It featured many facets of realistic gameplay and a focus on managerial details, which stressed the importance of choosing a well-balanced team.

In 1988 Atlus signed on to develop an "official" Major League Baseball game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which would be a first for that particular console.

[1] American company LJN agreed to be the publisher[1] and David Rolfe was brought on board as the game's programmer.

Since the game did not have the endorsement of the Major League Baseball Players Association at the time, the team members are only listed by number, not name.

In addition to their numbers the players are represented by their statistics, abilities, throwing arm, and even placement in the batting order.

Due to the licensing, the teams even appear complete in their official uniforms and colours and also have all the options that a real baseball player would have, including bunting, pitching out, base stealing and throwing errors.

The ball can also be thrown and get stuck in the well between the stands and the field on an overthrow of a baseman and cause inside the park home runs, which would not happen within a real game (in that case a ground rule double and/or error would be scored instead).

The AI is not developed and, when the player hits a pitch, it nearly always takes the longest possible route to the ball, making runs easier to score.

It also lacks the capability to throw out a runner who is returning to a base (instead of advancing) or perform a double play after catching a fly ball.