1994 in video games

1994 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy VI, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Virtua Fighter 2 and Doom II, along with new titles such as Daytona USA, Ace Driver, Alpine Racer and Tekken.

The year's best-selling video game console was the Game Boy, while the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo remained the best-selling home console. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Super Street Fighter II X (Super Street Fighter II Turbo) and Virtua Fighter in Japan, and Daytona USA and Mortal Kombat II in the United States, while the year's best-selling home video game worldwide was Donkey Kong Country.

Events

• Nintendo proclaims "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".^[1][2]
• Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.
• "Project Reality" is renamed the Nintendo Ultra 64. The console's design is revealed to the public for the first time in spring 1994.
• The second of two congressional hearings on video games takes place on March 5. Topics for discussion include the depiction of violence and sexual content in video games, their influence on children, and the prospect of governmental regulation of video game content.
• April – The Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) is founded in response to the hearings (name changed to the Entertainment Software Association in 2003); the IDSA founds the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in order to self-regulate content in video games in the mold of the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system.
• April 28 – Sega and MGM make a venture to create video games, movies, and television programs.
• June 24 – The Computer Game Developers Association is formed by Ernest W. Adams.
• November – Game Zero magazine drops their print format and becomes the first video game news magazine on the web.
• November 10 – William Higinbotham, creator of Tennis for Two (1958), dies at 84.

Hardware releases

• Aiwa releases the Aiwa Mega-CD multimedia home console in Japan only.
• Bandai releases the Playdia multimedia home console.
• NEC releases the PC-FX multimedia home console.
• Sega:
  • introduces the North American cable TV Sega Channel in cooperation with Time Warner (AOL Time Warner); the subscription service provides Sega Genesis games via cable box to customers
  • releases the Sega 32X add-on for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in Europe (November 14), North America (November 21) and Japan (December 3)
  • releases the Sega Nomad handheld console in North America, a portable Sega Genesis.
  • releases the Sega Saturn home console in Japan on November 22
• SNK releases the Neo Geo CD home console.

PlayStation video game console, first released in Japan

• Sony releases the PlayStation home console in Japan on December 3.
• Nintendo releases the Super Game Boy adapter for the Super NES home console.
• Atari Corporation discontinues the Lynx handheld system.

Top-rated games

Game of the Year awards

The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1994.

Awards	Game of the Year	Platform(s)	Publisher	Genre	Ref
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)	Donkey Kong Country	Super NES	Nintendo	Platformer	[3]
Game Informer					[4]
Video Games & Computer Magazine					[5]
Time Magazine					[6]
Nintendo Power
Kid's Choice Awards					[7]
GameFan Megawards	Earthworm Jim	Sega Genesis	Playmates Interactive	Platformer	[8]
	Clockwork Knight	Sega Saturn	Sega
Gamest Awards	The King of Fighters '94	Arcade (Neo Geo)	SNK	Fighting	[9]
IAAPA Exhibit Awards	Ace Driver	Arcade (Namco System 22)	Namco	Racing	[10]
Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA)	NBA Jam	Game consoles	Acclaim	Sports	[11]

Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame

The following video game releases in 1994 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.^[12]

Title	Platform	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Score (out of 40)
Final Fantasy VI	Super Famicom	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	RPG	37
Ridge Racer	PlayStation	Namco	Namco	Racing	37
Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem)	Super Famicom	Intelligent Systems	Nintendo	SRPG	36
Virtua Fighter	Sega Saturn	Sega AM2	Sega	Fighting	36

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

The best-selling arcade printed circuit board (PCB) worldwide in 1994 was SNK's Neo Geo MVS system.^[13]

Japan

The following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1994 in Japan.

Rank	Gamest[9]		Game Machine[14]
	Title	Manufacturer	Title	Type	Points
1	Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge	Capcom	Virtua Fighter	PCB / Deluxe	5857
2	Virtua Fighter	Sega	Super Street Fighter II / X	PCB	5003
3	Garō Densetsu Special (Fatal Fury Special)	SNK	Puyo Puyo	PCB	3466
4	Vampire: The Night Warriors (Darkstalkers)	Capcom	Ridge Racer	Deluxe	3265
5	The King of Fighters '94	SNK	Super Real Mahjong PIV	PCB	2909
6	Super Street Fighter II	Capcom	Shanghai III	PCB	2794
7	Gokujo Parodius	Konami	Raiden II	PCB	2718
8	Ridge Racer	Namco	Lethal Enforcers	Dedicated	2713
9	Daytona USA	Sega	Tetris (Sega)	PCB	2686
10	Puyo Puyo	Compile	OutRunners	2P cabinet	2676

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the highest-grossing games of each month in 1994.

