The BIGS is an arcade-style baseball game that is less focused on the intricate details of the game and more on the actual gameplay, proven by the inclusion of power-ups and turbos during gameplay. All 30 teams from MLB and their stadiums are included, as well as their player rosters. Instead of a traditional season mode as in many other baseball simulations, in The BIGS there is a mode titled Rookie Challenge, where the player creates a ballplayer and tries to lead him and his team to the World Series. Another mode, Home Run Pinball, puts a hitter in the middle of Times Square, New York, with the aim to hit balls into windows and neon lights.
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I'm not huge on baseball, but I remember this being fun.
Actually not bad!
Rented this multiple times as a kid and got most of the achievements. The home run animations were so hype.
One of the first Xbox 360 games I rented as a kid. Super enjoyable arcade baseball game, reminiscent of the old MLB slugfest games. Not sure how well it would hold up today, bit certainly holds some good memories in my head
Super fun arcade-style baseball game. It's more like an NFL Street version of MLB rather than something like Slugfest.
Batting and pitching are streamlined to few button presses compared to MLB 2K. When pitching and batting, a wheelhouse appears in the batters box. It's a risk-reward gameplay element. The wheelhouse is the zone where the batter is more likely to land a hit. Pitch in the wheelbox and making the opponent strike gives you turbo, while as a batter, hitting a pitch thrown in your wheelhouse rewards you with turbo. Pitchers can also lose pitches if a batter gets a number of hits, base runs or even a home run. Teams have a turbo and a Big Play meter (basically, the MLB version of NBA/NFL Street's Gamebreaker). Turbo can be used to increase base runners speed, throw hard to hit pitches and make easier contact when batting. You can even use a bar of turbo when pitching to enter a "Showdown" mode, which zooms the camera in and lowers the crowd audience to allow you to throw an super fast pitch. When the Big Play meter is filled on offense, activating it at bat gives you an instant home run hit (no matter the pitching situation). On defense, you'll pitch 100+ MPH fireballs that the opponent can't hit. The gameplay is superb for an arcade baseball game, but with these elements, the A.I. can do some unbelievable frustrating plays that can bring down the enjoyment at times.
Game modes in The Bigs are hit or miss. Aside from standard Exhibition, there's a Rookie Challenge, Home Run Pinball and Home Run Derby. No Career, Season or Franchise available.
Home Run Pinball is similar to Home Run Derby, except targets of different score are present in the environment with your objective being to try to gain the highest score. Rookie Challenge has you create a player and rise from the bottom to the big leagues as an MVP. It's a fun mode that provides some objectives during certain games, rewarding you with skill points and extras to develop your character.
Rookie Challenge lasts a good 20 hours, but the lack of a Career, Franchise and Season Mode really hurts the replayability (especially considering most sports titles at the time had a plethora of game modes available).
I recommend playing The Bigs if you're a fan of Midway, EA Sports BIG or any other arcade sports titles. Even if you're not into baseball, there is plenty of fun to be had.
Batting and pitching are streamlined to few button presses compared to MLB 2K. When pitching and batting, a wheelhouse appears in the batters box. It's a risk-reward gameplay element. The wheelhouse is the zone where the batter is more likely to land a hit. Pitch in the wheelbox and making the opponent strike gives you turbo, while as a batter, hitting a pitch thrown in your wheelhouse rewards you with turbo. Pitchers can also lose pitches if a batter gets a number of hits, base runs or even a home run. Teams have a turbo and a Big Play meter (basically, the MLB version of NBA/NFL Street's Gamebreaker). Turbo can be used to increase base runners speed, throw hard to hit pitches and make easier contact when batting. You can even use a bar of turbo when pitching to enter a "Showdown" mode, which zooms the camera in and lowers the crowd audience to allow you to throw an super fast pitch. When the Big Play meter is filled on offense, activating it at bat gives you an instant home run hit (no matter the pitching situation). On defense, you'll pitch 100+ MPH fireballs that the opponent can't hit. The gameplay is superb for an arcade baseball game, but with these elements, the A.I. can do some unbelievable frustrating plays that can bring down the enjoyment at times.
Game modes in The Bigs are hit or miss. Aside from standard Exhibition, there's a Rookie Challenge, Home Run Pinball and Home Run Derby. No Career, Season or Franchise available.
Home Run Pinball is similar to Home Run Derby, except targets of different score are present in the environment with your objective being to try to gain the highest score. Rookie Challenge has you create a player and rise from the bottom to the big leagues as an MVP. It's a fun mode that provides some objectives during certain games, rewarding you with skill points and extras to develop your character.
Rookie Challenge lasts a good 20 hours, but the lack of a Career, Franchise and Season Mode really hurts the replayability (especially considering most sports titles at the time had a plethora of game modes available).
I recommend playing The Bigs if you're a fan of Midway, EA Sports BIG or any other arcade sports titles. Even if you're not into baseball, there is plenty of fun to be had.
Mario sluggers is the superior baseball experience