Old Computer Baseball Sim Reviews

Going back to 1985

Old Computer Baseball Sim Reviews

I’ve always enjoyed reading old magazines. It’s fascinating to look back at the past and get a feel for what people were thinking and saying.

One thing I’ve noticed is that there were a lot more computer baseball sims in days gone past than you see today. In fact, I was able to find a somewhat comprehensive review of several of them in an issue of Computer Gaming World that dates all the way back to June 1985. Let’s take a look:

Now, out of these 8 games, I’d guess that most of you have probably only heard of Micro League Baseball and APBA. The other 6 games are obscure, to say the least.

I’ve never heard of Computer Baseball, nor have I tried it yet. That’s actually kind of surprising given the number of copies that the game sold. It’s interesting that the game featured absolutely no option to allow players to be traded from one team to another.

I’ve also never tried Pro Manager, which was created by Avalon Hill. There was a period of time in the 1980s when Avalon Hill was busy digitizing many of its war games, though I wasn’t aware that they had created a baseball game as well. Avalon Hill, of course, originally published Statis Pro Baseball starting in 1978, though I’m not sure if this game is related or not. Let me know if you’re familiar with this title.

Micro League Baseball is a classic game with graphics that were extremely advanced and surprising for 1985. I actually didn’t know that the original version did not compile its own statistics.

I did know that the original version of APBA Baseball did not compile statistics, however. That capability didn’t come until the Statmaster program was created several years later. The most surprising part of the original version of APBA Baseball is the price: $89.95, which seems impossibly high from a modern perspective.