1995 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Quest VI, Mega Man 7, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Tekken 2, along with new titles such as Mario's Picross, Battle Arena Toshinden, Chrono Trigger, Rayman, Soul Edge, Twisted Metal, Star Wars: Dark Forces, Destruction Derby, Wipeout and Jumping Flash!
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The year's highest-grossing arcade game in Japan was Virtua Fighter 2, while the best-selling arcade video games in the United States were Daytona USA (for the second year in a row) and Mortal Kombat 3. The home video game with the highest known sales in 1995 was Dragon Quest VI, despite only releasing in Japan. The Super Famicom was the best-selling game console in Japan, while the North American Super Nintendo was the best-selling console in North America.
Hardware releases
- Nintendo releases:
- March 20 – Game Boy Play It Loud! series, color/clear versions of the Game Boy.
- April 23 – Satellaview accessory for the Super Famicom console in Japan only.
- July 21 – Virtual Boy 32-bit console in Japan. It is discontinued on December 22.
- May 11 – Sega releases the Sega Saturn console in North America.[1]
- August 14 – The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is discontinued in North America.
- September 9 – Sony releases the PlayStation console in the United States.[2]
- September 29 – Sony releases the PlayStation console in Europe.[3]
- October 25 – Funtech releases the Super A'Can console in Taiwan.
- Full date unknown – VFX1 Headgear[4]
Top-rated games
Major awards
Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame
The following video game releases in 1995 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.[10]
| Title | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Score (out of 40) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtua Fighter 2 | Sega Saturn | Sega | Fighting | 39 |
| Ridge Racer Revolution | PlayStation | Namco | Racing | 39 |
| Tekken | PlayStation | Namco | Fighting | 38 |
| Fushigi no Dungeon 2: Furai no Shiren (Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer) | Super Famicom | Chunsoft | Roguelike | 38 |
| Sega Rally Championship | Sega Saturn | Sega | Racing | 36 |
| Virtua Fighter Remix | Sega Saturn | Sega | Fighting | 35 |
| King's Field II | PlayStation | FromSoftware | Role-playing | 35 |
| Boxer's Road | PlayStation | New Corporation | Boxing | 35 |
| Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner | Sega Saturn | Atlus | Role-playing | 35 |
Financial performance
Highest-grossing arcade games
Japan
In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1995, according to the annual Gamest and Game Machine charts.
| Rank | Gamest[6] | Game Machine[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Manufacturer | Title | Type | Points | |
| 1 | Virtua Fighter 2 | Sega | Virtua Fighter 2 | PCB / DX | 7887 |
| 2 | Street Fighter Zero (Street Fighter Alpha) | Capcom | Daytona USA | 2P / DX | 3721 |
| 3 | Vampire Hunter: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Night Warriors) | Capcom | Sega Rally Championship | 2P / DX | 3456 |
| 4 | Tekken | Namco | Virtua Cop | Dedicated | 3204 |
| 5 | The King of Fighters '94 | SNK | Puzzle Bobble (Bust-a-Move) | PCB | 3186 |
| 6 | Super Street Fighter II X (Super Street Fighter II Turbo) | Capcom | Taisen Puzzle-Dama (Crazy Cross) | PCB | 3111 |
| 7 | X-Men: Children of the Atom | Capcom | Puyo Puyo 2 | PCB | 2639 |
| 8 | Shin Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown II) | SNK | Tetris (Sega) | PCB | 2638 |
| 9 | Tekken 2 | Namco | Shanghai III | PCB | 2455 |
| 10 | Puzzle Bobble (Bust-a-Move) | Taito | Ace Driver | Dedicated | 2414 |
United States
In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1995, according to the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) and Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA).