Month	Dedicated arcade cabinet	Printed circuit board (PCB)	Ref
February	Ridge Racer		[15][16]
March	Ridge Racer	Super Street Fighter II Turbo	[17]
April			[18]
May	Daytona USA		[19]
June			[20]
July	Daytona USA		[21]
August			[22]
September			[23]
October	Daytona USA	Gunbird	[24]

Virtua Fighter by Sega AM2 was also one of the UK's most popular coin-ops of the year.^[25]

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1994.

Rank	Play Meter	AAMA[26][27]		AMOA[28][29]
		Title	Award	Dedicated arcade cabinet	Arcade conversion kit
1	Daytona USA, Mortal Kombat II[30]	Daytona USA (Twin) Cruis'n USA, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat II, Neo Geo MVS	Diamond	Mortal Kombat II
2				Lethal Enforcers, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, Virtua Fighter	NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, Raiden II, Super Street Fighter II, Samurai Shodown
3	Un­known
4
5
6	Un­known	NBA Jam: Tournament Edition	Platinum		—
7	Un­known	Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, Raiden II, Revolution X	Gold	—
8
9
10	Un­known	Alien vs. Predator, Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, Super Street Fighter II Turbo	Silver
11
12

Best-selling video game consoles

Rank	Manufacturer	Game console	Type	Generation	Sales
					Japan	USA	Europe	Elsewhere	Worldwide
1	Nintendo	Game Boy	Handheld	8-bit	1,140,000[31]	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	7,500,000+[32]
2	Nintendo	Super NES	Home	16-bit	2,200,000[33]	4,258,000+	1,060,000[33]	900,000[33]	6,218,000
2	Sega	Mega Drive / Genesis	Home	16-bit	500,000[33]	4,000,000+[34]	1,540,000[33]	1,000,000[33]	7,040,000+
4	Sega	Sega CD / Mega-CD	Home	16-bit	150,000[33]	550,000[33]	205,000[33]	—	905,000[33]
5	Sega	Game Gear	Handheld	8-bit	350,000[31]	500,000+[34]	Un­known	Un­known	850,000+
6	Sega	Sega Saturn	Home	32-bit	840,000[31]	—	—	—	840,000
7	Sega	32X	Home	32-bit	270,000[35]	500,000[34]	65,000[33]	—	835,000
8	Goldstar, Panasonic, Sanyo	3DO	Home	32-bit	450,000[31]	160,000[33]	15,000[33]	5,000+[33]	630,000+
9	Sony	PlayStation	Home	32-bit	600,000[31]	—	—	—	600,000
10	Nintendo	NES / Famicom	Home	8-bit	280,000[31]	268,000[36]	Un­known	Un­known	548,000+

Best-selling home video games

The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) worldwide in 1994.

Rank	Title	Platform(s)	Sales
			Japan[37]	USA[38]	Worldwide
1	Donkey Kong Country (Super Donkey Kong)	Super NES	956,000	2,057,006	6,000,000[39]
2	Street Fighter II	Multi-platform	941,000+	989,178+[a]	3,709,090+[b]
3	Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III)	Super NES	2,550,000+[44]	275,952	2,825,952+
4	Mortal Kombat II	Multi-platform	Un­known	1,929,494+	2,500,000+[45]
5	NBA Jam	Sega Genesis, Super NES	Un­known	2,313,526	2,313,526+
6	Sonic 3 & Knuckles	Mega Drive/Genesis	Un­known	1,473,730	1,473,730+
7	Madden NFL 95	Sega Genesis, Super NES	—	811,568	811,568+
8	Super Metroid	Super NES	531,000	256,262+[46]	787,262+
9	Mighty Morphin Power Rangers	Sega Genesis, Super NES	—	731,910	731,910+
10	J.League Excite Stage '94 (Capcom's Soccer Shootout)	Super Famicom	714,000	Un­known	714,000+

Japan

In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1994.

