When a decent game gets a bad grade: RBI Baseball 15

I just recently received a code for R.B.I. Baseball 15 on Xbox One. The game is not great, but it definitely deserves better than the current mid 50s score it has on Metacritic. Big sites like IGN and Gamespot have given R.B.I. Baseball 15 a near failing grade, citing that MLB The Show is a much better baseball experience.

Frankly, comments like that get me a bit upset, because a comment like that assumes players have access to a PS4. Some of us don’t, and I fall into that camp. It should be mentioned that I’m a casual baseball fan at best; in fact, I watch the highlights on Sports Centre, and cannot be bothered to actually sit through a game. However, I like baseball video games. Let me rephrase that: I like ARCADE baseball video games.

R.B.I. Baseball 15 is as arcady as possible. Swing with A or bunt with B, pitch with A using a variation of analog stick placements. Move your runners forwarded by pressing left bumper, and send them back using right bumper. Bases can be mapped to the face buttons, which are already in a nice diamond shape on your Xbox One Controller! That’s all you really need to know to be successful at this game. Sure, once in every 7 or 8 games you might experience a glitch that proves to be problematic, but rarely did it affect my ability to win the ball game  or at least be competitive in it. Only once in 30 games has a glitch actually caused me to reset my game.

R.B.I. Baseball 15 isn’t the best game available, but it is a pretty decent one. Anyone with a distant interest in the sport will find lots to love here. Shame on those sub .500 scores. I’ll gladly give R.B.I. Baseball 15 a dazzling .700 batting average.