Best-selling video game consoles
| Rank | Manufacturer | Game console | Type | Generation | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | USA | Worldwide | |||||
| 1 | Nintendo | Super NES / Super Famicom | Home | 16-bit | 1,780,000[16] | 1,738,000[17] | 3,518,000+ |
| 2 | Sony | PlayStation | Home | 32-bit | 1,700,000[18] | 800,000[18] | 3,100,000[18] |
| 3 | Sega | Sega Saturn | Home | 32-bit | 1,660,000[16] | 400,000[19] | 2,060,000+ |
| 4 | Sega | Mega Drive / Genesis | Home | 16-bit | 30,000[16] | 1,968,000[17] | 1,998,000+ |
| 5 | Nintendo | Game Boy | Handheld | 8-bit | 1,000,000[16] | Unknown | 1,000,000+ |
| 6 | Panasonic | 3DO | Home | 32-bit | 150,000[16] | 250,000[20] | 400,000+ |
| 7 | Nintendo | NES / Famicom | Home | 8-bit | 80,000[16] | 104,000[17] | 184,000+ |
| 8 | Sega | Game Gear | Handheld | 8-bit | 180,000[16] | Unknown | 180,000+ |
| 9 | Atari Corp | Atari Jaguar | Home | 32-bit | Unknown | 150,000[20] | 150,000+ |
| 10 | NEC | PC-FX | Home | 32-bit | 120,000[16] | Unknown | 120,000+ |
Best-selling home video games
The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1995 in Japan and the United States.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | USA[21][22][23] | Combined | |||
| 1 | Dragon Quest VI: Maboroshi no Daichi (Realms of Reverie) | Super Famicom | 2,482,640[24] | — | 2,482,640 |
| 2 | Chrono Trigger | Super NES | 2,000,000+[25] | Unknown | 2,000,000+ |
| Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | Super NES | 1,000,000+[26] | 1,000,000+ | 2,000,000+ | |
| Mortal Kombat 3 | Super NES, Sega Genesis | — | 2,000,000+ | 2,000,000+ | |
| 5 | Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest | Super NES | 987,295[24] | 1,000,000+ | 1,987,295+ |
| 6 | Donkey Kong Country (Super Donkey Kong) | Super NES | 643,028[27] | 1,000,000+ | 1,643,028+ |
| 7 | Virtua Fighter 2 | Sega Saturn | 1,500,000+[28] | Unknown | 1,500,000+ |
| 8 | Derby Stallion III | Super Famicom | 1,086,141[27] | — | 1,086,141 |
| 9 | Killer Instinct | Super NES | — | 1,000,000+ | 1,000,000+ |
| 10 | Tekken | PlayStation | 942,000[29] | Unknown | 942,000+ |
Japan
In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1995.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dragon Quest VI: Maboroshi no Daichi (Realms of Reverie) | Super Famicom | Enix | Role-playing game | 2,482,640 | [24] |
| 2 | Chrono Trigger | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | Role-playing game | 2,000,000+ | [25] |
| 3 | Virtua Fighter 2 | Sega Saturn | Sega | Fighting | 1,500,000+ | [28] |
| 4 | Derby Stallion III | Super Famicom | ASCII Corporation | Simulation | 1,086,141 | [27] |
| 5 | Super Mario: Yoshi Island (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island) | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Platformer | 1,000,000+ | [26] |
| 6 | Super Donkey Kong 2: Dixie & Diddy (Donkey Kong Country 2) | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Platformer | 987,295 | [24] |
| 7 | Tekken | PlayStation | Namco | Fighting | 942,000 | [29] |
| 8 | Romancing SaGa 3 | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | Role-playing game | 786,000 | |
| 9 | Arc the Lad | PlayStation | Sony | Role-playing game | 697,000 | |
| 10 | Mobile Suit Gundam | PlayStation | Bandai | First-person shooter | 668,242 | [27] |
United States
In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1995.[21][22][23]
| Rank | Title | Publisher | Genre | Platform(s) | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mortal Kombat 3 | Williams Entertainment | Fighting | Super NES, Sega Genesis | 2,000,000+ |
| 2 | Donkey Kong Country | Nintendo | Platformer | Super NES | 1,000,000+ |
| 3 | Killer Instinct | Nintendo | Fighting | Super NES | 1,000,000+ |
| 4 | Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest | Nintendo | Platformer | Super NES | 1,000,000+ |
| 5 | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | Nintendo | Platformer | Super NES | 1,000,000+ |
| 6 | Madden NFL '96 | EA Sports | Sports | Sega Genesis | Unknown |