Rank	Title	Platform	Publisher	Genre	Sales	Ref
1	Final Fantasy VI	Super Famicom	Squaresoft	RPG	2,550,000+	[44]
2	Super Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Country)	Super Famicom	Nintendo	Platformer	956,000	[37]
3	Super Street Fighter II	Super Famicom	Capcom	Fighting	941,000
4	J.League Excite Stage '94 (Capcom's Soccer Shootout)	Super Famicom	Epoch Co.	Sports	714,000
5	Super Bomberman 2	Super Famicom	Hudson Soft	Maze	713,000
6	Super Momotarō Dentetsu III	Super Famicom	Hudson Soft	Simulation	610,000
7	Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 3	Super Famicom	Bandai	Fighting	595,000
8	Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem)	Super Famicom	Nintendo	Tactical RPG	563,000
9	Super Metroid	Super Famicom	Nintendo	Metroidvania	531,000
10	Mother 2: Gīgu no Gyakushū (EarthBound)	Super Famicom	Nintendo	RPG	518,000

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1994.^[47]

Rank	Title	Platform(s)	Publisher(s)	Genre	Sales	Ref
1	NBA Jam	Sega Genesis, Super NES	Acclaim Entertainment	Sports	2,313,526	[38]
2	Donkey Kong Country	Super NES	Nintendo	Platformer	2,057,006
3	Mortal Kombat II	Sega Genesis, Super NES	Acclaim Entertainment	Fighting	1,929,494
4	Sonic 3 & Knuckles	Sega Genesis	Sega	Platformer	1,473,730	[38]
5	Street Fighter II	Sega Genesis, Super NES	Capcom	Fighting	989,178+	[a]
6	Madden NFL 95	Sega Genesis, Super NES	EA Sports	Sports	811,568	[38]
7	Mighty Morphin Power Rangers	Sega Genesis, Super NES	Sega, Bandai	Action	731,910
8	The Lion King	Sega Genesis, Super NES	Virgin Interactive	Platformer	619,399
9	NBA Live 95	Sega Genesis, Super NES	EA Sports	Sports	542,758
10	Disney's Aladdin	Super NES	Capcom	Platformer	421,996+	[47][38]

United Kingdom

HMV, a British entertainment retailer, released a monthly list of the chain's highest-selling home video game titles. The following titles topped the monthly all-formats charts, as reported by Computer and Video Games.

Month	Title	Platform(s)	Publisher	Genre	Ref
January	Sensible Soccer	Mega Drive	Sony	Sports (football)	[48]
February	SimCity 2000	PC, Mac	Mindscape	City-building	[49]
March	NBA Jam	Mega Drive, SNES, GG	Acclaim	Sports (basketball)	[50]
April	Doom	PC	Id Software	FPS	[51]
May	World Cup Striker	SNES	U.S. Gold	Sports (football)	[52]
June	World Cup USA '94	Mega Drive, SNES, GG	U.S. Gold	Sports (football)	[53]
July	Star Wars: TIE Fighter	PC	Virgin Interactive	Space combat	[54]
August	Super Street Fighter II	Mega Drive	Sega	Fighting	[55]
September	Mortal Kombat II	SNES, SMD, SMS, GG, GB	Acclaim	Fighting	[56]
October	Doom II	PC	Virgin Interactive	FPS	[57]
November	FIFA Soccer 95	Mega Drive	EA Sports	Sports (football)	[58]
December					[59]

Notable releases

Video game platforms

Ami Amiga Arcade Arcade DOS MS-DOS GB Game Boy Lin Linux Mac Mac Neo Neo Geo NES Nintendo Entertainment System 3DO 3DO Interactive Multiplayer GG Game Gear Lynx Atari Lynx PS1 PlayStation Sat Saturn SNES Super NES SMD Mega Drive / Genesis

