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1988 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Quest III , Super Contra , Super Mario Bros. 2 , Mega Man 2 , Double Dragon II: The Revenge , and Super Mario Bros. 3 , along with new titles such as Assault , Altered Beast , Capcom Bowling , Ninja Gaiden , RoboCop , Winning Run and Chase H.Q.
The year's highest-grossing arcade games were After Burner and After Burner II in Japan, Double Dragon in the United States, Operation Wolf in the United Kingdom, and RoboCop in Hong Kong. The year's best‑selling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the fifth year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video games were Dragon Quest III in Japan and Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt in the United States.
In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1988, according to the annual Gamest and Game Machine charts.
Rank | Gamest [1] | Game Machine [2] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Title | Manufacturer | Title | Type | Points | |
1 | After Burner | Sega | After Burner / After Burner II | Cockpit cabinet | 3624 |
2 | World Stadium | Namco | Operation Wolf | Upright cabinet | 3569 |
3 | Gradius II | Konami | Final Lap | Deluxe / Standard | 3568 |
4 | Out Run | Sega | Kyukyoku Tiger (Twin Cobra) | Conversion kit | 3192 |
5 | Final Lap | Namco | World Stadium | Conversion kit | 3105 |
6 | R-Type | Irem | R-Type | Conversion kit | 3074 |
7 | Super Hang-On | Sega | Out Run | Deluxe cabinet | 2921 |
8 | Street Fighter | Capcom | Hi Sho Zame (Flying Shark) | Conversion kit | 2109 |
9 | Kyukyoku Tiger (Twin Cobra) | Toaplan | Galaga '88 | Conversion kit | 1990 |
10 | Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 | Taito | Gradius II | Conversion kit | 1939 |
In Hong Kong and the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1988.
Rank | Hong Kong | United States | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Bondeal [3] | Play Meter | AMOA [4] [5] | ||
Dedicated cabinet | Conversion kit | |||
1 | RoboCop | Double Dragon [6] | Double Dragon | Shinobi |
2 | Chequered Flag | Unknown | Out Run , After Burner , Operation Wolf , Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja | Twin Eagle , Heavy Barrel , Capcom Bowling , Time Soldiers |
3 | Devastators | |||
4 | P.O.W. | |||
5 | Vindicators | |||
6 | Sky Soldiers | Unknown | — | |
7 | Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja | |||
8 | Blasteroids | |||
9 | Vigilante | |||
10 | Xybots |
Operation Wolf was the top-earning arcade game of 1988 in the United Kingdom. [7] [8] The following titles were the top-grossing games on the monthly arcade charts in 1988.
Month | Title | Manufacturer | Genre | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
January | Operation Wolf | Taito | Light gun shooter | [9] |
February | [10] | |||
March | [11] | |||
April | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
May | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
June | Street Fighter | Capcom | Fighting | [12] |
1988 | Operation Wolf | [7] |
Rank | System(s) | Manufacturer | Type | Generation | Sales | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | USA | EU | Worldwide | |||||
1 | Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom | Nintendo | Console | 8-bit | 1,590,000 [13] | 7,000,000 [14] | Unknown | 8,590,000+ |
2 | Mark III / Master System | Sega | Console | 8-bit | 240,000 [15] | 1,000,000 [16] | 195,000 [17] [18] | 1,435,000+ |
3 | Commodore 64 | Commodore | Computer | 8-bit | — | — | — | 1,250,000 [19] |
4 | IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) | IBM | Computer | 16-bit | Unknown | 1,229,000 [20] | Unknown | 1,229,000+ |
5 | Macintosh | Apple Inc. | Computer | 16-bit | — | — | — | 900,000 [19] |
6 | PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 | NEC | Console | 16-bit | 830,000 [13] | — | — | 830,000 |
7 | NEC UltraLite / PC-88 / PC-98 | NEC | Computer | 8-bit / 16-bit | 700,000 [21] [22] | 95,000+ [23] | Unknown | 795,000+ |
8 | Mega Drive / Genesis | Sega | Console | 16-bit | 400,000 [15] | — | — | 400,000 |
9 | Amiga | Commodore | Computer | 16-bit | — | — | — | 400,000 [19] |
10 | Compaq PC | Compaq | Computer | 8-bit / 16-bit | Unknown | 365,000+ [23] | Unknown | 365,000+ |
The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1988 in Japan, according to the annual Family Computer Magazine (Famimaga) charts. [24]
Rank | Title | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Genre(s) | Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e... | Famicom | Chunsoft | Enix | Role-playing | 3,800,000 [25] |
2 | Super Mario Bros. 3 | Famicom | Nintendo R&D4 | Nintendo | Platformer | Unknown |
3 | Pro Yakyū: Family Stadium '87 | Famicom | Namco | Namco | Sports (baseball) | < 1,300,000 [26] |
4 | Kyūkyoku Harikiri Stadium | Famicom | Taito | Taito | Sports (baseball) | Unknown |
5 | Captain Tsubasa (Tecmo Cup Soccer Game) | Famicom | Tecmo | Tecmo | Sports (association football) | < 700,000 [27] |
6 | Momotaro Densetsu | Famicom | Hudson Soft | Hudson Soft | Role-playing | Unknown |
7 | Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu | Famicom | TOSE | Bandai | Role-playing / card battle | < 530,000 [28] |
8 | Saint Seiya: Ōgon Densetsu | Famicom | TOSE | Bandai | Action role-playing | Unknown |
9 | Final Fantasy | Famicom | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | Role-playing | < 520,000 [29] |
10 | Gegege no Kitaro: Youkai Daimakyou (Ninja Kid) | Famicom | TOSE | Bandai | Platformer | Unknown |
In the United States, the NES Action Set bundled with Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt was the best-selling toy of 1988. [30] The same year, Super Mario Bros. 2 became one of the best-selling cartridges of all time, [31] Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link were the top-selling cartridges during the holiday season, [32] and The Legend of Zelda and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! each crossed 2 million sales between 1987 and 1988. [33]
The following titles were the top-selling home video games of each month in the United Kingdom and United States during 1988.
