1996 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario 64, Duke Nukem 3D, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Mario Kart 64, King's Field III, Virtua Fighter 3, along with new titles such as Blazing Heroes, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Crash Bandicoot, Pokémon Red/Green/Blue, Resident Evil, Dead or Alive, Soul Edge, Quake and Tomb Raider.
The year's best-selling video game console worldwide was the PlayStation, while the best-selling consoles in Japan were the Game Boy and Sega Saturn. The Nintendo 64 debuted in 1996. The year's best-selling home video game worldwide was Super Mario 64, while highest-grossing arcade games in Japan were Street Fighter Zero 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 2) and Virtua Fighter 2.
Legend
Hardware
February 21 – Sega Model 3, an arcade system board considered to have the most technically impressive graphics at the time April 21 - Apple's Apple Pippin console initially released in Japan June 23 - Nintendo's Nintendo 64, the first true 64-bit home console, initially released in Japan July 20 - Nintendo's Game Boy Pocket (GBP) handheld console (30% smaller version of the previous Game Boy handheld console), initially released in Japan October - Sega's Net Link modem for the Sega Saturn home console November 23 – Bandai's Tamagotchi virtual pet handheld initially released in Japan December 3 - Namco's Alpine Racer arcade game, including a new type of user interface SNK's Neo Geo CDZ (Japan only)
Discontinuation 1996 saw a major shakeup in the crowded home console market, with the Virtual Boy, Atari Jaguar, 3DO, Sega CD, 32X, and CD-i all being discontinued.
Top-rated games
Game of the Year awards The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1996.
Awards Game of the Year Platform(s) Publisher Genre Chicago TribuneSuper Mario 64N64NintendoPlatformer Digitiser Electronic Gaming Monthly Electronic Gaming Monthly, issue 92 (March 1997), pages 82-90 Game Informer Golden Joystick Awards Spotlight Awards CESA Awards Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars) SAT Sega Tactical RPG GameFan MegawardsTomb RaiderEidosAction-adventureGameFan, volume 5, issue 2 (February 1997), pages 34-36Enemy ZeroSATWarpAdventure Gamest Awards Street Fighter Zero 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 2) Arcade Capcom Fighting IAAPA Exhibit Awards Tokyo Wars Arcade Namco Shooter VSDA Awards Donkey Kong Country 2 SNES Nintendo Platformer
Critically acclaimed titles Metacritic and GameRankings
Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
+ 1996 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR) Game Publisher Release Date Platform(s) MC score GR score Super Mario 64 Nintendo June 23, 1996 N64 94/100 96.41% Wipeout XL/2097 Psygnosis September 30, 1996 PS1 93/100 94.75% Quake GT Interactive June 22, 1996 DOS 94/100 93.22% Tekken 2 Namco March 29, 1996 PS1 89/100 92.50% Civilization II MicroProse February 29, 1996 WIN 94/100 91.29% Wave Race 64 Nintendo September 27, 1996 N64 92/100 90.67% PaRappa the Rapper Sony Computer Entertainment December 6, 1996 PS1 92/100 88.31% Realms of the Haunting Interplay December 31, 1996 DOS 91.86% Tomb Raider Eidos Interactive November 14, 1996 DOS 91.67% Soul Edge Namco December 20, 1996 PS1 89/100 91.46% Tomb Raider Eidos Interactive October 25, 1996 PS1 91/100 90.02% Resident Evil Capcom March 22, 1996 PS1 91/100 87.23% Command & Conquer: Red Alert Virgin November 22, 1996 DOS 90/100 90.91% Command & Conquer Sega December 18, 1996 SAT 89.90% Dragon Force Sega March 29, 1996 SAT 89.64% International Superstar Soccer 64 Konami December 20, 1996 N64 89.23% Guardian Heroes Sega January 26, 1996 SAT 89.20% Super Mario RPG Nintendo March 9, 1996 SNES 89.12% Descent II Interplay Productions March 13, 1996 DOS 89/100 Duke Nukem 3D GT Interactive January 29, 1996 DOS 89/100 88.50% Star Control 3 Accolade August 31, 1996 DOS 89/100 NiGHTS into Dreams... Sega July 5, 1996 SAT 88.56% Pokémon Blue Version Nintendo October 15, 1996 GB 88.33% Pokémon Red Version Nintendo February 27, 1996 GB 87.86% Formula 1 Psygnosis September 30, 1996 PS1 87.75% Fighters Megamix Sega December 21, 1996 SAT 87.67% Pilotwings 64 Nintendo June 23, 1996 N64 80/100 87.52% Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Sega March 22, 1996 SAT 87.50%
Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame
The following video game releases in 1996 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40. TitlePlatformDeveloperPublisherGenreScore (out of 40)Super Mario 64N64Nintendo EADNintendoPlatformer39Resident EvilPS1CapcomCapcomSurvival horror38Tekken 2PS1NamcoNamcoFighting38Fighting VipersSATSega AM2SegaFighting37Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren GBGBAquamarineChunsoftRoguelike36Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e...SNESHeartbeatEnixRPG36Panzer Dragoon II ZweiSATSegaSegaRail shooter35J. League Victory Goal '96SATSegaSegaSports35Fighters MegamixSATSega AM2SegaFighting35 Financial performance
Highest-grossing arcade games Japan In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1996.
