1992 in video games

1992 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Art of Fighting, Super Mario Kart, and Mortal Kombat.

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Financial performance

Highest-selling console and handheld titles according to Babbage's

Babbage's, an American video game retailer, released an Electronic Gaming Monthly-exclusive monthly list of the chain's highest-selling console and handheld titles.[1][2][3][4][5]

Highest-selling NES titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Tecmo Super Bowl	Tecmo	Sports (American football)	5	#1
Super Mario Bros. 3	Nintendo	Platform	5	#3
Tetris	Nintendo	Puzzle	5	#4
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project	Konami	Beat 'em up	5	#3
Super Mario Bros. 2	Nintendo	Platform	4	#4
Yoshi	Nintendo	Puzzle	3	#1
Dragon Quest III	Enix	Role-playing	3	#3
Monopoly	Parker Brothers	Strategy	3	#4
Dragon Quest IV	Enix	Role-playing	2	#2
Tecmo NBA Basketball	Tecmo	Sports (basketball)	1	#2

Highest-selling SNES titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Capcom	Fighting	5	#1
Mario Paint	Nintendo	Art tool	4	#2
Super Mario Kart	Nintendo	Kart racing	3	#2
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past	Nintendo	Action-adventure	3	#2
John Madden Football '93	Electronic Arts	Sports (American football)	2	#1
Super Play Action Football	Nintendo	Sports (American football)	2	#3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time	Konami	Beat 'em up	2	#1
NCAA Basketball	Nintendo	Sports (basketball)	1	#4
Contra III: The Alien Wars	Konami	Run and gun	2	#4
Soul Blazer	Enix	Action role-playing	2	#5

Highest-selling Sega Genesis titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing	Sega	Sports (boxing)	5	#1
Taz-Mania	Sega	Platform	5	#3
NFL Sports Talk Football '93	Sega	Sports (American football)	3	#2
NHLPA Hockey '93	Electronic Arts	Sports (ice hockey)	3	#1
Bulls vs Lakers and the NBA Playoffs	Electronic Arts	Sports (basketball)	3	#3
Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun	Sega	Role-playing	3	#4
John Madden Football '92	Electronic Arts	Sports (American football)	3	#6
John Madden Football '93	Electronic Arts	Sports (American football)	2	#1
Sports Talk Baseball	Sega	Sports (baseball)	2	#2
PGA Tour Golf	Electronic Arts	Sports (golf)	2	#5

Highest-selling TurboDuo titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Dungeons & Dragons: Order of the Griffon	Turbo Technologies	Tactical role-playing	3	#2
Cosmic Fantasy 2	Nippon Telenet	Role-playing	3	#1
Vigilante	Irem	Beat 'em up	3	#4
Falcon	Turbo Technologies	Air combat simulation	3	#4
Air Zonk	Hudson Soft	Shoot 'em up	2	#1
Exile	Telenet Japan	Action role-playing	2	#2
Hit the Ice	Taito	Sports (ice hockey)	1	#2
New Adventure Island	Hudson Soft	Platform	1	#3
Chase H.Q.	Taito	Racing	1	#3
Neutopia	Hudson Soft	Action-adventure	1	#5

Highest-selling Game Boy titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Super Mario Land	Nintendo	Platform	5	#1
Yoshi	Nintendo	Puzzle	5	#2
Kirby's Dream Land	Nintendo	Platform	4	#1
Dr. Mario	Nintendo	Puzzle	3	#5
NBA All-Star Challenge	LJN	Sports (basketball)	3	#3
Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly	Acclaim Entertainment	Platform	3	#4
The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Juggernauts	Acclaim Entertainment	Platform	3	#5
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins	Nintendo	Platform	2	#1
Play Action Football	Nintendo	Sports (American football)	2	#6
Tennis	Nintendo	Sports (tennis)	2	#6

Highest-selling Atari Lynx titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Batman Returns	Atari Corporation	Action	5	#1
Gauntlet: The Third Encounter	Atari Corporation	Dungeon crawler	4	#4
Rampart	Atari Corporation	Strategy	4	#2
NFL Football	Atari Corporation	Sports (American football)	3	#1
Baseball Heroes	Atari Corporation	Sports (baseball)	3	#2
Hockey	Atari Corporation	Sports (ice hockey)	3	#3
Shadow of the Beast	Atari Corporation	Platform	3	#3
Steel Talons	Atari Corporation	Action	3	#5
Warbirds	Atari Corporation	Air combat simulation	3	#8
World Class Fussball/Soccer	Atari Corporation	Sports (soccer)	2	#2

