Backyard Skateboarding is a game in the Backyard Sports series and the fifth game in the series released for the GBA. A number of skaters gathers to raise funds to turn their backyard into a real skatepark. They participate in the Backyard Skate Tour where they help out people in the neighbourhood to earn stamps in their tour book. They start at Mom 'N' Pop's Skateshop and by earning enough stamps they can move on to another shop. Every location also has a kid acting as a boss, offering a challenge. When defeated, the kid the joins the group as a new playable character. As each kid also brings a sponsor, at the end of the game their will be enough funds to build the ultimate park Skate Station Alpha.
The game is different from the earlier PC version and uses a bird's-eye view. There are different skaters available that can be customized. Each skater has different statistics based on air, balance, flip, speed and spin. The skater is controlled directly in a scrolling environment that can be explored freely in any direction. Every location has characters with tasks or challenges to complete to earn the stamps. Tasks for instance include delivering newspapers against a time limit. The main score is shown in the top left corner as "juice". Skaters can move, jump and perform tricks. Often parts of the environments can be used for grinds and jumps using ramps.
The game includes a multiplayer mode.