Rank Gamest alternate url Game MachineTitleManufacturer Title Type Points 1 Street Fighter Zero 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 2)CapcomVirtua Fighter 2 / 2.1 PCB 2 Virtual On: Cyber TroopersSega Puzzle Bobble 2 / 2X PCB 3 The King of Fighters '96SNK Print Club (Purikura) Other 4059 4 Virtua Fighter 3Sega Rave Racer SD / DX / 2P 5 Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over MystaraCapcom Tekken 2 PCB 3579 6 Psychic ForceTaito Virtua Cop 2 Dedicated 3271 7 RayStormTaito Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Dedicated 3208 8 X-Men vs. Street FighterCapcom Alpine Racer Dedicated 2807 9 Real Bout Garō Densetsu (Real Bout Fatal Fury)SNK Fighting Vipers PCB 2555 10 Battle GareggaEighting Street Fighter Zero 2 PCB 2543
United States In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1996.
Drasnin Communications AMOA Title Developer Manufacturer Genre Dedicated cabinet Conversion kit Daytona USA Sega AM2 Sega Racing Alpine Racer Area 51 Cruis'n USA Midway Games Midway Games Racing Area 51 Bust-A-Move Again Tekken 2 Namco Namco Fighting Cruis'n USAMortal Kombat 3 Area 51 Mesa Logic Atari Games Light gun shooter Daytona USA Soul Edge Alpine Racer Namco Namco Sports Time Crisis Tekken 2 Die Hard Arcade Sega AM1 Sega Brawler colspan="2" rowspan="5" Metal Slug SNK SNK Run and gun Point Blank Namco Namco Light gun shooter DecAthlete Sega AM3 Sega Sports Strikers 1945 Psikyo Psikyo Scrolling shooter
Australia On Australia's Timezone monthly arcade charts published in the March 1996 issue of Leisure Line magazine, Sega's Manx TT Super Bike was the top-grossing dedicated arcade cabinet and Namco's Point Blank was the top-grossing arcade conversion kit.
Best-selling video game consoles RankManufacturerGame consoleTypeGenerationSales Japan United States Worldwide1SonyPS1Home32-bit2,200,000+6,600,000+2NintendoGBHandheld8-bit2,860,000 4,000,000+SegaSATHome32-bit2,300,000,0004,000,000+4NintendoN64Home64-bit1,022,9992,758,999+5NintendoSNESHome16-bit620,0001,416,0001,746,000+6SegaGENHome16-bit 1,316,000+7NintendoNESHome8-bit70,000,000538,000+8SegaGGHandheld8-bit100,000 100,000+9NECPCFXHome32-bit50,000 50,000+Panasonic3DOHome32-bit50,000 50,000+
Best-selling home video games The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) worldwide in 1996.
Rank Title Platform Sales Japan United States Europe Worldwide1Super Mario 64N64903,0002,000,000+ 2,903,000+2Tekken 2PS11,200,000+1,000,000+420,0002,620,000+3Resident Evil (Biohazard)PS11,016,0001,000,000+300,000+2,316,000+4Super Mario RPGSNES995,8981,000,000+ 1,995,898+5Donkey Kong Country 3SNES674,0001,000,000+ 1,674,000+6Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / BlueGB1,663,861 1,663,8617Donkey Kong Country 2SNES612,0001,000,000+ 1,612,000+8Wave Race 64N64154,6821,000,000+ 1,154,682+9Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e...SNES1,071,000 1,071,00010Madden NFL 97PS1 1,000,000+ 1,000,000+
Japan In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1996.
