Boy Advance. It's also unusual for being the only game besides Madden that's been granted NFL licensing.

Why this game and no other? Backyard Football 07 includes real pro players. However, all of them are featured as children. This fictitious environment makes it impossible for the pros of the Backyard to compete with the pros of Madden, preventing a conflict with EA's exclusive license.

Backyard Football 07 stays true to the series name by taking the game to backyard and fantasy locations: Chinatown, the zoo, an airport, and a drive-in movie theater, among others. You'll be staring at the yards most of the time, as the camera is not positioned (or dynamic enough – this is GBA) to show each locale's unique background element. Consequently, most of the fields end up looking the same.

But don’t let a difference in surface deter you. BF 07 is one of the better sports games designed for the GBA. Gameplay is fairly quick, very simple, and doesn't have many rules. The turbo button will be your best friend in this game, an element that should be familiar to Blitz fans everywhere. Passing is a breeze – throw the ball by tapping any of the button icons that appear over your teammates’ heads.

Catching is all but automatic. On defense, you can step in and intercept, or block your opponents to keep them from catching the ball. They can do the same. But the general act of passing and catching is done with one button press. Unless your opponents get in the way, you won’t have to intervene. Bad passes do occur, that’s to be expected. But I’ve played nearly every console and handheld football series made in the last 10 years – from the forgettable (NFL Xtreme) to the Madden-dominance-threatening NFL 2K – and BF 07 is unquestionably the king of simplified passing.

Which is good if all you want is a quick game with frequent scoring. The ball goes back and forth a lot. Stopping the offense early on is the best strategy – once that turbo button is being used, the guy with the ball is almost invincible. Turbo runs out, but you’ll be hard to catch once you’ve taken the lead. It is not hard to sneak past the defense right after kickoff, hold turbo and run all the way to a touch down. Your opponents can do the same, but the AI was built for inexperienced kid gamers. Winning is not that difficult.

Running, passing, catching, kicking, and block / tackle statistics are used to differentiate player quality. Brief descriptions indicates how strong each player is, what he’s known for, and how he’ll do in a game.

The stats are informative, but I’ve found that with arcade-style games, the best player with the worst team is still the best player. You could pick the lowest-rated players, and if you’re the best player in control of them, it’s unlikely you’ll lose.

A full season mode gives you several games to complete, while strategy-altering tactics add a slight amount of depth to your pre-play actions. This is mostly an arcade game, and it pulls off the quick thrill experience pretty well.

Where it fails is the long-term experience. You won’t find anything new after the first couple of games. There aren’t many control options – no special tricks or clever evasive techniques. You pass the ball and run. That’s the gist of the experience. I suppose all sports games could be reduced to a single-sentence description. But it’s the stuff in between – how you get from point A to point B – that keeps them exciting.

Gameplay: 6.4
Retro, side-by-side football for the handheld equivalent to the SNES. The action is fair, the speed is decent, and the style is different from other football games on the market. Backyard Football 07 isn’t all it could be, most likely due to the GBA limitations. The controls are also flawed, lacking responsive consistency – an area not limited to system limitations, but is damaging wherever it appears.

Graphics: 6.0
Not bad for a handheld that’s long past its prime. The backgrounds are as bland as can be, but the characters and animations are appealing.

Sound: 5.0
Annoying, repetitious music and generic GBA sounds. Standard stuff for the handheld, but that doesn’t mean it’s good.

Difficulty: Easy
Not a cakewalk, but still nowhere near the challenge of a simulator like Madden, or an arcade game like Blitz. The game is, however, vastly superior (in challenge and in every other way) to the Blitz titles release for Game Boy Color.

Concept: 6.0
Backyard Football doesn’t seem to have much room left for innovation on the Game Boy Advance. That said, the game does offer a lot of options – especially when compared to other big-name sports releases for the system.

Multiplayer: 6.0
You can only pass and score so many times. Sooner than later, Backyard Football 07 loses it luster.

Overall: 6.2
Don’t expect a console-quality experience. Those who have been hankering for a handheld sports game that actually plays like a sports game will find more depth in Backyard Football 07 than in most GBA titles. But beware of its controls, repetitions, and simplified mechanics.