VIDEOGAME REVIEW: R.B.I. Baseball '19

Major League Baseball has been around for more than a century, yet it seems like every year, something unprecedented occurs.

This past January, history was made when Mariano Rivera (a.k.a. The Sandman ”“ not the comic book character Sandman, for those of you who think I“m writing a comic book review) became the first retired Major League Baseball Player to be unanimously voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (425 out of 425 votes).

Non-stop media coverage and speculation over which MLB teams could potentially land superstar free agent“s Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, finally came to an end in February, when Machado agreed to play for the San Diego Padres through the 2028 season. The Machado deal was significant because he became the first MLB free agent signing that reached the $300 million mark”¦until a few weeks later, when Bryce Harper agreed to a 13-year, $330 million contract that ended his era as a Washington National in favor of starting a new one with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Considering how long it took for both Machado and Harper to sign contracts during a slow-paced and unstable free agency period, Mike Trout of the Anaheim Angels, agreed to a 12-year, $430 million contract extension not even 3 weeks after the Harper signing ”“ effectively representing the largest contract in professional sports.

Spring Training is over now, and the 2019 Major League Baseball season is officially underway. The opening day lineups have been announced and the ceremonial first pitches have been thrown. Baseball fans around the globe have witnessed their favorite teams run onto the field to begin their journey towards securing a 2019 World Series title. Yes, it“s time for the games to be played! History is ready to be made!

But, can the same be said for a baseball video game? Let“s find out!

Stepping onto the playing field”¦is R.B.I. Baseball 19! R.B.I. is a video game that“s rated E for Everyone. Don“t worry, you won“t have to spend tons of money like many of the MLB teams did this offseason to secure your copy of this game, as it“s set at a very reasonable price of $29.99. R.B.I. Baseball is available now on XBox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.

This review will be based off my R.B.I. Baseball 19 game experience with the Xbox One console.

Rosters/Player Ratings

With all the trades and free agent acquisitions that occurred during the offseason and Spring Training, R.B.I. Baseball did an amazing job of keeping the rosters up-to-date. This is extremely important to gamers, because there“s nothing worse than buying a brand-new baseball video game with outdated rosters, and/or worse yet, forcing gamers to manually adjust them.

The team and player attributes are pretty much on point, particularly so for pitchers.

Game Modes

The R.B.I. Baseball 19 game modes are very straightforward. Same thing goes for selecting difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard).

R.B.I. features the standard Exhibition game mode where you can pit your favorite team against any other MLB team, including last season“s American and National League All Star Teams, and AL and NL Legends Teams that include Hall of Fame Players. R.B.I. offers you a great opportunity to find out just how good modern players are against their predecessors. Certainly, take advantage of that.

There“s a 10 season Franchise mode which basically allows you to select a team and play out their schedule 162 games at a time…that“s a whole lot of ballgames! Fear not though. R.B.I. provides you with options to play a condensed schedule.

If 1,620 regular season games are a bit much for you, you can skip right to Postseason mode and make your way through the playoff bracket for a World Series title. Keep in mind that you will most likely be playing against higher rated teams.

The ever popular, Home Run Derby is also available for R.B.I. Baseball. By default, this mode includes previous Derby participants; however, you can manually adjust the Home Run Derby bracket on your own. If your batting skills are up to par, you can hit the ball a long way.

Local and Online multiplayer is available as well.

Pitching

Real life pitching is no easy task. Arm strength, a good grip of the baseball, consistent mechanics when winding up to throw along with an accurate release point, presenting a variety of pitches, the ability to change speeds, control and precision for placing the ball where they want and when they want, are all elements elite pitchers display. Being unpredictable helps. Nolan Ryan said it best – “It helps if the hitter thinks you“re a little crazy.”“

The pitching in R.B.I. Baseball removes a significant portion of the complexities associated with deliveries to home plate. For novice gamers, this could be a good thing, as the controls are limited to either fast or slow pitches. You will have the ability to throw from either side of the pitching rubber and manipulate pitches with the analog stick after the ball is thrown; however, it is tough to gauge the height of where the ball crosses the strike zone because of the perspective. The camera angle is always from the batter“s viewpoint, and it appears as if you’re sitting on top of a basketball rim from behind home plate. The game doesn“t allow you to change the view to one that“s coming from behind the pitcher; facing the batter. Due to the camera positioning, you will see strike calls for pitches that are thrown towards the inner edges of the batter“s box. For dedicated gamers, who like all aspects of pitching, it won“t come as a surprise if they will be disappointed. Trying to determine which quadrant of the strike zone to attack isn“t a factor during gameplay. Pickoff plays at first base, or any base for that matter, seems mundane. Ultimately, its best to heed Nolan Ryan“s advice when it comes to pitching in R.B.I. Baseball 19.

Batting

Like pitching, hitting a baseball requires great discipline and could take years to perfect. How and where you plant yourself in the batter“s box is important. It“s crucial that your hands are in a palm up/palm down position when holding a bat and to keep your head in line with your back hip and your back knee while swinging it. Learning how to see the ball at the moment of contact is key for developing hitters. The penultimate rule of hitting though, is the old clichÃ© of “keep your eyes on the ball”“. You“ll also hear “stay calm”“ and “don“t think”“ as more tips for hitting.

