1997 in video games

1997 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Final Fantasy VII , Castlevania: Symphony of the Night , GoldenEye 007 , Star Fox 64 , Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back , Quake II , Mega Man Legends , Riven , Tomb Raider II , Dark Rift , Tekken 3 and Virtua Striker 2 , along with new games such as Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee , Gran Turismo , Diablo , Grand Theft Auto and Fallout .

Sony's PlayStation was the year's best-selling video game console worldwide for the second year in a row, while also being the annual best-selling console in Japan for the first time (overtaking the Game Boy and Sega Saturn). The year's best-selling home video game worldwide was Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation, while the year's highest-grossing arcade games in Japan were Sega's Virtua Fighter 3 and Print Club 2 .

Legend

Video game platforms

Arcade	Arcade video game	DOS	DOS / MS-DOS	GB	Game Boy
N64	Nintendo 64	NEO	Neo Geo AES	NEOCD	Neo Geo CD
NES	Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom	PCFX	PC-FX	PS1	PlayStation 1
SAT	Sega Saturn	SNES	Super Nintendo / Super Famicom / Super Comboy	WIN	Microsoft Windows, all versions Windows 95 and up

Genre notes

Action	Action game	Action-adventure	Action-adventure game	Fighting	Fighting game
FPS	First-person shooter	Platformer	Platformer	Puzzle	Puzzle video game
Racing	Racing game	Rhythm	Rhythm games	Roguelike	Roguelike
RPG	role-playing video game	RTS	Real-time strategy game	Shooter	Shooter game
Simulation	Simulation video game	Sports	Sports video game	Tactical RPG	Tactical role-playing game
Virtual pet	Pet-raising simulation

Hardware

Game.com

Date	System
March 1	Nintendo 64 EU/AU
April 25	Dual Analog Controller JP
September 12	Game.com NA
October 20	New-style Super NES NA
November 20	DualShock controllerJP

Discontinued

Date	System
April 30	Game Gear
Unknown	Genesis/Mega Drive

Top-rated games

Game of the Year awards

The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1997.

Awards	Game of the Year	Platform(s)	Genre	Publisher	Ref
CESA Awards	Final Fantasy VII	PS1	RPG	Squaresoft	[1]
Japan Media Arts Festival					[2]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)				Sony	[3]
Game Informer					[4]
GamePro					[5]
Hyper					[6]
Origins Awards					[7]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)	GoldenEye 007	N64	FPS	Nintendo	[8]
Interactive Achievement Awards					[9]
VideoGame Advisor					[10]
Electronic Playground					[11]
GamePro					[5]
Nintendo Power					[12]
Digitiser	Super Mario 64	N64	Platformer	Nintendo	[13]
Golden Joystick Awards					[14]
GameSpot	Total Annihilation	WIN / DOS	RTS	Cavedog	[15]
Gamest Awards	Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3)	Arcade	Fighting	Capcom	[16]
Japan Media Arts Festival	Intelligent Qube (I.Q. / Kurushi)	PS1	Puzzle	Sony	[2]
Origins Awards	Sid Meier's Gettysburg!	WIN / DOS	Wargame	Electronic Arts	[7]
	Tomb Raider		Action-adventure	Eidos Interactive

Critically acclaimed titles

Metacritic and GameRankings

Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are online aggregators of video game journalism reviews. Note that their coverage of print magazines at the time was limited, with numerous print magazines not listed on their sites.

