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America - Front

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Review Scores

VGChartz Score
6.1
                         

Ratings

   

Alternative Names

The BIGS 2 Baseball

Developer

Blue Castle Games

Genre

Sports

Other Versions

DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, X360

Release Dates

07/07/09 2K Sports
(Add Date)
08/28/09 2K Sports

Community Stats

Owners: 5
Favorite: 0
Tracked: 0
Wishlist: 0
Now Playing: 0
 
6.4

Avg Community Rating:

 

Review: The Bigs 2

By Mr. Nice 08th Aug 2009 | 2,374 views 

Solid gameplay aside, The Bigs 2 should have spent a bit more time in spring training.

In baseball terms, The Bigs 2 for Wii doesn’t exactly knock the ball out of the park, but it’s safe to say it doesn’t strike out either. Like the original, this title focuses on extreme arcade gameplay rather than realistic baseball simulation. It roots much of its gameplay in baseball nuances that feel neither too far-fetched or too realistic. Unfortunately, where much of the core baseball gameplay shines, an assortment of other key gameplay and technical flaws limit Bigs 2 to being an effort that only Wii owners really itching for an arcade sports experience should take seriously.

Thankfully, there aren't any Wii Remote/Nunchuk edges in the actual game.

The title touts a variety of gameplay modes that will keep players busy with the new Become A Legend Mode most likely to offer the most playtime, offering a character-based story rarely found in sports titles. Playing similarly to the first entry’s Rookie Challenge mode, you start off creating your own custom player and detailing every aspect of him, from batting stance to facial hair. After customizing the player, you learn that at one time he was a name to be feared in the MLB. A career-threatening injury caused him to drop out of the Major Leagues altogether and regain his lost skill just south of the border in a Mexican baseball league. Eventually gamers will be able to choose the MLB team that their player launches his career comeback with in a streamlined and very much simplified MLB season. Players are required to not only win games with certain objectives, but to complete short “training” hit-and-miss minigames that serve the purpose of regaining lost attributes for your player. The largest and most exciting addition in Become A Legend Mode is the ability to travel to Cooperstown and play against some of the MLB’s most dignified Hall of Famers ever, including such greats as Jackie Robinson, Reggie Jackson, and Roberto Clemente. As your player continues to progress on their journey to the Hall of Fame, the game continues to keep things fresh with the ability to pick up players from beaten teams, traveling to and facing the iconic teams of Japan, and ultimately playing every MLB team. If none of this sounds like it’s appealing to you, then you’re in for a nasty surprise as the rest of the title’s gameplay modes aren’t even half even half as compelling as this.

Bigs 2 features the ability to play all five of the training minigames you encounter in Become A Legend Mode, each of which won’t warrant more than a couple of playthroughs. Completely original in this iteration is the Season Mode, which allows players to play through the entire MLB with a desired team and manage its stats and rosters. While this may sound good and well at first, the developers at 2K Sports played it a bit too safe, as they added nothing that hasn’t been seen in baseball season simulators for years (minus the over-the-top gameplay of the series). The experience quickly grows boring and monotonous, as there simply isn’t enough to do here. A mode that allows opposing teams to pick and select from the MLB’s current All Star list a la two captains picking from their peers in gym class is also present and quickly redundant. And while it’s nice that your standard Play Ball mode allows up to four player competition, where in the world is an online mode? Not in the Wii version of Bigs 2, which is very disappointing considering just how much the option of taking a sports title online can add to replayability.

While Wii owners don’t have the privilege to take the game online, they do have three different control modes that for the most part work well – Wii Remote only, Remote and Nunchuk, and Classic Controller. As far as motion control options go, Remote only offers the best feel and is just more intuitive than Wiimote and Nunchuk simply because swinging the bat (Wiimote) with the Nunchuk in the other hand just doesn’t quite feel right. While the game most likely started development a bit too early for Wii MotionPlus to have been supported, motion controls in the game actually work well in most instances and aren’t ever overused in an areas where it’s unnecessary. Minigames that would otherwise be completed via button presses during amazing outfield catches or leveling the catcher as you race in a mad dash to home plate are now done with much more interesting and fun challenges. A simple diving catch in the outfield can also be done with the flick of the remote and no longer do throws to each of the bases require a flick of the remote – just press the corresponding base on the Control Pad and you’re good to go. Selecting and using one of your pitcher’s four pitches is a bit flawed though, as pitching with the Wiimote is so much easier than the Classic Controller that it’s almost unfair. The only other issue with motion controls is that they are still quite tiring, and when you find yourself playing through a marathon of several games, going with the Classic Controller is probably your best bet. 

