RBI Baseball

Developer: Tengen	Publisher: Tengen
Release Date: 1988	Also On: None

RBI Baseball is by far the best baseball game of the 8-bit era, possibly of all time. It might not have had the best graphics, sound or team selections, but it was a hell of a game once you placed the Nintendo Entertainment System controller in the palm of your hands. It was made in 1987 by Tengen (a Namco spin-off to release unlicensed NES games), which has since discontinued the series and is no longer in business.

You are given the chance to play as ten different teams from both the American League and National League. Five teams represent the American League and five teams represent the National League. The Boston Red Sox, California (Anaheim/Los Angeles) Angels, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, and American League All-Stars represent the A.L. The Houston Astros, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, and National League All-Stars represent the N.L.

You can play either the computer (which is too easy) or with a friend. There are of course a total of nine innings, but if a team is up ten runs at the end of an inning, then the ten run rule is in affect and ends the game. I like to call this the "mercy rule" as my dad used to score ten runs easily when I was young and I would whine.

The controls are simple enough; after all this is a NES game! A is used to hit. Control Pad + A is used to throw the ball. Control Pad + B is used to walk to a certain base. You have the choice of four pitchers and four substitute batters on each team, all of which have different abilities and stamina. The game includes statistics on each player including batting average and home run totals.

Players in the game wear uniforms based on their teams' colors. The players themselves are blocky and bulky with very minor detail. The field is just as plain, along with the crowd, which is nothing more than blinking lights. The sound is quite frankly, terrible. There really is only one tune played throughout the whole game.

Minor gripes aside (this is an NES game, afterall), these small complaints do not mean that RBI Baseball is not a good game. The game's gameplay is the key; RBI Baseball packs a whole bunch of quality fun in one package. Tengen released one of the best baseball games of all time nearly 20 years ago, while developers today are still trying to catch up.

Graphics:	7.5
Sound:	4
Gameplay:	10
Creativity:	8
Replay Value/Game Length:	8.5
Final:	8.1
Written by Kyle	Review Guide

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