1997 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR) ^{[17] [18]}

Game	Publisher	Release Date	Platform(s)	MC score	GR score
Gran Turismo	Sony Computer Entertainment	December 23, 1997	PS1	96/100 [19]	94.95% [20]
GoldenEye 007	Nintendo	August 25, 1997	N64	96/100	94.7%
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night	Konami	March 20, 1997	PS1	93/100	93.03%
Final Fantasy VII	Square	January 31, 1997	PS1	92/100	92.35%
Dungeon Keeper	Electronic Arts	June 26, 1997	WIN / DOS	—	92.2%
Diablo	Blizzard Entertainment	January 3, 1997	WIN / DOS	94/100	89.07%
Colony Wars	Psygnosis	October 31, 1997	PS1	91/100	92.09%
Sid Meier's Gettysburg!	Electronic Arts	October 14, 1997	WIN / DOS	92/100	91% [21]
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II	LucasArts	October 10, 1997	WIN / DOS	91/100	88.69%
Myth: The Fallen Lords	Bungie	November 7, 1997	WIN / DOS	91/100	80.8%
Blast Corps	Nintendo	March 21, 1997	N64	90/100	88.87%
NFL GameDay 98	Sony Computer Entertainment	September 4, 1997	PS1	—	90%
Fallout	Interplay Productions	October 10, 1997	WIN / DOS	89/100	89.69%
Carmageddon	Sales Curve Interactive	June 13, 1997	WIN / DOS	—	89.6%
Formula 1 97	Psygnosis	September 26, 1997	PS1	—	89.43%
MDK	Playmates Interactive	May 5, 1997	WIN / DOS	—	89.2%
Star Fox 64	Nintendo	April 27, 1997	N64	88/100	89.01%
The Curse of Monkey Island	LucasArts	November 1, 1997	WIN / DOS	89/100	89%
Einhänder	Square	November 20, 1997	PS1	89/100 [19]	85% [20]
Total Annihilation	GT Interactive	September 26, 1997	WIN / DOS	86/100	88.85%
Diddy Kong Racing	Rare	November 21, 1997	N64	88/100	88.65%
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back	Sony Computer Entertainment	October 31, 1997	PS1	—	88.54%
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee	GT Interactive	September 18, 1997	PS1	85/100	87.94%
Madden NFL 98	EA Sports	August 26, 1997	SAT	—	87.90% [22]

Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame

The following video game releases in 1997 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40. ^[23]

Title	Platform	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Score (out of 40)
Final Fantasy VII	PS1	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	RPG	38
Final Fantasy VII International	PS1	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	RPG	37
Tobal 2	PS1	DreamFactory	Squaresoft	Fighting	36
Star Fox 64	N64	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Rail shooter	36
Derby Stallion	PS1	ASCII Corporation	ASCII Corporation	Simulation	35
Gran Turismo	PS1	Polys Entertainment	Sony	Racing (sim)	35

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games in Japan

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1997.

Rank	Gamest [16]			Game Machine [24]
	Title	Manufacturer	Genre	Title	Manufacturer	Type	Points
1	Virtua Fighter 3	Sega	Fighting	Print Club 2	Atlus	Other	4068
2	Tekken 3	Namco	Fighting	Virtua Fighter 3	Sega	Dedicated	3995
3	X-Men vs. Street Fighter	Capcom	Fighting	Tekken 3	Namco	PCB	3757
4	Street Fighter III: New Generation	Capcom	Fighting	Virtual On: Cyber Troopers	Sega	Dedicated	2969
5	Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3)	Capcom	Fighting	X-Men vs. Street Fighter	Capcom	PCB	2776
6	Samurai Spirits 4: Amakusa Kōrin	SNK	Fighting	Puzzle Bobble 3	Taito	PCB	2626
7	Real Bout Garō Densetsu Special	SNK	Fighting	Densha de Go!	Taito	Dedicated	2614
8	Virtual On: Cyber Troopers	Sega	Shooter	Time Crisis	Namco	Dedicated	2459
9	The King of Fighters '97	SNK	Fighting	Gallop Racer	Tecmo	PCB	2420
10	DoDonPachi	Atlus	Bullet hell	Rave Racer	Namco	Dedicated	2399

