Anyone who has fond memories of NBA Jam from back in the day knows that it was never meant to resemble a real game of basketball anymore than Doom resembled real combat. Of course, that didn’t mean NBA Jam was a bad game. In fact, it was its simple and casual gameplay that made it such a popular title. Likewise, 2k Sports’s Bigs 2, is not meant to accurately portray Major League Baseball but it still delivers its share of fun times despite the difficulties that the Wii controls represent.
Pitching and hitting is similar to games like MLB Showdown but with some twists. The biggest one is “turbo” which is gained by hitting balls, stealing bases, striking batters out or throwing runners out. This turbo can be used to make batting more accurate, a pitch more difficult to hit, or give a runner or fielder a burst of speed. It’s a fun mechanic but can make it even more difficult for those that are far behind to ever catch up.
A pitcher has a certain amount of fatigue with each kind of specialty pitch (fast, knuckle, curve etc.). Every time that pitch is successfully hit on it drains the fatigue, the bigger the hit the more drained. Loose enough fatigue and the pitch is gone from your repertoire. Relief and closing pitchers can be brought in but their fatigue drains even quicker than your starters. Gain enough points by striking out batters and throwing out runners and you can initiate the “Big Heat” mechanic making your pitches very difficult to hit for a short period of time. Additionally, for difficult hits in the outfield you can initiate “Legendary Catch” mini games (which on the Wii consist of trying to catch several balls as they jump around the screen).
Batters, like in standard baseball games, must still guess pitches and time their hits well enough to send the ball flying. The Bigs adds a few twists to batting, however, including the Big Blast mechanic which guarantees a homerun if you can hit the pitch, which you can get after earning enough points. Hold out a little longer, though, and you can go for the Big Slam where four hitters go up in a four pitch sequence. The first three batters hit to get on base while the fourth hitter is going for the homerun. While it is fun, it makes offence a bit one-sided since there isn’t an equivalent for pitching. Running has its own fun mini games where you have to beat the catcher at home plate. One of the most rewarding moments I had in Bigs 2 came when I won a playoff game by slamming into the catcher and jarring the ball loose.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
