Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball, has been described by many as the best baseball game available for the Sony
Playstation, while that may be true, it does not come close to beating World Series Baseball for the Saturn,which
has been out for some time now. The Saturn version of Big Hurt is nearly identical to its Playstation brother, too
close to even compare.
The graphics in this game are average at best. The ball parks are very nicely done and are fairly accurate (except for
all ads Acclaim must of sold to advertisers). Where the graphics really fall short are in the choppiness of the batter
and fielder animations. After witnessing the brilliantly smooth animation in a game like World Series, seeing this
choppiness hurts.
The sound is of your basic baseball game variety, consisting of vendors selling peanuts, the roars of the crowd, the crack of
the bat, and a relatively well done announcer. Nothing special or extraordinary, but what do you really expect from
a baseball game.
The control is actually one of the strong points of the game. The pitching, fielding, and hitting are all very easy to do and the
controls are responsive.
Big Hurt really falls short in it's computer AI, which is one of the worst that I can remember. The computer controlled fielders
and base runners simply don't have a clue. For example: If you want to attempt to steal home, feel free to do so any time you want to
because you'll always make it. The reason being, that when you attempt to steal home, the pitcher will pitch the ball home and
then the catcher will throw the ball to third, giving you safe passage to the plate (duh!!!!). The fielders also have a problem with
throwing to the right base. Too many times the computer fielders will attempt to get the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt, even
when they have no chance, thus allowing you to pretty much bunt a 10 run inning if you handle it correctly. There are many other
instances that you'll ask yourself "why the hell did they do that?", and that is not what one wants in a baseball game.
The extras in Big Hurt are also pretty limited. You do have options to play an exhibition game, season play, home run derby, and
have many options to personalize each. Yet there is no ability to trade players, create players, etc. and the stat tracking is
limited to your own team in the Season play.
Besides all of the negatives, I did have some fun playing Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball. The control is easy, and
game is enjoyable (if you don't take advantage of the dumb computer AI). In the end, I would have to recommend that you
don't buy it. If you are dying for a baseball game and must have one now, get World Series baseball, but what I really
recommend, is that you wait until WS 2, and the next crop of baseball games arrive.
Overall: 6/10