| 7 | NBA Jam: Tournament Edition | Acclaim Entertainment | Sports | Sega Genesis | |
| 8 | Super NES | ||||
| 9 | Mortal Kombat II | Acclaim Entertainment | Fighting | Sega Genesis | |
| 10 | The Lion King | Virgin Interactive | Platformer | Super NES |
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1995.[30]
Game releases
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|
| Release | Title | System | Developer/Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Battle Arena Toshinden | PS1 | Tamsoft/SCEA | One of the first fully 3D fighting games |
| January 13 | Bust-a-Move | SNES | Taito | |
| February 15 | Star Wars: Dark Forces | DOS | LucasArts | The first in a successful series of Star Wars-based first-person shooters |
| February 16 | Ristar | SMD | Sonic Team/Sega | a platform game |
| February 24 | Front Mission | SNES | G-Craft\Squaresoft | |
| March 10 | Panzer Dragoon | Sat | Team Andromeda\Sega | |
| March 11 | Chrono Trigger | SNES | Square | |
| March 14 | Mario's Picross | GB | Jupiter\Nintendo | The first installment in a series of Mario-themed Picross titles released in the mid-1990s |
| March 17 | Descent | DOS | Parallax Software | Portal rendering with texture-mapped polygons, polygonal enemies, and six degrees of freedom. |
| March 17 | Discworld | DOS, Mac, PS1, Saturn (1996) | Psygnosis | |
| March 21 | Kirby's Dream Land 2 | GB | HAL Laboratory\Nintendo | An installment in the Kirby series |
| March 24 | Mega Man 7 | SNES | Capcom | |
| April | Jagged Alliance | DOS | Madlab Software/Sir-Tech | The first installment in the Jagged Alliance series |
| April 15 | Mortal Kombat 3 | Arcade, SNES, PS1, GB, SMD | ||
| April 27 | Jumping Flash! | PS1 | Exact/SCEA | |
| April 28 | Super Bomberman 3 | SNES | Hudson Soft | First game in the Super Bomberman series to not get an American release; final game in the series released outside Japan on the SNES |
| April 30 | Full Throttle | DOS, Mac | LucasArts | Graphical adventure |
| May 25 | Light Crusader | SMD | Treasure\Sega | |
| May | King Arthur & the Knights of Justice | SNES | Enix | |
| June 5 | Street Fighter Alpha | Arcade | Capcom | |
| June 7 | Flight Unlimited | DOS, Win95 | Looking Glass Studios | |
| June 21 | Tekken 2 | Arcade | Namco | |
| June 30 | Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity | DOS, Mac | Spectrum HoloByte | |
| July 11 | Space Quest 6 | DOS, Mac | Sierra Online | Graphical adventure |
| July 21 | Castlevania: Dracula X | SNES | Konami | Port of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. |
| July 24 | MechWarrior 2 | DOS | Activision | |
| July 25 | The King of Fighters '95 | Arcade | SNK | Second installment in the King of Fighters series |
| July 31 | Phantasmagoria | DOS, Win95, Mac, Sat (1997) | Sierra Online | A controversial point-and-click adventure game |
| August 2 | Comix Zone | SMD | Sega | A beat 'em up game heavily inspired by comic books |
| August 5 | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | SNES | Nintendo | A critically acclaimed platformer |
| August 11 | Shining Wisdom | Sat | Camelot/Sega | Action adventure game in the Shining series |
| August 31 | Command & Conquer | DOS, Mac | Westwood Studios | One of the first popular real-time strategy games, it spawned a franchise |
| August 31 | Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest | DOS | New World Computing | The first game in the popular turn-based strategy game franchise |
| September | Wild Woody | SCD | Sega | [31] |
| September 9 | Rayman | PS1, Sat, Jag | Ubisoft | The first game in the popular series |
| October 1 | Secret of Evermore | SNES | Square | |
| October 6 | Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together | SNES | Quest Corporation | Ported to the Sega Saturn (1996) and the PlayStation (1997) |
| October 13 | Hyper Iria | SNES | Banpresto | Based on Iria: Zeiram the Animation, an animated series. |
| October 15 | Hexen: Beyond Heretic | DOS, Mac | Raven Software\id Software | |