Highest-renting console titles according to Blockbuster Video

Blockbuster Video, an American chain of video rental shops, released a GamePro-exclusive monthly list of the chain's highest-renting console titles.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

Highest-renting NES titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project	Konami	Beat 'em up	8	#1
Tecmo Super Bowl	Tecmo	Sports (American football)	7	#1
Tiny Toon Adventures	Konami	Platform	6	#3
Yoshi	Nintendo	Puzzle	5	#1
Darkwing Duck	Capcom	Platform	5	#3
Mega Man 4	Capcom	Platform	4	#4
Terminator 2: Judgment Day	LJN	Action-adventure	4	#3
F-1 Hero MD	Coconuts Japan	Racing	4	#4
Capcom's Gold Medal Challenge '92	Capcom	Sports (Olympics)	4	#7
Contra Force	Konami	Run and gun	3	#2

Highest-renting Sega Genesis titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Bulls vs Lakers and the NBA Playoffs	Electronic Arts	Sports (basketball)	5	#1
Sports Talk Baseball	Sega	Sports (baseball)	5	#3
John Madden Football '92	Electronic Arts	Sports (American football)	4	#1
Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing	Sega	Sports (boxing)	4	#2
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants	Acclaim Entertainment	Platform	4	#2
Double Dragon	Accolade	Beat 'em up	4	#3
Splatterhouse 2	Namco	Beat 'em up	4	#4
NFL Sports Talk Football '93	Sega	Sports (American football)	4	#2
David Robinson's Supreme Court	Sega	Sports (basketball)	3	#1
Team USA Basketball	Electronic Arts	Sports (basketball)	3	#1

Highest-renting SNES titles of 1992

Title	Publisher	Genre(s)	# of charting months	Peak position
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Capcom	Fighting	5	#1
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past	Nintendo	Action-adventure	5	#1
Super Adventure Island	Hudson Soft	Platform	5	#3
Contra III: The Alien Wars	Konami	Run and gun	4	#1
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time	Konami	Beat 'em up	4	#2
Krusty's Super Fun House	Acclaim Entertainment	Puzzle	4	#4
The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare	Acclaim Entertainment	Platform	4	#6
NCAA Basketball	Nintendo	Sports (basketball)	3	#1
Super Play Action Football	Nintendo	Sports (American football)	3	#2
WWF Super WrestleMania	Acclaim Entertainment	Fighting	3	#4

Events

• Street Fighter II wins Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards and the last Electronic Gaming Awards.
• Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of America Inc.
• Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc.
• Sega v. Accolade
• Activision (as Mediagenic) files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• New companies: Wow Entertainment Inc. (Sega AM1), Humongous Entertainment

Hardware releases

• January 1 – Atari Corporation drops support for the Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 7800, and software for those systems.
• April 11 – European launch of the SNES.
• October – Sega releases the Model 1, Sega's first arcade system board supporting 3D polygon graphics.
• December – the Apple IIgs is discontinued, ending the Apple II series.
• Namco releases the System 22, an arcade system board that introduces 3D texture mapping and Gouraud shading.
• Philips releases the CD-i multimedia home console
• Super NES released in Europe and Australasia
• Sega releases the Mega CD as Sega CD (an add-on for the Genesis) in North America, almost a year after the equivalent Japanese launch
• JVC releases the Wondermega console in Japan, a combined Mega Drive and Mega CD.
• Turbo Technologies Incorporated (TTI) releases the TurboDuo, an updated version of the TurboGrafx-16 with built-in CD-ROM drive and Super System Card for Super CD-ROM² support.
• The Amiga 1200 computer is released. It's the final lower-cost Amiga model before Commodore's bankruptcy.
• Nintendo releases the Super Scope for the Super NES.