Notable releases of the year 1994

Release	Title	System	Developer/Publisher	Notes
February 2	Sonic the Hedgehog 3	SMD	Sega	Third installment of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Introduces Knuckles the Echidna.
March	X-COM: UFO Defense	DOS	Mythos Games/MicroProse
March 19	Super Metroid	SNES	Nintendo	Third in the Metroid series; distributed on a 24-megabit cartridge. Noted as the "best game of all time" by Electronic Gaming Monthly in 2002.
March 25	The Elder Scrolls: Arena	DOS	Bethesda	Open-world action role-playing game, and the first game in the Elder Scrolls series
April 2	Final Fantasy VI	SNES	Square Co.	Sixth title in the Final Fantasy series. Released on October 11 in the US.
June 14	Donkey Kong 94	GB	Nintendo	Remake of the first four stages of the original game, adding 96 puzzle based levels and new mechanics
July	TIE Fighter	DOS	LucasArts
August 2	Earthworm Jim	SNES, SMD	Shiny Entertainment
August 25	The King of Fighters '94	Neo	SNK	First title in the King of Fighters series
August 27	EarthBound	SNES	Nintendo	The only title in the series to be localized until Mother was released in the United States as EarthBound Beginnings in 2015. Also introduces Ness.
September	Master of Magic	DOS	MicroProse
September 9	Mortal Kombat II	SNES	Sculptured Software/Acclaim Entertainment	Released with all blood and fatalities left intact, the first major release on any Nintendo console at that point to have such content.
September 22	System Shock	DOS	Looking Glass Studios/Origin Systems
October 10	Doom II	DOS	id Software	Sequel to the original first-person shooter DOOM.
	Doom	Lin	Dave D. Taylor/id Software	Port of the original game, becoming the first major game for the Linux operating system.
October 17[60]	Sonic & Knuckles	SMD	Sega	The sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, allowing players to play as either Sonic or Knuckles. The cartridge features an adapter that can connect to Sonic 3, allowing the two games to be played consecutively.
October 28	Killer Instinct	Arcade	Rare	The first arcade machine with an internal hard disk.
November 15	Warcraft: Orcs & Humans	DOS	Blizzard Entertainment	The first game in the Warcraft franchise. Adapted into the 2016 film of the same name.
November 15	NFL '95	Sega Genesis and Sega Game Gear	Double Diamond Software Genesis and Blue Sky Software Game gear	Sixth game in the Joe Montana Football/NFL series.
November 21	Donkey Kong Country	SNES	Rare/Nintendo	The first in the Donkey Kong Country series. Features 3D pre-rendered graphics. Also introduces Diddy Kong and King K. Rool.
November 23	King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride	DOS	Sierra On-Line	First in the series to use SVGA graphics.
December[61]	The Need for Speed	3DO	Electronic Arts	Launched one of the most successful racing game franchises of all time.
December	Magic Carpet	DOS, PS1, Sega Saturn	Bullfrog Productions	Action video game developed by Bullfrog Productions, a title deemed innovative and visually impressive at the time of its release, which features 3D real-time visuals.
December	Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger	DOS	Origin	Space combat simulator game that adds interactive movie elements with big-name actors. One of the most expensive games developed for the time, costing about $4 million to produce.[62]
December 9	Tekken	Arcade	Namco	Namco's first 3D fighting game, spawning the Tekken franchise.
December 10	Wario's Woods	NES	Nintendo	The last official game to be released on the NES in North America before Nintendo would officially discontinue production of the console.
December 16	King's Field	PS1	FromSoftware	Released in Japan only, first in the King's Field series and the first 3D action RPG to be developed for a home console. Considered to be the predecessor of the Dark Souls series. Introduced the Moonlight Sword.
December 17	Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium	SMD	Sega
December 21	Marathon	Mac	Bungie	One of the earliest original (non-ported) first-person shooters for the Mac computer.
December 27	Heretic	DOS, Mac	Raven Software/id Software	First in the Heretic/Hexen series and also the first game bundled with DWANGO, one of the earliest online multiplayer services

Game releases

January:

•

February:

•

March:

•

April:

•

May:

•

June:

•

July:

•

August:

Business

• New companies: Neversoft
• Defunct: Commodore, Tradewest
• September 14 – Video gaming magazine Nintendomagasinet is cancelled after four years. Number 9 of 1994 would have been released on this day, but instead the magazine joins Super Power.
• Apogee establishes the 3D Realms Entertainment division.
• Blizzard Entertainment is renamed from Silicon & Synapse.
• SSI sold to Mindscape
• Alpex Computer Corp. v. Nintendo lawsuit: Alpex sues Nintendo over patent infringements related to the NES. Nintendo loses the case. (In 1996 this ruling was reversed by an appeals court, which determined that no patents had been infringed upon.)^[63][64]
  • Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Dragon Pacific Intern

See also

• 1994 in games

Notes

1. 222,224+ Street Fighter II Turbo and Special Champion Edition sales up until August.^[42] 341,728 Super Street Fighter II sales up until September.^[43] 448,452 Street Fighter II, Turbo and Special Champion Edition sales in December.^[38]
2. 1.9 million worldwide sales during January–March 1994.^[40][41] 77,910+ Street Fighter II Turbo and Special Champion Edition sales in the US during April–August.^[42] 941,000 Super Street Fighter II sales in Japan during June–December.^[37] 341,728 Super Street Fighter II sales in the US during July–September.^[43] 448,452 Street Fighter II, Turbo and Special Champion Edition sales in the US during December.^[38]