Believe it or not, some of the best gameplay aspects in the title were just added this year. Probably the biggest and best update to gameplay is what is called the “wheelhouse”. The wheelhouse is essentially that certain area in the batter’s box that batters have the easiest time batting from. But why would a pitcher ever want to throw the ball in that direction? Pitchers are actually rewarding their team with turbo if they can pitch into the area successfully – a very much needed necessity when a particular player could use the added speed at bat, running, or throwing the baseball. On the batting side of the spectrum, a new feature called “Big Slam” can come into play if the team is doing well enough. The Big Slam will allow 4 consecutive batters to come up to the plate, with the first three hitting grounders and the last hitting a grand slam to bring them all home. It’s also nice that even though the game is intentionally unrealistic, each player uses the wheelhouse and batting stance of their real-life counterpart. The final addition to gameplay in Bigs 2 is on the fielding side of the game, and allows certain players to make a “legendary” catch, which are crazily surreal diving catches in the outfield. While it can be a thrill to watch some of these catches, some are almost a bit too unrealistic, and it can get a frustrating to think you smacked the ball into wide open grass only to find the outfielder can dive 15 yards and make the catch for an out.

Where the game really stumbles is visually. The visuals are downright terrible in Bigs 2 with the game looking about as appealing as an early GameCube effort rather than a 2009 Wii title, with its grainy textures and no attention to detail on the players’ jersey and their faces. Framerate also will falter with more than a few players on screen at once and crowds are motionless. The title’s sound thankfully fairs a tad better, and although the commentator gets old fast, unique crowd chants are present, and different stadiums (or countries for that matter) offer their own spin on different cheers. A small licensed soundtrack can also be heard on menus, but the never used SD card support for your own music would have worked well here.

Theoretically speaking, sports titles usually come loaded with a variety of game modes that are designed specifically to keep gamers playing and coming back for what is hopefully a bit of a different experience each time they pop the game in. Bigs 2 is no exception in this regard, but, as mentioned previously, many of the modes offered (aside from the aforementioned Become A Legend and Play Ball mode), probably won't last anyone too long and will likely end up forgotten after one play due to a severe lack of depth. Become A Legend plays for an enjoyable 20-plus hours depending on the player and is likely the only mode anyone will have the endurance needed to sit down and play through. I can't think of a better example to show that it's not necessarily the quantity of modes a game offers, but the quality that each delivers to truly show off the positive aspects of the gameplay.

The Bigs 2 would almost assuredly get a whole-hearted recommendation if it weren’t for the bland modes and presentation setbacks. The Bigs series really has a lot going for it gameplay wise, and with a few touchups here and there, the franchise might be more suitable for a wider audience. No doubt, thirsty arcade sports fans will enjoy this title, even if only for a day or two, but there’s nothing that the game brings to the table that screams “purchase” for just about anybody else. 


VGChartz Verdict


6.1
Decent

Read more about our Review Methodology here

Sales History

Total Sales
0.00m
Japan
0.26m
NA
0.01m
Europe
0.02m
Others
0.29m
Total
1 n/a 10,772 n/a 1,901 12,673
2 n/a 4,702 n/a 830 5,532
3 n/a 3,948 n/a 697 4,645
4 n/a 4,029 n/a 711 4,740
5 n/a 5,163 n/a 911 6,074
6 n/a 5,588 n/a 985 6,573
7 n/a 4,120 n/a 727 4,847
8 n/a 3,119 n/a 550 3,669
9 n/a 2,976 n/a 525 3,501
10 n/a 3,005 n/a 530 3,535

Opinion (1)

Cobretti2 posted 29/09/2009, 04:23
haha, you can put down 1 sales in others as I baught it. Not too bad but you must love baseball to enjoy this effort. Ken Griffey Jr Baseball on N64 is still the best
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