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| List of years in video games |
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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.
| 3DO | 3DO | Arcade | Arcade video game | DOS | DOS / MS-DOS |
| GB | Game Boy | GEN | Sega Genesis / Mega Drive | GG | Game Gear |
| LIN | Linux | MAC | Classic Mac OS, 2001 and before | NEO | Neo Geo AES |
| NES | Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom | PS1 | PlayStation 1 | S32X | Sega 32X |
| SAT | Sega Saturn | SCD | Sega CD / Mega CD | SMS | Sega Master System |
| SNES | Super Nintendo / Super Famicom |
| Action | Action game | Action RPG | Action role-playing game | City builder | city-building game |
| Fighting | Fighting game | FPS | First-person shooter | Metroidvania | Metroidvania |
| Platformer | Platformer | Racing | Racing game | RPG | role-playing video game |
| Sandbox | Open world RPG | Simulation | Simulation video game | Sports | Sports video game |
| Tactical RPG | Tactical role-playing game |
The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1994.
| Awards | Game of the Year | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) | Donkey Kong Country | SNES | Nintendo | Platformer | [1] |
| Game Informer | [2] | ||||
| Video Games & Computer Magazine | [3] | ||||
| Time Magazine | [4] | ||||
| Nintendo Power | |||||
| Kid's Choice Awards | [5] | ||||
| GameFan Megawards | Earthworm Jim | GEN | Playmates Interactive | Platformer | [6] |
| Clockwork Knight | SAT | Sega | |||
| Gamest Awards | The King of Fighters '94 | Arcade | SNK | Fighting | [7] |
| IAAPA Exhibit Awards | Ace Driver | Arcade | Namco | Racing | [8] |
| Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) | NBA Jam | Acclaim | Sports (basketball) | [9] |
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. [10]
| Title | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Score (out of 40) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy VI | SNES | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | RPG | 37 |
| Ridge Racer | PS1 | Namco | Namco | Racing | 37 |
| Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem) | SNES | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo | Tactical RPG | 36 |
| Virtua Fighter | SAT | Sega AM2 | Sega | Fighting | 36 |
The best-selling arcade printed circuit board (PCB) worldwide in 1994 was SNK's Neo Geo MVS system. [11]
The following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1994 in Japan.
| Rank | Gamest [7] | Game Machine [12] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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 | [13] [14] | |
| March | Ridge Racer | Super Street Fighter II Turbo | [15] |
| April | [16] | ||
| May | Daytona USA | [17] | |
| June | [18] | ||
| July | Daytona USA | [19] | |
| August | [20] | ||
| September | [21] | ||
| October | Daytona USA | Gunbird | [22] |
Virtua Fighter by Sega AM2 was also one of the UK's most popular coin-ops of the year. [23]
In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1994.
| Rank | Play Meter | AAMA [24] [25] | AMOA [26] [27] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Award | Dedicated arcade cabinet | Arcade conversion kit | ||
| 1 | Daytona USA , Mortal Kombat II [28] | 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 | |||||
| Rank | Manufacturer | Platform | Type | Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | USA | Europe | Elsewhere | Worldwide | ||||
| 1 | Nintendo | GB | Handheld | 1,140,000 [29] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 7,500,000+ [30] |
| 2 | Nintendo | SNES | Home | 2,200,000 [31] | 4,258,000+ | 1,060,000 [31] | 900,000 [31] | 6,218,000 |
| 2 | Sega | GEN | Home | 500,000 [31] | 4,000,000+ [32] | 1,540,000 [31] | 1,000,000 [31] | 7,040,000+ |
| 4 | Sega | SCD | Home | 150,000 [31] | 550,000 [31] | 205,000 [31] | — | 905,000 [31] |
| 5 | Sega | GG | Handheld | 350,000 [29] | 500,000+ [32] | Unknown | Unknown | 850,000+ |
| 6 | Sega | SAT | Home | 840,000 [29] | — | — | — | 840,000 |
| 7 | Sega | S32X | Home | 270,000 [33] | 500,000 [32] | 65,000 [31] | — | 835,000 |
| 8 | Goldstar, Panasonic, Sanyo | 3DO | Home | 450,000 [29] | 160,000 [31] | 15,000 [31] | 5,000+ [31] | 630,000+ |
| 9 | Sony | PS1 | Home | 600,000 [29] | — | — | — | 600,000 |
| 10 | Nintendo | NES | Home | 280,000 [29] | 268,000 [34] | Unknown | Unknown | 548,000+ |