Best-selling video game consoles

Rank	Manufacturer	Game console	Type	Generation	Sales
					Japan	United States	Worldwide
1	Sony	PS1	Home	32-bit	5,050,000+ [25]	6,750,000+ [25]	17,200,000+ [25]
2	Nintendo	GB	Handheld	8-bit	4,220,000 [26]	Unknown	10,370,000 [26]
3	Nintendo	N64	Home	64-bit	1,110,000 [26]	4,488,000 [27]	9,420,000 [26]
4	Nintendo	SNES	Home	16-bit	190,000 [26]	593,000 [27]	2,040,000 [26]
5	Sega	SAT	Home	32-bit	800,000 [28]	249,000 [27]	1,800,000 [29] [30]
6	Sega	GEN	Home	16-bit	Unknown	478,000 [27]	478,000+
7	Nintendo	NES	Home	8-bit	30,000 [26]	81,000 [27]	111,000
8	NEC	PCFX	Home	32-bit	30,000 [28]	—	30,000

Best-selling home video games

Final Fantasy VII was the best-selling home video game worldwide in 1997. ^[31] It sold more than 6 million copies worldwide by 1998, becoming the best-selling PlayStation game up until then. ^[32]

The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) of 1997 in Japan and the United States.

Rank	Title	Platform	Sales
			Japan	United States [33] [34]	Combined
1	Final Fantasy VII	PS1	3,447,500+ [35]	1,500,000+ [34]	4,947,500+
2	Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue	GB	3,995,988 [36]	—	3,995,988
3	Mario Kart 64	N64	731,385 [36]	1,500,000+	2,231,385+
4	Star Fox 64	N64	373,479 [37]	1,500,000+	1,873,479+
5	Super Mario 64	N64	361,302 [37]	1,500,000+	1,861,302+
6	Diddy Kong Racing	N64	217,259 [38]	1,500,000+	1,717,259+
7	Derby Stallion	PS1	1,581,138 [37]	—	1,581,138
8	Minna no Golf (Everybody's Golf)	PS1	1,327,000 [39]	—	1,327,000
9	Final Fantasy Tactics	PS1	1,239,000 [39]	—	1,239,000
10	SaGa Frontier	PS1	1,057,263 [37]	—	1,057,263

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1997. ^{[40] [41] [42]}

Rank	Title	Platform	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Sales [33] [34]
1	Mario Kart 64	N64	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Racing (kart)	1,500,000+
2	Star Fox 64	N64	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Rail shooter	1,500,000+
3	Super Mario 64	N64	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Platformer	1,500,000+
4	Diddy Kong Racing	N64	Rare	Rare	Racing (kart)	1,500,000+
5	GoldenEye 007	N64	Rare	Nintendo	FPS	1,500,000+
6	Final Fantasy VII	PS1	Squaresoft	Sony	RPG	1,500,000+ [34]
7	NFL GameDay 98	PS1	Sony Interactive	Sony	Sports (football)	Unknown
8	Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire	N64	LucasArts	Nintendo	Action	Unknown
9	Madden NFL 98	PS1	Tiburon Entertainment	EA Sports	Sports (football)	Unknown
10	Crash Bandicoot	PS1	Naughty Dog	Sony	Platformer	Unknown

Japan

In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1997.

Rank	Title	Platform	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Sales	Ref
1	Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue	GB	Game Freak	Nintendo	RPG	3,995,988	[36]
2	Final Fantasy VII	PS1	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	RPG	3,447,500+	[35]
3	Derby Stallion	PS1	ASCII	ASCII	Simulation	1,581,138	[37]
4	Minna no Golf (Everybody's Golf)	PS1	Camelot Software Planning	Sony	Sports (golf)	1,327,000	[39]
5	Final Fantasy Tactics	PS1	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	Tactical RPG	1,239,000
6	SaGa Frontier	PS1	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	RPG	1,057,263	[37]
7	Gran Turismo	PS1	Polys Entertainment	Sony	Racing (sim)	905,000	[39]
8	Game de Hakken!! Tamagotchi	GB	Tom Create	Bandai	Virtual pet	808,000
9	Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon	PS1	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	Roguelike	801,000
10	PaRappa the Rapper	PS1	NanaOn-Sha	Sony	Rhythm	761,621	[36]

Europe

In Europe, the following titles were the top-selling home video games of each month in 1997.

