R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

[RaychelSnr]

If R.B.I. Baseball were a Major League batter, it would've just swung and missed on its third consecutive strike. Developer MLB Advanced Media has now had three opportunities to put out an arcade-style baseball game on the Xbox One that's worth a $20 download, but even working with successful The Golf Club creators HB Studios for two straight seasons has not helped to make this franchise's comeback attempt a modern hit.

Many basic, expected features remain missing from R.B.I. Baseball 16, such as customizable controls, roster editing, free agency, trades, drafts, player progression and retirement. Most of those features have existed in baseball games as far back as the Super Nintendo, or at least, as early as the Nintendo 64.

Read More - R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

[josephid]

Could have been a great game if they let you edit more. Especially players names, numbers and so on. Create a team and so on. That is what gamers want. Besides that the game play is simple and great.

[Diehardfan]

Good Lord....this game is antiquated junk. The 27 year old NES Baseball Stars was a better game.

[KennyJ1976]

I wonder if that guy from MLBAM will comment on this review? Man this game is trash. 3 years and they still can't get it right.

[JStapley]

Good Lord....this game is antiquated junk. The 27 year old NES Baseball Stars was a better game.

Man, I loved that game. If all they did was port that thing over for $20 I'd probably pay it.

[jyoung]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

Man, I loved that game. If all they did was port that thing over for $20 I'd probably pay it.

The arcade versions of Baseball Stars and Baseball Stars 2 are up for download on the PlayStation Network, but those are very different games from the NES versions.

Super Mega Baseball is a pretty good modern take on Baseball Stars' player progression concept. Definitely check that game out on Xbox One/PS4/PC if you haven't already.

[MLBGames]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

I wonder if that guy from MLBAM will comment on this review?

We're here. And we are aware that many people would like deep franchise features. As stated on the other thread, we felt gameplay still warranted the bulk of our attention for this iteration. And we feel we delivered on that front, with much improved gameplay in 16 and a better underlying system to build on for the future.

[Twigg4075]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

I actually reviewed '15 for another site and game it an 8/10 I think. I'm fully aware I'm in the minority but I really enjoyed the game. It has quite a few bugs and glitches but the gameplay itself was solid and a lot of fun.

So far I think this year's is about the same but I think there seems to be a lot less offense this year, which I'm not a big fan of.

[DickDalewood]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

I would honestly give this game closer to a 6 or 7. The fun is in its simplicity and propensity for pickup and play. I already have The Show for my in-depth franchise and gameplay. Right now this title has the perfect balance of arcade fun and JUST enough depth in rosters and modes. To be honest, I don't know if I would own it otherwise. As it stands, I own it on both PS4 and iOS.

Now, give me a way to carry over seasons between those two devices and you'd be on to something.

[Chris200000]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

can you create teams and players?

[jyoung]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

can you create teams and players?

There's no roster editing aside from moving your players up and down the order and moving them to/from the bench.

[MLBGames]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

There's no roster editing aside from moving your players up and down the order and moving them to/from the bench.

You can also move them between the Active 25-man and the "Reserves", which is the rest of the 40-man roster + 60-day DL who are eligible to be in the game via the MLBPA license.

[Twigg4075]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

You can also move them between the Active 25-man and the "Reserves", which is the rest of the 40-man roster + 60-day DL who are eligible to be in the game via the MLBPA license.

Speaking of the DL, maybe you guys could add injuries next year? It would be cool to have to juggle your roster after a player goes down with an injury.

[johnnydangerously]

Re: R.B.I. Baseball 16 Review (Xbox One)

Speaking of the DL, maybe you guys could add injuries next year? It would be cool to have to juggle your roster after a player goes down with an injury.

I kind of like this idea. Make it very arcade-like.

INJURIES : ON / OFF

And the duration of an injury could be in number of games lost (the injury itself doesn’t even need any specificity, simply “David Wright injured for 7 games”).

What would be a realistic-but-balanced-and-still-fun random chance of an injury? 1 in 100? (9 players per game, 10 with DH = roughly one player injured every 10 games)

How would the game present the injury to the player? During a game, so we’d have to replace him on the spot? After a game? Before?

This would add some interesting depth but, then again, there would have to be some pretty good CPU logic for the other 29 teams to realistically/intelligently substitute for injured players.

The alternative would be for a Pro Evolution Soccer style “player form” mechanic, with the ⬆️ ↗️ ➡️ ↘️ ⬇️ symbols to indicate a player’s condition, but this would also introduce the complexity of variable player ratings (speed, contact, etc.) to the game.