 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "1995 in video games" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 |
This article may misquote or misrepresent many of its sources. Please see the cleanup page for more information. Editors: please remove this warning only after the diffs listed [[Wikipedia talk:Requests for comment/Jagged 85/{{{subpage}}}|here]] have been checked for accuracy. (August 2022)
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||
|
|
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!
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.
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 |
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 |
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).
| Rank | AAMA[12][13] | AMOA[14][15] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Award | Dedicated cabinet | Conversion kit | |
| 1 | Daytona USA, Neo Geo MVS, Mortal Kombat 3 |
Diamond | Cruis'n USA | Mortal Kombat 3 |
| 2 | Daytona USA, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3 |
Mortal Kombat II, Raiden II, Tekken, X-Men: Children of the Atom | ||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | Sega Rally Championship, WWF WrestleMania, Area 51 |
Platinum | ||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | — | — | ||
| 7 | 2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge, Indy 500, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop |
Silver | ||
| 8 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 10 | ||||
| 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+ |
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+ |
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] |
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 |
In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1995.[30]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| 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 | aplatform 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 | Abeat '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 | Anartillery 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 |
The original PlayStation launched on September 29th 1995 priced £299.
Source: The NPD TRSTS Video Game Tracking Service, The NPD Group, Inc., Port Washington, NY; ranked by units sold
Nintendo's 'Killer Instinct' has sold more than 1 million copies since it was introduced in September, as has the Nintendo version of 'Mortal Kombat III' and the company's recently released 'Super Mario World: Yoshi's Island.'
{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