Game releases

Video game platforms

DOS MS-DOS GB Game Boy GG Game Gear Lynx Atari Lynx Neo Neo Geo NES Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom PCE TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine SMD Sega Genesis / Mega Drive SMS Sega Master System SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System / Super Famicom

January–March

Month	Day	Title	Platform(s)	Genre(s)	Source(s)
J A N U A R Y	N/A	The Addams Family	GB	Action	[18][19]
	N/A	The Addams Family	NES	Action	[19][20]
	N/A	Art Alive!	SMD	Edutainment	[19]
	N/A	Back to the Future Part III	SMD	Adventure	[19]
	N/A	Beetlejuice	GB	Action	[18]
	N/A	Big Nose the Caveman	NES	Action	[19]
	N/A	Bucky O'Hare	NES	Action	[20]
	N/A	Cowboy Kid	NES	Action	[19][20]
	N/A	Darkwing Duck	PCE	Action	[19]
	N/A	Die Hard	NES	Action	[19][20]
	N/A	Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop	Lynx	Action	[19]
	N/A	Heavy Nova	SMD	Action	[19]
	N/A	Hydra	Lynx	Action	[19]
	N/A	Lynx Casino	Lynx	Simulation	[19]
	N/A	Mario Lemieux Hockey	SMD	Sports	[19]
	N/A	Monster in My Pocket	NES	Action	[20]
	N/A	Nightshade	NES	Action	[20]
	N/A	Pinball Jam	Lynx	Simulation	[19]
	N/A	Pit-Fighter	Lynx	Action	[19]
	N/A	Prince of Persia	GB	Action	[18]
	N/A	Rampart	NES	Adventure	[19][20]
	N/A	Rings of Power	SMD	Role-playing	[19]
	N/A	Sword Master	NES	Action-adventure	[19][20]
	N/A	Trouble Shooter	SMD	Action	[19]
	N/A	Wheel of Fortune Featuring Vanna White	NES	Game show	[19][20]
	N/A	Winter Challenge	SMD	Sports	[19]
	11	Super Adventure Island	SNES	Action	[21]
	14	Super Fantasy Zone	SMD	Shoot 'em up	[22]
	25	Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Super Saiyan	SNES	Role-playing	[23]
	28	Romancing SaGa	SNES	Role-playing	[24]
	31	Football Frenzy	Arcade	Sports	[25]
		Soul Blazer	SNES	Role-playing	[26]
F E B R U A R Y	N/A	Adventure Island	GB	Action	[18][27]
	N/A	Alisia Dragoon	SMD	Action	[28]
	N/A	Asteroids	GB	Action	[18]
	N/A	Boggle Plus	GB	Puzzle	[18][27]
	N/A	California Games	SMD	Sports	[27]
	N/A	F-15 Strike Eagle	NES	Simulation	[20][27]
	N/A	Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters	NES	Action	[20][27]
	N/A	Hudson Hawk	NES	Action	[20]
	N/A	InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Berlitz German Translator	GB	Educational	[27]
	N/A	M.C. Kids	NES	Action	[20][27]
	N/A	Paperboy	SMD	Action	[27]
	N/A	Q*bert	GB	Puzzle	[18]
	N/A	Sesame Street: Countdown	NES	Edutainment	[20]
	N/A	Super Smash TV	SNES	Action	[27]
	N/A	Star Trek: 25th Anniversary	NES	Action	[20]
	N/A	Star Trek: 25th Anniversary	GB	Action	[18]
	N/A	Super Spy Hunter	NES	Action	[20][27]
	N/A	Tiny Toon Adventures: Babs' Big Break	GB	Action	[18]
	N/A	Xenon 2: Megablast	SMD	Shoot 'em up	[29]
	14	Soccer Brawl	Arcade	Sports	[25]
	21	Football Frenzy	Neo	Sports	[25]
	28	Contra III: The Alien Wars	SNES	Action	[30]
M A R C H	N/A	The Addams Family	SNES	Action	[31]
	N/A	Baseball Heroes	Lynx	Sports	[31]
	N/A	Desert Strike	SMD	Action	[31]
	N/A	Fisher-Price: Firehouse Rescue	NES	Edutainment	[20][31]
	N/A	G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor	NES	Action	[20][31]
	N/A	Ghoul School	NES	Action	[20][31]
	N/A	InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Berlitz German & Japanese Translator	GB	Educational	[31]
	N/A	Kid Chameleon	SMD	Action	[31]
	N/A	Missile Command	GB	Action	[18][31]
	N/A	PGA Tour Golf	SNES	Sports	[31]
	N/A	Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back	NES	Action	[20]
	N/A	The Terminator	SMD	Action	[31]
	N/A	Toki	Lynx	Action	[31]
	N/A	Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss	DOS	Role-playing	[32]
	N/A	Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?	SMD	Educational	[31]
	N/A	Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros: Visions of Power	NES	Action	[20]
	13	Soccer Brawl	Neo	Sports	[25]
	16	Mutation Nation	Arcade	Action	[25]
	20	Shining Force	SMD	Role-playing	[33]
	23	Last Resort	Arcade	Shoot 'em up	[25]
	27	Arcana	SNES	Role-playing	[34]
		Rival Turf!	SNES	Action	[35]