Award | 2nd Gamest Awards (December 1988) [62] | 3rd Famitsu Best Hit Game Awards (February 1989) [63] | 3rd Famimaga Game Awards (February 1989) [64] |
---|---|---|---|
Arcade | Console | Famicom | |
Game of the Year | Gradius II | Dragon Quest III (Famicom) | |
Critics' Choice Awards | — | Dragon Spirit (PC Engine) Sangokushi (Famicom) Nobunaga no Yabō: Zenkokuban (Famicom) Family Circuit (Famicom) Captain Tsubasa (Famicom) Chô Wakusei Senki Metafight (Famicom) Rockman (Famicom) | — |
Best Arcade Conversion | — | R-Type (PC Engine) | — |
Best Playability | — | — | Super Mario Bros. 3 |
Best Scenario / Story | — | Final Fantasy (Famicom) | — |
Best Graphics | Forgotten Worlds | Alien Crush (PC Engine) | — |
Best Music / Sound | The Ninja Warriors | Galaga '88 (PC Engine) | Dragon Quest III |
Special Award | After Burner II | — | — |
Original / Frontier Spirit / Spotlight | Syvalion | No-Ri-Ko (PC Engine CD-ROM²) | Captain Tsubasa |
Best Character / Character Design | Bravoman ( Bravoman ) | Dragon Quest III (Famicom) | Super Mario Bros. 3 |
Best Game Company | Namco | — | — |
Best Action Game | — | Super Mario Bros. 3 (Famicom) | |
Best Shooter / Shoot 'Em Up | Gradius II / Ultimate Tiger | Gradius II (Famicom) | — |
Best RPG | — | Dragon Quest III (Famicom) | |
Best Action RPG | — | Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished (Sega Mark III) | — |
Best Adventure Game | — | Famicom Detective Club (Famicom) Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (Famicom) | Famicom Detective Club |
Best Simulation / Strategy Game | — | Famicom Wars (Famicom) | |
Best Sports Game | World Stadium | — | Pro Yakyū: Family Stadium '87 |
Best Puzzle Game | — | Tetris (Famicom) | — |
Best Value for Money | — | — | Dragon Quest III |
Best Ending | Gradius II | — | — |
Best Performance | — | Ninja Ryūkenden (Ninja Gaiden) | — |
Best Commercial | — | Famicom Wars (Famicom) | — |
Award | Sinclair User Awards (December 1988) [65] | 6th Golden Joystick Awards (April 1989) [66] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Arcade | 8-bit computer | 16-bit computer | Console | |
Game of the Year | Operation Wolf | Speedball | Thunder Blade (Master System) | |
Best Arcade / Coin-Op Conversion | — | Operation Wolf | — | |
Best Graphics | — | Armalyte | Rocket Ranger | — |
Best VGM / Soundtrack | — | Bionic Commando | International Karate + | — |
Best Original Game | Dynamite Düx | — | — | — |
Best Software House | — | Ocean Software | Mirrorsoft | — |
Best Progammer | — | John Phillips | The Bitmap Brothers | — |
Best Shooter / Shoot 'Em Up | Galaxy Force | — | — | — |
Best Beat 'Em Up | Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja | — | — | — |
Best Adventure Game | — | Corruption | Fish! | — |
Best Simulation Game | — | MicroProse Soccer | Falcon | — |
Best Racing Game | Power Drift | — | — | — |
The following 1988 video game releases entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40. [71]
Title | Score (out of 40) | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Platform |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e... (Dragon Warrior III) | 38 | Chunsoft | Enix | RPG | Family Computer (Famicom) |
Final Fantasy II | 35 | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | ||
Super Mario Bros. 3 | 35 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Platformer |
Super Mario Bros. 3 is a 1988 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990 and in Europe on August 29, 1991. It was developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, led by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka.