Month(s)	United Kingdom	Platform	France	Platform
January	Die Hard Trilogy [43]	PS1	Unknown	Unknown
February	Cool Boarders [44]	PS1
March	Super Mario 64 [45]	N64
April	Wave Race 64 [46]	N64
	Micro Machines V3 [47]	PS1
May	Soul Blade [48]	PS1
June	Mario Kart 64 [49]	N64
July	International Superstar Soccer 64 [50]	N64
August	V-Rally [51] [52]	PS1
September
October	Formula 1 97 [53]	PS1
	Lylat Wars [54]	N64
November	Final Fantasy VII [55]	PS1
December	FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 [56]	PS1, WIN / DOS
1997			Tomb Raider 2 [57]

Events

• March 6 - Sega opens Sega World Sydney in Australia. It is the second Sega World park to open outside of Japan, with the first opening as part of the London Trocadero the previous year.
• June 19–21 – The 3rd annual E3 is held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. ^[58]
• October:
  • Video game retailer FuncoLand opens its first Greater Cincinnati locations. ^[59]
  • 4 – Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) dies after a double car accident.
• November – Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) launched.
• December 16 – A scene from the Pokémon anime (based upon the highly successful games) causes 685 Japanese children to have seizures. Nintendo makes a statement proclaiming the safety of the Pokémon games from fear that the games would cause a similar effect, the episode to be permanently removed from circulation, and the featured Pokémon in the episode (Porygon) has not made an appearance in the Pokémon anime since.
• TSR, Inc., the owner of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game, was acquired by Wizards of the Coast.
• 3D Realms begins production of Duke Nukem Forever , winner of numerous vaporware awards.
• The gaming portal Cool Math Games went online for the first time.
• Sony releases PlayStation development software for IBM compatible PCs

Business

• Activision acquires CentreSoft Ltd. and Raven Software
• Electronic Arts Inc. acquires Maxis
• GameTek filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed its doors in July 1998
• 2015, Inc. founded
• 4D Rulers Software, Inc. founded
• September – 4HEAD Studios created
• Bungie West formed by Bungie
• Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation founded
• Crave Entertainment, Inc. formed
• August – Human Head Studios, Inc. formed
• Illusion Softworks, a.s. founded
• April 15 – Irem Software Engineering Inc. founded
• Irrational Games LLC founded
• Mythic Entertainment renames itself from Interworld Productions after name dispute with another "Interworld" company
• THQ renamed from Toy Headquarters, Inc.
• Warthog PLC founded

Lawsuits

• Nintendo vs Games City: Nintendo sues Games City for selling the Game Doctor and Doctor V64 backup devices for the SNES and N64 consoles. Nintendo wins the suit.
• Nintendo vs Prima Publishing: Nintendo sues Prima over copyrights to maps of the N64 video game GoldenEye 007 . Nintendo loses the suit.
• Nintendo vs Sony Video Games: Nintendo sues Sony over copyrights about Mario games.