April–June

Month	Day	Title	Platform(s)	Genre(s)	Source(s)
A P R I L	N/A	Crystal Mines II	Lynx	Action	[36]
	N/A	Devilish: The Next Possession	SMD	Action	[36]
	N/A	Double Dragon	SMD	Beat 'em up	[36]
	N/A	Earnest Evans	SMD	Action	[36]
	N/A	George Foreman's KO Boxing	GG	Sports	[36]
	N/A	Hatris	NES	Puzzle	[20][36]
	N/A	Hook	NES	Action	[20][36]
	N/A	The Mutant Virus: Crisis in a Computer World	NES	Action	[20]
	N/A	Paperboy 2	NES	Action	[20][36]
	N/A	Paperboy 2	GB	Action	[18][36]
	N/A	Square Deal	GB	Simulation	[18]
	N/A	Super Skweek	Lynx	Action	[36]
	N/A	Toxic Crusaders	NES	Action	[20][36]
	N/A	Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds	NES	Role-playing	[20]
	5	Aerobiz	SNES	Simulation
	15	Baseball Stars 2	Arcade	Sports	[25]
	17	Mutation Nation	Neo	Action	[25]
	24	Last Resort	Neo	Shoot 'em up	[25]
	27	Kirby's Dream Land	GB	Action	[37]
	28	Baseball Stars 2	Neo	Sports	[25]
	30	Ninja Commando	Arcade	Shoot 'em up	[25]
M A Y	N/A	Ballistix	PCE	Sports	[38]
	N/A	NBA All-Star Challenge 2	GB	Sports	[18][38]
	N/A	Night Creatures	PCE	Action	[38]
	N/A	Rampart	Lynx	Action	[38]
	N/A	Roundball: 2 on 2 Challenge	NES	Sports	[20]
	N/A	Super Battletank	SNES	Simulation	[38]
	N/A	Turn and Burn: The F-14 Dogfight Simulator	GB	Action	[18]
	5	Wolfenstein 3D	DOS	First-person shooter	[39]
	25	King of the Monsters 2	Arcade	Fighting	[25]
	29	Ninja Commando	Neo	Shoot 'em up	[25]
J U N E	N/A	Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge	NES	Sports	[20]
	N/A	High Stakes Gambling	GB	Simulation	[18]
	N/A	Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis	DOS	Graphic adventure	[40]
	15	Andro Dunos	Arcade	Shoot 'em up	[25]
	19	King of the Monsters 2	Neo	Fighting	[25]

July–September

• July 29 – Ecco the Dolphin is released, the first in the series.
• August 27 – Nintendo releases Super Mario Kart, the first in the Mario Kart series, creating the mascot/go-kart subgenre of racing games.
• September 1 – Domark releases Championship Manager for the Amiga and Atari ST.
• September 24 – SNK releases Art of Fighting for the arcades.
• September – Enix releases Dragon Quest V in Japan.

