R.B.I. Baseball 3

n/a

R.B.I. Baseball 3
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Tengen
Developer: Tengen
Licensor: Atari Games, Major League Baseball Players Association
Sound driver: Lisa's Sound Driver
Genre: Sports (baseball)
Number of players: 1-2 (alternating)
Release Date RRP Code US 1991-07 $54.9554.95 301025-0150

R.B.I. Baseball 3, also known as RBI Baseball 3, R.B.I. 3 Baseball, or RBI 3 Baseball is a baseball game released for the Sega Mega Drive. It is the direct sequel to R.B.I. Baseball 2 (which was not released on a Sega system) and was only released in North America. "R.B.I." is short for "runs batted in," a statistic used for batters in baseball.

R.B.I. Baseball 3 was followed by R.B.I. Baseball 4, a Mega Drive exclusive. Following this, R.B.I. Baseball '93 and R.B.I. Baseball '94 were released for the console, with RBI Baseball '95 being a Sega 32X exclusive.

Gameplay

The game is a Major League Baseball game including the 26 teams of the 1990 MLB season. The game carries a Major League Baseball Players Association license, so it contains all of the Major League Baseball players but not the team names or logos. The game uses a high view from behind the umpire for pitching and hitting, then switches to an overhead view for fielding and running. There is only one stadium.

	Defense
	The player can position the pitcher on the mound with or . The pitcher throws the ball by pressing . During the pitch, holding or curves the ball, holding throws a knuckleball or a sinkerball, or holding throws a fastball. When the other team has a runner on base, pressing switches to a field view. In this view, the pitcher can throw the ball to a base by pressing and holding a direction corresponding to the base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home) or pressing alone to throw to first. Or the pitcher can run to a base for a tag-out by pressing and holding a direction corresponding to the base or pressing alone to run to first. Pitchers lose stamina over the course of the game, causing them to throw balls slower and have less control over their pitches. Starting pitchers have more stamina than relievers. Fastballs and sinkers use more stamina than normal pitches. When fielding, the player can move all fielders together using the D-Pad. An X appears on the field to show where the ball will land. The fielder can dive to catch the ball by pressing or jump with . After catching the ball, it can be thrown to base by pressing while holding a direction for the desired base or run to base by pressing while holding a direction for the desired base. If no base is specified, the ball is thrown to the cut-off man. The player can call a time-out by pressing  START . This brings up a menu where the player can substitute a relief pitcher, substitute a fielder, view the scoreboard, or watch a replay of the last play. Players who are substituted into fielding positions that they do not typically play are more likely to make errors.
	Offense
	The player can adjust batter's stance with or . The batter swings at the ball by holding , with the batter doing a checked swing if the button is released before the bat crosses the plate. The batter can hold a bunt by pressing (or return the bat to the ready position by pressing again). Before the pitcher starts his wind-up, the player can have the baserunners lead-off by pressing . The player can cancel an extra lead by pressing with a direction for the return base. When the pitcher is beginning his wind-up, the player can steal a base by pressing while holding a direction on the D-Pad for the destination base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home). After hitting the ball, baserunners can advance to the next base by pressing while holding a direction for destination base. The player can call a time-out by pressing  START . This brings up a menu where the player can substitute a batter or runner, switch the batter's position (for switch hitters), view the scoreboard, or watch a replay of the last play.

Modes

The game has the following modes:

• 1P Play: Starts a game between a human player and a computer player. It is a best-of-seven series if the player chooses one team from the American League and one team from the National League or if the player chooses a division winner for the computer team. Or the player can play against every team in the 1990 league by selecting a 1990 team to play and selecting another team from the same league for the computer or by selecting a division winner to play and selecting a 1990 team from the same league for the computer (finishing with a game against a special all-star team if the player succeeds). Otherwise, the game will be an exhibition game. Series games use a password system for continuing.
• 2P Play: Starts a game between two human players. It is a best-of-seven series regardless of which teams are chosen.
• Watch: Starts a game between two computer players. Both players can override a computer player by using their respective control pad during play.