Rank Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre Sales 1 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue GB Game Freak Nintendo RPG 1,663,861 2 Tekken 2 PS1 Namco Namco Fighting 1,200,000+ 3 Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e... SNES Heartbeat Enix RPG1,071,000 4 Biohazard (Resident Evil) PS1 Capcom Capcom Survival horror 1,016,000 5 Super Mario RPG SNES Squaresoft Nintendo RPG 995,898 6 Derby Stallion '96 PS1 ASCII ASCII Simulation 960,000 7 Super Mario 64 N64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Platformer 903,000 8 Arc the Lad II PS1 ARC Entertainment Sony RPG 818,000 9 Tobal No. 1 PS1 DreamFactory Squaresoft Fighting 752,000 10 Rage Racer PS1 Namco Namco Racing 701,000
United States In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1996.
Rank Title Platform Publisher Genre Sales Revenue Inflation 1 Super Mario 64 N64 Nintendo Platformer 2,000,000+ $140,000,000 $ 2 Donkey Kong Country 2 SNES Nintendo Platformer1,000,000+ 3 Donkey Kong Country 3 SNES Nintendo Platformer 1,000,000+ 4 Madden NFL 97 PS1 EA Sports Sports (football) 1,000,000+ rowspan="3" rowspan="3" 5 Wave Race 64 N64 Nintendo Racing 1,000,000+ 6 Super Mario RPG SNES Nintendo RPG 1,000,000+ 7 Tekken 2 PS1 Namco Fighting 1,000,000+ 8 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire N64 Nintendo Action 1,000,000+ 9 Resident Evil PS1 Capcom Survival horror 1,000,000+ 10 Myst PS1 Broderbund Adventure 853,765 $28,800,000 $
Europe In Europe, the following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1996.
Rank All platforms PlayStation Title Publisher Title EU sales UK revenue UK revenue (inflation) 1 Formula 1 Psygnosis Formula 1 420,000+ £15,000,000+ (+) $+ 2 colspan="2" Tekken 2 420,000 £15,000,000+ (+) $+ 3 colspan="2" FIFA 97 300,000+ rowspan="2" rowspan="2" 4 colspan="2" Resident Evil300,000+ 5 colspan="2" Crash Bandicoot 300,000 £15,000,000+ (+) $+ 6 colspan="2" Destruction Derby colspan="3" rowspan="5" 7 colspan="2" Ridge Racer Revolution 8 colspan="2" Tekken 9 colspan="2" Ridge Racer 10 colspan="2" Tomb Raider
In addition to the PlayStation games listed above, the following titles were the year's best-selling Sega Saturn and PC games in the United Kingdom.
Sega Saturn PC HMV Rank Title Athlete Kings Tomb Raider 1 Grand Prix 2 Bust-A-Move 2 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 2 Command & Conquer: Red Alert Daytona USA: Circuit Edition Virtua Cop 3 FIFA 97 Euro 96 Virtua Fighter 2 4 Command & ConquerExhumedSega Worldwide Soccer 975Civilization IIFighting Vipers 6 QuakeGuardian Heroes 7Theme ParkNights into Dreams 8Rally Championship Sea Bass Fishing 9Championship Manager 2 Sega Rally Championship 10Worms
Top game rentals in the United States In the United States, the following games were the top video game rentals of each month, according to the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA).
Month Game January February March April May Super Mario RPG June July August September October November December
Events March – Swedish video game magazine "Super Power" changes name to Super Play. 15 July – Tom Kalinske announces he will leave his position as president for Sega of America on 1 October. May 16–18 – The second annual E3 is held in Los Angeles, California, United States. 7 September - Sega opens SegaWorld London as part of the London Trocadero in England. It is the first Sega World park to open outside of Japan. 1 October – Tom Kalinske resigns as president for Sega of America. December 31 – Battle.net Classic is released.
Business
February – Blizzard Entertainment acquires a development group known as Condor, renaming it Blizzard North April – Eidos Interactive acquires CentreGold plc, which holds Core Design (creator of the Lara Croft character) and U.S. Gold May 1 – GameSpot and GameFAQs are launched June – Firaxis Games is formed By Jeff Briggs with Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds July – GT Interactive purchases Humongous Entertainment