The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) worldwide in 1994.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan [35] | USA [36] | Worldwide | |||
| 1 | Donkey Kong Country (Super Donkey Kong) | SNES | 956,000 | 2,057,006 | 6,000,000 [37] |
| 2 | Street Fighter II | 941,000+ | 989,178+ [a] | 3,709,090+ [b] | |
| 3 | Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III) | SNES | 2,550,000+ [42] | 275,952 | 2,825,952+ |
| 4 | Mortal Kombat II | Unknown | 1,929,494+ | 2,500,000+ [43] | |
| 5 | NBA Jam | GEN, SNES | Unknown | 2,313,526 | 2,313,526+ |
| 6 | Sonic 3 & Knuckles | GEN | Unknown | 1,473,730 | 1,473,730+ |
| 7 | Madden NFL 95 | GEN, SNES | — | 811,568 | 811,568+ |
| 8 | Super Metroid | SNES | 531,000 | 256,262+ [44] | 787,262+ |
| 9 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers | GEN, SNES | — | 731,910 | 731,910+ |
| 10 | J.League Excite Stage '94 (Capcom's Soccer Shootout) | SNES | 714,000 | Unknown | 714,000+ |
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 | SNES | Squaresoft | RPG | 2,550,000+ | [42] |
| 2 | Super Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Country) | SNES | Nintendo | Platformer | 956,000 | [35] |
| 3 | Super Street Fighter II | SNES | Capcom | Fighting | 941,000 | |
| 4 | J.League Excite Stage '94 (Capcom's Soccer Shootout) | SNES | Epoch Co. | Sports (soccer) | 714,000 | |
| 5 | Super Bomberman 2 | SNES | Hudson Soft | Maze | 713,000 | |
| 6 | Super Momotarō Dentetsu III | SNES | Hudson Soft | Simulation | 610,000 | |
| 7 | Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 3 | SNES | Bandai | Fighting | 595,000 | |
| 8 | Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem) | SNES | Nintendo | Tactical RPG | 563,000 | |
| 9 | Super Metroid | SNES | Nintendo | Metroidvania | 531,000 | |
| 10 | Mother 2: Gīgu no Gyakushū (EarthBound) | SNES | Nintendo | RPG | 518,000 |
In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1994. [45]
| Rank | Title | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NBA Jam | GEN, SNES | Acclaim Entertainment | Sports (basketball) | 2,313,526 | [36] |
| 2 | Donkey Kong Country | SNES | Nintendo | Platformer | 2,057,006 | |
| 3 | Mortal Kombat II | GEN, SNES | Acclaim Entertainment | Fighting | 1,929,494 | |
| 4 | Sonic 3 & Knuckles | GEN | Sega | Platformer | 1,473,730 | [36] |
| 5 | Street Fighter II | GEN, SNES | Capcom | Fighting | 989,178+ | [a] |
| 6 | Madden NFL 95 | GEN, SNES | EA Sports | Sports (football) | 811,568 | [36] |
| 7 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers | GEN, SNES | Sega, Bandai | Action | 731,910 | |
| 8 | The Lion King | GEN, SNES | Virgin Interactive | Platformer | 619,399 | |
| 9 | NBA Live 95 | GEN, SNES | EA Sports | Sports (basketball) | 542,758 | |
| 10 | Disney's Aladdin | SNES | Capcom | Platformer | 421,996+ | [45] [36] |
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 | Publisher | Genre | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Sensible Soccer | GEN | Sony | Sports (soccer) | [46] |
| February | SimCity 2000 | DOS, MAC | Mindscape | City builder | [47] |
| March | NBA Jam | GEN, SNES, GG | Acclaim | Sports (basketball) | [48] |
| April | Doom | Id Software | FPS | [49] | |
| May | World Cup Striker | SNES | U.S. Gold | Sports (soccer) | [50] |
| June | World Cup USA '94 | GEN, SNES, GG | U.S. Gold | Sports (soccer) | [51] |
| July | Star Wars: TIE Fighter | Virgin Interactive | Space combat | [52] | |
| August | Super Street Fighter II | GEN | Sega | Fighting | [53] |
| September | Mortal Kombat II | SNES, GEN, SMS, GG, GB | Acclaim | Fighting | [54] |
| October | Doom II | Virgin Interactive | FPS | [55] | |
| November | FIFA Soccer 95 | GEN | EA Sports | Sports (soccer) | [56] |
| December | [57] |
In the hand-held games market, the company launched Game Boy, which currently leads the field with sales surpassing 7.5 million units.
Capcom sold 6.5 million copies of the game for the Nintendo machine in the fiscal year that ended in March 1993, and an additional 5.4 million for the Nintendo and Sega machines combined in the year that ended last March.
As for video-game software, accumulated sales of Capcom Co.'s Street Fighter II series reached 10 million units in 1993, compared with 15 million units of Enix Inc.'s Dragon Quest series and 100 million units of Nintendo's Super Mario series.
Source: The NPD TRSTS Video Game Tracking Service, The NPD Group, Inc., Port Washington, NY; ranked by units sold