Games are always nine innings. Players can choose any two teams from either league (which can be the same team in an exhibition game). The player chooses the teams of computer players. Player one is always the visiting team and bats first. After choosing a team, players choose the starting pitchers and set the batting line-up. A pitcher can only start every other game in a series.

In the options, players can choose from three difficulty levels for computer-controlled opponents (Easy, Medium, and Hard).

Teams

Current

The game includes all 26 teams from the 1990 MLB season.

League	Division	Team	Based on
American	West	California	California Angels
		Chicago	Chicago White Sox
		Kansas City	Kansas City Royals
		Minnesota	Minnesota Twins
		Oakland	Oakland Athletics
		Seattle	Seattle Mariners
		Texas	Texas Rangers
	East	Baltimore	Baltimore Orioles
		Boston	Boston Red Sox
		Cleveland	Cleveland Indians
		Detroit	Detroit Tigers
		Milwaukee	Milwaukee Brewers
		New York	New York Yankees
		Toronto	Toronto Blue Jays
National	West	Atlanta	Atlanta Braves
		Cincinnati	Cincinnati Reds
		Houston	Houston Astros
		Los Angeles	Los Angeles Dodgers
		San Diego	San Diego Padres
		San Francisco	San Francisco Giants
	East	Chicago	Chicago Cubs
		Montreal	Montreal Expos
		New York	New York Mets
		Philadelphia	Philadelphia Phillies
		Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh Pirates
		St. Louis	St. Louis Cardinals

Previous

In addition, the game includes historical rosters of every division-winning team going back to 1983.

League	Year	West		East
		Team	Based on	Team	Based on
American	1989	Oakland	Oakland Athletics	Toronto	Toronto Blue Jays
	1988	Oakland	Oakland Athletics	Boston	Boston Red Sox
	1987	Minnesota	Minnesota Twins	Detroit	Detroit Tigers
	1986	California	California Angels	Boston	Boston Red Sox
	1985	Kansas City	Kansas City Royals	Toronto	Toronto Blue Jays
	1984	Kansas City	Kansas City Royals	Detroit	Detroit Tigers
	1983	Chicago	Chicago White Sox	Baltimore	Baltimore Orioles
National	1989	San Francisco	San Francisco Giants	Chicago	Chicago Cubs
	1988	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Dodgers	New York	New York Mets
	1987	San Francisco	San Francisco Giants	St. Louis	St. Louis Cardinals
	1986	Houston	Houston Astros	New York	New York Mets
	1985	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Dodgers	St. Louis	St. Louis Cardinals
	1984	San Diego	San Diego Padres	Chicago	Chicago Cubs
	1983	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Dodgers	Philadelphia	Philadelphia Phillies

All-Star

Finally, the game includes the 1990 All-Star teams for each league.

Production credits

• Programmers: Michael Alexander, Mark Phoenix, Doug Coward
• Graphics: Greg Williams
• Sound: Kent Carmical, Earl Vickers
• Special Thanks: Michael Klug

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: R.B.I. Baseball 3/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #6: "Fall 1991" (1991-xx-xx)

Print advert in VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) #33: "October 1991" (1991-xx-xx)

Print advert in GamePro (US) #29: "December 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #30: "January 1992" (199x-xx-xx)

Mega Drive print advert in Sega Visions (US) #7: "Winter 1991/1992" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:

• GamePro (US) #16bit: "16-bit Video Gaming: February 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Print advert in Game Informer (US) #3: "January/February 1992" (199x-xx-xx)
also published in:

• GamePro (US) #31: "February 1992" (199x-xx-xx)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #32: "March 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 40 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 76 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 72 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 61

	62
Based on 4 reviews

R.B.I. Baseball 3

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

Main article: R.B.I. Baseball 3/Technical information.