Since the viewpoint is pretty much fixed between pitcher and batter, trying to hit in R.B.I. Baseball will require superb timing skills more than anything else. Like pitching, your options as a hitter are limited. You can either swing the bat, check swing, or bunt. The better you get with timing, the further the ball will travel. Buuuuut”¦.where you position yourself in the batter“s box can“t be ignored. All batters have default positioning inside the batter“s box; however, if a pitcher delivers a ball from one side of the pitching rubber and you stay where you are in the batter“s box, you will not get a good swing on the ball even if your timing is good. You“re pretty much forced to move the batter around in the box if you want to hit a ball on the sweet spot of the bat. Swimming around in the batter“s box in the middle of an at bat does not emulate what you“ll see in the Big Leagues. The only way your batter is restored to their original default position in the batter“s box while they“re at bat, is if you hit a foul ball. Expect to frequently see a hitter“s feet standing outside of the batter“s box ”“ and not be ruled a dead ball on contact!

My reaction towards hitting in this game could summed up best with a Berrism (a quote from the late New York Yankee great, Yogi Berra) – “How can you think and hit at the same time?”“

Baserunning

“Even the slowest guy can go from first to third and help win a ballgame”“ ”“ Rickey Henderson

I“m not so sure if what the greatest base stealer of all time said once, holds up in R.B.I. Baseball 19. It does take some getting used to with navigating baserunners successfully.

Fielding

Fortunately, you don“t need to possess the fielding skills of The Say Hey Kid (Willie Mays) or The Wizard of Oz (Ozzie Smith) to play R.B.I. Baseball. The game will give you the option for assisted fielding. I highly recommend enabling the fielding option until you grow more accustomed with how the players move across the outfield and on the diamond. Knowing what routes to take for fly balls will be crucial, because one misstep could wind up with the baseball bouncing over an outfielder“s head or past his glove.

The infield action tends to be perplexing at times. Crow hopping is non-existent and there“s unnatural arm movement while throwing a ball across the diamond. You“ll witness Web Gem-like caliber diving plays, and occasionally, glovework that defies the laws of physics. Expect “neighborhood”“ plays being called while covering the bags, especially when playing against the AI. Turning double plays will take some time to master, but it“s not an impossibility.

Post-Game Analysis

The animation with R.B.I. Baseball 19 ranges from weird to good. Hitting a home run results in a great but short-lived cinematic feature. The music soundtrack is very upbeat and modern. Player appearances overall were respectable; however, there is some room for improvement. The level of detail surrounding each of the venues was exceptional. Crowd noise and umpire calls sound terrific, but what you won“t hear, is a simulated play-by-play broadcast by any well-known MLB announcer. Aside from the Home Run Derby, the average playing time per baseball game lasts about 25-35 minutes.

R.B.I. Baseball 19 is a very affordable option if price dictates which video games you purchase. It“s also a great option for the inexperienced baseball gamer due to the minimal amount of controls, and mastery of it, during gameplay.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Developer: MLB AM

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13th Crusader

Real Name: Mike / Occupation: (As Mike) Classified; (as The 13th Crusader) Host of The Definitive Crusade, DC Podcast, for Undercover Capes / Known Aliases: 13, The Iron Mike, Ironhide, The Walking Human Encyclopedia, Professor M / Affiliations: Comic Crusaders / Base of Operations: The 13th Lair (location classified), often mobile / Abilities: Photographic memory (to the extent where he is capable of memorizing the comic book inventories of several stores simultaneously for lengthy periods of time), voice impersonation, acute senses (The 13th Crusader possesses an uncanny ability to track down vintage comic books, and on several occasions, with his eyes closed, he has been able to determine the exact year a comic book was published just by smelling the ink inside of it), capable of drawing sketches; however, he prefers to write. He has a substantial amount of resistance to alcohol, surpassing the levels displayed by Marvelâ€™s Volstagg and Valiantâ€™s Aram Anni-Padda â€“ combined. Multilingual (Proficient with English and Spanish, adequate with Portuguese and Italian). Above average marksman (he is capable of throwing objects accurately at high velocities), limited sword fighting skills and kickboxing techniques. / Known Weaknesses: Anything that involves the original Gwen Stacy, 2 for 1 drinks during Happy Hour, 50 cent comic book bins, the scent of 1983 comic book ink / Hobbies: Vintage comic book collecting, baseball, listening to excessive amounts of 80â€™s music / History: Little is known of The 13th Crusader. He is a man of many talents who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He has extensive knowledge of the comic book world and heâ€™s been collecting comic books since before he was able to read. Heâ€™s a BIG time fan of Silver and Bronze Age comics, and as such, his personal collection is truly impressive. He owns books that range from the 1950â€™s and onward. First Appearance: Comic Crusaders Column â€“ What Defines A Characters First Appearance (Feb 2014)