Super Mario Bros. 2 is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was first released in North America in September 1988, and in the PAL region in 1989.
The Legend of Zelda, originally released in Japan as The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu, is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo. The first game of The Legend of Zelda series, it is set in the fantasy land of Hyrule and centers on an elf-like boy named Link, who aims to collect the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom in order to rescue Princess Zelda from Ganon. The player controls Link from a top-down perspective and navigates throughout the overworld and dungeons, collecting weapons, defeating enemies and uncovering secrets along the way.
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1992 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Quest V, Final Fantasy V, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, and Super Mario Kart, along with new titles such as Art of Fighting, Lethal Enforcers, Mortal Kombat and Virtua Racing.
1991 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Street Fighter II, Final Fantasy IV, Super Castlevania IV, Mega Man 4, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, along with new titles such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Battletoads, Lemmings, Sunset Riders, Duke Nukem, Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, and Streets of Rage. The year's highest-grossing video game worldwide was Capcom's arcade fighting game Street Fighter II. The year's best-selling system was the Game Boy for the second year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video game was Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, which was also the year's top video game rental in the United States.
1990 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Dr. Mario, Dragon Quest IV, Final Fantasy III, Phantasy Star II, and Super Mario World, along with new titles such as Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Magic Sword. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Final Fight in Japan and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the United States. The year's best‑selling system was the Game Boy, while the year's best-selling home video game was Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
1989 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Phantasy Star II, Super Mario Land, Super Monaco GP, along with new titles such as Big Run, Bonk's Adventure, Final Fight, Golden Axe, Strider, Hard Drivin' and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The year also saw the release of the Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 in North America, and the Game Boy worldwide along with Tetris and Super Mario Land.
1987 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Dragon Quest II, Final Lap, and Zelda II, along with new titles such as After Burner, Contra, Double Dragon, Final Fantasy, Mega Man, Metal Gear, Operation Wolf, Phantasy Star, Shinobi, Street Fighter and The Last Ninja. The Legend of Zelda was also introduced outside of Japan.
1986 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario Bros. 2, along with new titles such as Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Castlevania, Dragon Quest, Ikari Warriors, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Out Run and R.B.I. Baseball. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Hang-On in Japan, Hang-On and Gauntlet in the United States, and Nemesis (Gradius) in London. The year's best‑selling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video games in Western markets were Super Mario Bros. in the United States and Yie Ar Kung-Fu in the United Kingdom.
1985 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario Bros. and Kung Fu, along with new titles such as Commando, Duck Hunt, Gauntlet, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Gradius, Hang-On, Space Harrier, Tetris and The Way of the Exploding Fist. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Hang-On and Karate Champ in the United States, and Commando in the United Kingdom. The year's best‑selling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the second year in a row, while the year's best‑selling home video game was Super Mario Bros.
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The 1980s was the second decade in the industry's history. It was a decade of highs and lows for video games. The decade began amidst a boom in the arcade business with giants like Atari still dominating the American market since the late-1970s. Another, the rising influence of the home computer, and a lack of quality in the games themselves led to an implosion of the video game market that nearly destroyed the industry in North America. It took home consoles years to recover from the crash, but Nintendo filled in the void with its Nintendo Entertainment System, reviving interest in consoles. Up until this point, most investors believed video games to be a fad that has since passed. In the remaining years of the decade, Sega ignites a console war with Nintendo, developers that had been affected by the crash experimented with the more advanced graphics of the PC, and Nintendo released the Game Boy, which would become the best-selling handheld gaming device for the next two-decades. Other consoles releases in the decade included the Intellivision, TurboGrafx-16 and Sega Genesis. Notable games of the 1980s included Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, Metroid, Elite, SimCity, Galaga,Pitfall!, Frogger, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Defender, Mega Man 2, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Super Mario Bros. 2, Bubble Bobble, Double Dragon,Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden,Tetris, Adventure, Joust, Robotron: 2084, Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Arkanoid,Populous, R-Type, Contra, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Super Mario Bros. 3, Prince of Persia, Gauntlet, Dragon's Lair, Golden Axe, Ms. Pac-Man, Out Run,Final Fantasy, Altered Beast, Shinobi, Lode Runner, Battlezone,Dragon Quest, and Marble Madness.
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Best-selling toys of 1988 (...) 1. Action set (Nintendo)
Last year, "Super Mario Bros. 2" became one of the best selling cartridges of all time.