RBI Baseball 20 Review

"Solid in the Park"

Campaign

March 19, 2020 at 3:30am
By Jason Stettner

This is the latest entry in the now long running rebooted RBI Baseball series, with some improvements this year as it moves closer towards a generally great release. I thought last year’s entry was solid, and they’re building upon those foundations again here. A number of changes, but largely the same experience as the year prior.

You get a play now for quick matches. There’s Home Run Derby for a tournament style mode where you aim to get the most home runs. They have a franchise mode with ten seasons to play through and also post-season where you can work through the play-offs. That’s about the same modes as usual, with it being worth noting that franchise mode offers free agent usage and trades.

I would like to see more depth there in the future, or some level of personal customization. You can also play multiplayer matches against a friend, or an online player of a similar skill level. This does include over 165 MLB Legends and Legend Teams as well as up to date rosters from the main league. An aspect I imagine is impacted to some degree due to the virus situation that’s currently happening.

Gameplay

The big change-up this year are modern control options for batting and pitching. I didn’t find the batting changes to be all that interesting, though I did really like the adjustments to pitching mechanics. You can switch between the options and play however you’d like. Pitching has neat choices for the style and I also appreciated the feedback you get when you’re batting or pitching. They did also add the option to dive for balls in the outfield which is a nice small addition for more control.

The base running controls have been streamlined as well. In general, small adjustments to the mechanics which are nice to see integrated. Keep in mind that this is an arcade style of baseball so it’s more of a casual type of game control wise providing limited button options, that’s the goal for this type of experience. They’ve also slightly improved broadcast and animation elements here. When it comes to the crowds we once again get a 3D option that has been improved quite a bit.

The crowd has more animations to them, but I feel there’s still a lot of work to be done there. Other smaller visuals have been upgraded such as unique hair styles and dirt elements when players interact with the field. In general the visuals are greatly improved and it just looks better in capturing that authentic MLB atmosphere. For music they have a fairly solid soundtrack from over twenty distinct artists.

The Conclusion

RBI Baseball 20 is a fine improvement over the previous release, capturing that arcade style of the sport and refining smaller elements of play. It doesn’t necessarily provide a large upgrade over the last version, but it does improve on visual elements and adds a bit more polish to the package.

There are a number of modes to play, but they have been largely untouched with this release. It would be nice to see them try some new things in the future. I do find the visual upgrades to improve the realism, and it’s good to have additional control options for those that want something else to use.

I just wish this would have added something new content wise, but I do appreciate the upgrades that were provided. I feel they’ve really got the arcade action down, have what’s required league wise and just need to innovate on the style going forward.

Read our MLB The Show 20 Review
View our RBI Baseball Hub

RBI Baseball 20 Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by HighWater Group

Rating Overall: 7.4