| October 20 | Terranigma | SNES | Quintet | |
| October 27 | Panel de Pon | SNES | Intelligent Systems\Nintendo | Released in America under the name "Tetris Attack", featuring a Yoshi's Island theme |
| October 31 | Destruction Derby | PS1 | Reflections Interactive\Psygnosis | |
| October 31 | I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream | DOS, Mac | Cyberdreams | An adaptation of writer Harlan Ellison's short story, won Computer Gaming World's award for "Best Graphic Adventure Game" of the year |
| October 31 | Star Wars: TIE Fighter (Collector's CD-ROM) | Win, Mac | LucasArts | |
| November 5 | Twisted Metal | PS1 | SingleTrac/Sony Computer Entertainment | Started longest running PlayStation franchise, popular vehicular combat series. |
| November 11 | Romancing SaGa 3 | SNES | Square | |
| November 20 | Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest | SNES | Rareware/Nintendo | |
| November 24 | Battle Arena Toshinden 2 | PS1, Arcade | Tamsoft\Capcom | |
| November 24 | Marathon 2: Durandal | Mac | Bungie | |
| November 30 | The Dig | DOS, Mac | LucasArts | Adventure game |
| December | Soul Edge | Arcade | Namco | First game in the Soulcalibur series. |
| December | Worms | Ami | Team17 | An artillery video game and the first game in the Worms series |
| December | Time Crisis | Arcade, PS1 (1997) | Namco | The first game in the popular light-gun series Time Crisis. |
| December 1 | Mega Man X3 | SNES | Capcom | |
| December 9 | Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation | SNES | Heartbeat\Enix | |
| December 9 | Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | DOS, Mac | Blizzard | Sequel to their initial real-time strategy title, and a far more popular title |
| December 15 | Tales of Phantasia | SNES | Namco | The first in the Tales series |
| December 15 | Suikoden | PS1 | Konami | Debut of the Suikoden series; ported to the Sega Saturn in Japan in 1998 |
| December 15 | Brain Dead 13 | DOS | ReadySoft | An "FMV adventure" game |
| December 22 | Final Fight 3 | SNES | Capcom | |
| December 31 | The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery | DOS, Win, Mac | Sierra On-Line | Adventure game; sequel to Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers |
| December 31 | King's Field II | PS1 | From Software | First game in the King's Field series to eventually be released outside Japan; renamed simply "King's Field" in NTSC-U/C and PAL regions when released there in 1996 |
Events
- January or February – Stars! is released as shareware.
- April 6 – Funco Inc., parent company of video game retailer FuncoLand, announces that vice president and director Stanley Bodine is promoted to president and chief operating officer, replacing founder David R. Pomije, who will remain as chairman and chief executive. Financial controller Robert Hiben is also named chief financial officer, while vice president of merchandising and information systems Michael Hinnenkamp resigns from the company to pursue other career opportunities.[32]
- May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek (then called Video Game Advisor).
- May 11–13 – The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is held in Los Angeles, California.[33]
- November 5 – GameFAQs debuts on the web, as an archive of video game FAQs.
- November 24 – Nintendo unveils a playable version of the Nintendo Ultra 64, later renamed the Nintendo 64, at the 7th Annual Nintendo Space World Software Exhibition in Japan. Thirteen games were demonstrated but only two were in playable form, Kirby Ball 64 and Super Mario 64.[34]
Business
- New companies: BioWare, Frog City, Interworld Productions (renamed Mythic Entertainment in 1997), Remedy, TalonSoft
- Defunct: Cyberdreams
- Nintendo v. Samsung Electronics; Nintendo sues Samsung for promoting software piracy. The suit is settled.
- Nintendo of America, Inc. v. NTDEC
See also
References
External links
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