Notable releases in 1997

Release Date	Title	Platform	Ref
January 3	Diablo	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
January 14	Tengai Makyō: Daiyon no Mokushiroku	SAT	[ citation needed ]
January 31	Final Fantasy VII	PS1	[ citation needed ]
February 5	DoDonPachi	SAT, Arcade	[ citation needed ]
February 10	Mario Kart 64	N64	[ citation needed ]
February 27	The Lost Vikings 2	WIN / DOS, SNES, PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
February 28	Blast Corps	N64	[ citation needed ]
February 28	Independence Day	WIN / DOS, PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
February 28	Mega Man 8	PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
February 28	Turok: Dinosaur Hunter	WIN / DOS, N64	[ citation needed ]
February 28	Interstate '76	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
March 20	Castlevania: Symphony of the Night	PS1	[ citation needed ]
March 20	Tekken 3	Arcade	[ citation needed ]
March 24	Realms of the Haunting (NA)	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
March 26	Vandal Hearts	PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
March 30	The Last Express	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
March 31	Need for Speed II	WIN / DOS, PS1	[ citation needed ]
April 7	Outlaws	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
April 7	Redneck Rampage	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
April 30	Fighters Megamix	SAT	[ citation needed ]
April 30	Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
May 21	Blood	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
May 31	MDK	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
June 10	Ecstatica II	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
June 17	Harvest Moon	SNES	[ citation needed ]
June 20	Sonic Jam	SAT	[ citation needed ]
June 20	Final Fantasy Tactics	PS1	[ citation needed ]
June 26	Dungeon Keeper	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
June 30	Star Fox 64	N64	[ citation needed ]
July 4	Jane's 688(I) Hunter/Killer	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
July 28	The King of Fighters '97	NEO, NEOCD, Arcade	[ citation needed ]
July 30	Carmageddon	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
July 31	Herc's Adventures	PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
July 31	Warlords III: Reign of Heroes	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
August 1	Mega Man X4	PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
August 11	Tetrisphere	N64	[ citation needed ]
August 25	GoldenEye 007	N64	[ citation needed ]
August 25	Shadow Warrior	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
August 26	Madden NFL 98	WIN / DOS, PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
August 31	Imperialism	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 9	Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 10	Silhouette Mirage	SAT	[ citation needed ]
September 11	Breath of Fire III	PS1	[ citation needed ]
September 11	Hexen II	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 17	Resident Evil	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 18	Street Fighter Collection	SAT, PS1	[ citation needed ]
September 19	Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee	WIN / DOS, PS1	[ citation needed ]
September 24	Ultima Online	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 24	Postal	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 26	Bomberman 64	N64	[ citation needed ]
September 26	LEGO Island	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 29	Croc: Legend of the Gobbos	WIN / DOS, PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
September 30	Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 30	Fallout	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 30	Panzer General II	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
September 30	Poy Poy	PS1	[ citation needed ]
September 30	Total Annihilation	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
October	Combat Chess	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
October 9	Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
October 15	Age of Empires	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
October 15	Mortal Kombat 4	N64, Arcade	[ citation needed ]
October 23	Steep Slope Sliders	SAT	[ citation needed ]
October 28	Shipwreckers	WIN / DOS, PS1	[ citation needed ]
October 29	Riven	WIN / DOS, SAT, PS1	[ citation needed ]
October 30	Culdcept	SAT	[ citation needed ]
October 31	The Curse of Monkey Island	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
October 31	Zork: Grand Inquisitor	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
November	Independence War	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
November 1	Shock Troopers	NEO, Arcade	[ citation needed ]
November 4	Colony Wars	PS1	[ citation needed ]
November 6	Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back	PS1	[60]
November 14	Blade Runner	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
November 17	Sonic R	SAT	[ citation needed ]
November 18	Tomb Raider II	WIN / DOS, PS1	[ citation needed ]
November 21	Diddy Kong Racing	N64	[ citation needed ]
November 21	Worms 2	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
November 25	Myth: The Fallen Lords	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
November 27	Kirby's Dream Land 3	SNES	[ citation needed ]
November 27	Grand Theft Auto	WIN / DOS, PS1	[ citation needed ]
November 30	FIFA: Road to World Cup 98	WIN / DOS, N64, PS1, SAT	[ citation needed ]
November 30	One	PS1	[ citation needed ]
November 30	Wing Commander: Prophecy	WIN / DOS	[ citation needed ]
November 30	WCW vs. nWo: World Tour	N64	[ citation needed ]
December	Puzzle Bobble 4	Arcade	[ citation needed ]
December 6	Quake II	WIN / DOS, PS1	[ citation needed ]
December 11	Klonoa: Door to Phantomile	PS1	[ citation needed ]
December 18	Grandia	SAT	[ citation needed ]
December 18	Mega Man Legends	PS1	[ citation needed ]
December 21	Yoshi's Story	N64	[ citation needed ]
December 23	Gran Turismo	PS1	[ citation needed ]
December 31	Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero	N64	[ citation needed ]
Unknown	7 Wonders	WIN	[ citation needed ]

See also

• 1997 in games

References

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