Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball

Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball

Cover art
Developer(s) Iguana Entertainment
Iguana Entertainment UK
Realtime Associates
Publisher(s) Acclaim
Designer(s) Brett Gow[1]
Composer(s) Greg Turner
Eric Swanson
Darren Mitchell (SNES)
Platform(s) Sega Genesis, Super NES, Game Gear, Game Boy, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, DOS
Release date(s)

Super NES:

Sega Genesis:

  • NA: September 4, 1995
  • EU: 1995

Game Boy:

  • NA: December 1995
  • EU: 1996

PC:

  • NA: May 31, 1996

Sony PlayStation:

  • JP: September 13, 1996
  • NA: June 5, 1996
  • EU: October 1996

Sega Saturn:

  • JP: August 2, 1996
  • NA: June 7, 1996
  • EU: 1996

Game Gear:

Genre(s) Traditional baseball simulation
Mode(s) Single-player
Multiplayer

Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball is a multiplatform baseball simulation game that was licensed by the Major League Baseball Players Association, featuring the likeness, motion captured movements, and "Big Hurt" branding of player Frank Thomas.

All the teams, statistics, and players are meant to simulate the 1995 Major League Baseball season.[3] Acclaim released a successor to the game also featuring Thomas and now featuring actual major league teams, All-Star Baseball '97 Featuring Frank Thomas.

Gameplay

In this screenshot, the batter sends the ball flying far away. On the scoreboard, there is also an endorsement for the athletic shoe company Reebok.

Featuring realistic pitching, realistic batting, and a realistic likeness of Frank Thomas himself for the game's era, there are also regular season and exhibition modes.[1]

Pitching and batting can be done either in a high, medium, or low direction (in addition to slow, medium, or fast pitching) for greater realism.[1] Greater emphasis was placed on defense and pitching, as opposed to more offense-oriented baseball video games like World Series Baseball '95. Games often take place at night; especially at Wrigley Field.[4]

Games can be played to a minimum of two innings and a maximum of nine innings (plus any extra innings that occur in a tied game). All the teams in the game can be edited through a special edit screen; this allows players to replace teams that they don't like with their home towns (that don't have Major League Baseball teams).[5]

More than 700 players with Major League Baseball contracts appeared in the game.

Development

Frank Thomas's animations in the game were created from several days of motion capture filming Thomas at Acclaim's in-house studio during Spring 1995.[6]

Reception

Next Generation's brief review of the Super NES version stated, "Combing simulation aspects with a traditional baseball game, Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Baseball shows signs of innovative but flawed thinking. Most of the simulation aspects are in the pitching, which quickly becomes a tiresome chore. The rest of the game is a sub-par replica of several other baseball titles." They gave it two out of five stars.[7]

The two sports reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly both gave the PlayStation version a 7.5 out of 10. The remarked that the attention to detail in the stadium sounds and visuals make the game very realistic, and that while the control is somewhat "sluggish", it works well once learned.[8] GamePro's Scary Larry said that the motion-captured animation is excellent, but that against other PlayStation baseball games such as Triple Play 97, Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball doesn't hold up well due to the lack of key options such as changing the batter's stance and speed bursts while running.[9]

GamePro gave the Game Boy version a brief negative review, commenting that "The graphics make hitting a nightmare. When the ball is on its way, it gets lost in the green background. Every swing of the bat sounds like a skier slushing down the slopes." They were much more approving of the Game Gear version, saying it "offer smooth gameplay and excellent control along with such options as Season and All Star games."[10]

See also

Frank Thomas' Big Hurt - a pinball game

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Overview of Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Baseball". MobyGames. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  2. 1 2 3 "Release date". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  3. ↑ "Basic game summary". allgame. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  4. ↑ "Defense/pitching/aesthetics information". 34th Dimension. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
  5. ↑ ""Edit team name" mode information". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
  6. ↑ "Hooray for Hollywood! Acclaim Studios". GamePro. IDG (82): 28–29. July 1995.
  7. ↑ "Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Baseball". Next Generation. No. 13. Imagine Media. January 1996. p. 170.
  8. ↑ "Big Hurt Baseball". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 85. Ziff Davis. August 1996. p. 100.
  9. ↑ "Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball". GamePro. No. 96. IDG. September 1996. p. 84.
  10. ↑ "ProReview: Frank Thomas "Big Hurt" Baseball". GamePro. No. 91. IDG. April 1996. p. 86.
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