Bo Jackson Baseball

Bo Jackson Baseball is a video game in the sports genre developed by Acme Interactive, Inc. and published by Data East USA, Inc. originally released in 1991. It is currently playable on DOS, Amiga.

One of the best-looking baseball games of its time, Data East's Bo Jackson Baseball also offers some management options, though not as extensive as 'real' baseball simulators like Micro League Baseball. Still, it more than makes up for its shortcomings as a simulator with an excellent user interface and graphics.

The gameplay is very basic, but then again the game never pretends to be a realistic and complete baseball simulator. However, there are plenty of choices you can make on the field: you can jump and dive as you play on the field, and - in a nice break from other baseball games of the time - move the batter in his box to find the perfect spot. As for pitching, you can choose between a changeup or a fastball, and its direction. The action is fast and fun, although with only 3 stadiums to choose from and hundreds of games to play per season, the game gets visually boring after a while.

Bo Jackson tries to lure fans into the hardcore baseball simulator by offering you the ability to edit player stats, which span over 30 categories ranging from batting to running speed. However, this becomes moot on the field, as it's difficult, if not impossible, to know exactly how those stats influence the outcome of the game. Players, for example, seem to run at about the same speed, even though their running scores are different. You can choose from several authentic American teams, but since they all look identical (except for different jersey colors), there's not much difference between controlling the Mets or the Red Sox.

Overall, Bo Jackson Baseball is a solid arcade baseball game that suffers a bit from trying to be what it is not, namely a baseball simulator. It's not among the best arcade baseball simulators ever made, but it's still very playable. Die-hard fans of realistic sports simulators should look elsewhere, for example, Micro League Baseball IV.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.