October–December

• October – Sega releases Virtua Racing by Yu Suzuki and AM2 in the arcades, laying the foundations for subsequent 3D racing games and popularizing 3D polygon graphics among a wider audience.
• October – Dalek Attack, the final official game for the ZX Spectrum format.
• October – Gremlin Graphics releases Zool, a character-based platformer following in the footsteps of Mario and Sonic. It goes on to become the best selling Amiga game.
• October 8 – Midway Games releases the Mortal Kombat arcade game in North America, which features bloody "fatalities," digitized characters, and started a franchise of games and movies.
• October 15 – Sega releases the controversial Night Trap video game for the Sega CD console.
• October 21 – Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is released for the Game Boy. The first appearance of Wario.
• November – Accolade releases Star Control II.
• November – Konami releases console ports of Prince of Persia for the NES and SNES.
• November 21 – Sega publishes Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Game Gear). The game introduced Sonic's sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower and Sonic's Super Sonic transformation.
• Interplay publishes Alone in the Dark, widely considered the first survival horror game and one of the first games with fully 3D polygonal characters.
• Flashback is released by Delphine Software on the Amiga. The game is praised for its rotoscoped animation, giving movements fluidity unusual for the time. It is listed in the Guinness World Records as the best-selling French game of all time.
• December – Dune II is released by Westwood Studios, creating the template for the modern real-time strategy genre.
• December 4 – Mega Man 5 is released in Japan. On December 15, Mega Man 5 is released in the US.
• December 10 – Fatal Fury 2 is released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms.[41][42]

References

1. "EGM Top Ten" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. October 1992. pp. 44–45.
2. "EGM Top Ten" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. November 1992. pp. 40–41.
3. "EGM Top Ten" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. December 1992. p. 48.
4. "EGM Top Ten" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. January 1993. p. 46.
5. "EGM Top Ten" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. February 1993. p. 38.
6. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. February 1992. p. 132.
7. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. March 1992. p. 90.
8. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. April 1992. p. 92.
9. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. May 1992. p. 100.
10. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. June 1992. p. 109.
11. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. July 1992. p. 108.
12. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. August 1992. p. 109.
13. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. September 1992. p. 157.
14. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. October 1992. p. 156.
15. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. November 1992. p. 194.
16. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. December 1992. p. 232.
17. "ProNews Report" (PDF). GamePro. January 1993. p. 230.
18. "All Game Boy Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016.
19. "January 1992 Software Calendar" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. January 1992. pp. 32–33.
20. "All NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
21. "Hudson Game Navi: 高橋名人の大冒険島". Archived from the original on May 5, 2004. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
22. "スーパーファンタジーゾーン バーチャルコンソール". Retrieved September 16, 2020.
23. ラインナップ ドラゴンボール ゲームポータルサイト バンダイナムコエンターテインメント公式サイト. Bandai Namco Entertainment (in Japanese). Retrieved February 13, 2017.
24. ロマンシング サ・ガ. Square Enix (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 6, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
25. "Title Catalogue - NEOGEO MUSEUM". SNK Playmore. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
26. "ソウルブレイダー". Square Enix. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
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28. "GamePro #31 pg. 38". Sega Retro. February 1994. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
29. Rignall, Julian; Leadbetter, Richard (February 1992). "Mega Drive Review: Xenon II: Megablast". Mean Machines. pp. 48–50.
30. Tatsuya Saijyou; Yasufumi Sakuma (2019). Noboru Honda; Takeshi Matsumoto; Daisuke Yoshihara; Daisuke Kihara (eds.). The History of Contra. Konami. p. 14. (Digital book included with Contra Anniversary Collection)
31. "March 1992 Software Calendar" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. March 1992. pp. 34–35.
32. "An Interview With Looking Glass Technologies". Game Bytes. 1992. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
33. "シャイニング・フォース ～神々の遺産～". Sega. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
34. "カードマスター リムサリアの封印／ARCANA". HAL Laboratory. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
35. "ラッシング・ビート". Jaleco. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
36. "April 1992 Software Calendar" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. April 1992. pp. 34–35.
37. "星のカービィ". Nintendo. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
38. "May 1992 Software Calendar" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. May 1992. pp. 34–35.
39. Kushner, David (2004). Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture. Random House. pp. 113–117. ISBN 978-0-8129-7215-3.
40. "20th Anniversary". LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC. Archived from the original on June 23, 2006.
41. "餓狼伝説 〜新たなる闘い〜 まとめ [アーケード] / ファミ通.com". Famitsu.com. February 22, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
42. "The Arcade Flyer Archive - Video Game Flyers: Fatal Fury 2 - "The Sultans of Slugs" Battle Royale, SNK / SNK Playmore Corp". Flyers.arcade-museum.com. January 5, 2004. Retrieved March 11, 2016.