Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium '88 is the third in Namco's Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium series. As with its immediate predecessor, Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium '87, it is a slightly revamped version of the original with updated rosters. As with EA Sports's present-day practice, Namco released these games annually with little to distinguish each new iteration. Most notable of the smattering of minor new additions is allowing the player to choose their venue from four options, ranging from a fully-packed stadium to a park.

Though this is the second sequel to Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium, which was released in the US by Tengen as R.B.I. Baseball, Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium '88 is not to be confused with R.B.I. Baseball 3. Though the first R.B.I. Baseball was a direct localization, subsequent R.B.I. Baseball games were created in the US and are entirely independent from Namco's series.