"Backyard Basketball," a new PC/Macintosh game from Infogrames, is not what you would call a full-fledged simulation. You play most of the game using one button on your mouse, and it only has two professional basketball stars on its roster.
The stars of this court are kids, and politically correct kids at that. How can you not feel warm and fuzzy when one of the best players on the court is wheelchair-bound Kenny Kawaguchi, a boy with quickness and a great outside shot? Other stars include Sidney Webber, whose above-average performance in almost all categories makes her valuable. My personal favorite is brainy Dimitri Petrovich, a pudgy kid in thick glasses who is always a threat from the outside.
The game includes two kid-versions of professional players. NBA all-star Kevin Garnett and WNBA hero Lisa Leslie are both available. You should know, however, that the kid versions of these stars do not dominate the game.