1991 in video games

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.

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Top-rated games

Game of the Year awards

The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1991.

Awards	Game of the Year	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Platform(s)	Ref
Chicago Tribune	Sonic the Hedgehog	Sonic Team	Sega	Platformer	Sega Genesis	[1]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)						[2]
European Computer Trade Show (ECTS)					Sega Mega Drive	[3]
Golden Joystick Awards						[4]
Chicago Tribune	Splatterhouse	Namco	NEC	Beat 'em up	TurboGrafx-16	[1]
	Super Mario Bros. 3	Nintendo R&D4	Nintendo	Platformer	NES
European Computer Trade Show (ECTS)	Lemmings	DMA Design	Psygnosis	Strategy	Home computers	[3]
Famitsu Best Hit Game Awards	Final Fantasy IV	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	Role-playing	Super Famicom	[5]
Gamest Awards	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Capcom	Capcom	Fighting	Arcade (CP System)	[6]

Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame

The following video game releases in 1991 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.^[7]

Title	Platform	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Score (out of 40)
Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce (A Link to the Past)	Super Famicom	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Action-adventure	39
Final Fantasy IV	Super Famicom	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	Role-playing	36
Lemmings	Super Famicom	Sunsoft	Sunsoft	Strategy	35

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

The year's highest-grossing game worldwide was Street Fighter II, which alone accounted for an estimated 60% of the global arcade game market, according to Coinslot magazine.^[8] The following table lists the year's top-grossing arcade game in Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and worldwide.

Market	Title	Hardware sales	Coin drop earnings	Inflation	Manufacturer	Genre	Ref
Japan	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	17,000	Un­known	Un­known	Capcom	Fighting	[9][10]
United Kingdom	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	10,000	$229 million+	$530 million+	Capcom	Fighting	[8]
United States	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Un­known	Un­known		Capcom	Fighting	[11][12]
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Un­known	Un­known		Konami	Beat 'em up	[13]
Australia	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Un­known	Un­known		Capcom	Fighting	[14]
Worldwide	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	50,000			Capcom	Fighting	[8][10]

Japan

In Japan, the following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1991, according to the annual Gamest and Game Machine charts.

Rank	Gamest[9]	Game Machine[10]
		Title	Type
1	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Software conversion kit
2	Final Fight	Tetris (Sega)	Software conversion kit
3	Final Lap 2	Columns	Software conversion kit
4	Quiz Tonosama no Yabō	Final Lap 2	Standard cabinet
5	Raiden		Deluxe cabinet
6	Super Monaco GP	Super Volley '91 (Power Spikes)	Software conversion kit
7	Clutch Hitter	Quiz Tonosama no Yabō
8	GP Rider	Final Fight	Software conversion kit
9	Super Volley '91 (Power Spikes)	World Stadium '90	Software conversion kit
10	Dragon Saber	Columns II	Software conversion kit

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1991.

Rank	AAMA[11][12][15]		AMOA[16][17]		Play Meter
	Title	Award	Arcade conversion kit	Dedicated arcade cabinet
1	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Diamond	Street Fighter II	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[13]
2	The Simpsons, Neo Geo MVS	Platinum	Capcom Bowling, Final Fight, High Impact Football, Raiden	Hard Drivin', Neo Geo MVS, Pit Fighter, Race Drivin'	Un­known
3
4	High Impact Football	Gold
5	Final Lap 2	Silver

Hong Kong and Australia

In Hong Kong and Australia, the following titles were the top-grossing arcade games on the monthly charts in 1991.

Month	Hong Kong (Bondeal)						Australia (Timezone)
	Arcade conversion software kit		Dedicated arcade cabinet			Ref	Dedicated	Conversion	Ref
January	Super Pang		Big Run	Cisco Heat		[18][19]	Un­known	Un­known
February	Escape Kids	Street Fighter II	Cisco Heat	Hard Drivin'	Big Run	[19][20]
March	Street Fighter II		Hard Drivin'	Big Run	F-15 Strike Eagle	[20][21][22]
April	Street Fighter II	Gun Force	F-15 Strike Eagle			[22][23]
May	Street Fighter II		F-15 Strike Eagle		Hard Drivin'	[23][24]
June			Hard Drivin'			[24][25]
July	Street Fighter II	Mutant Fighter				[25][26]
August	Mutant Fighter	D. D. Crew	Hard Drivin'		Time Traveler	[26][27]
September	WWF WrestleFest	Street Fighter II	Time Traveler		Hard Drivin'	[27][28]
October	Street Fighter II	Vendetta	Hard Drivin'	Race Drivin'		[28]	Final Lap 2	Spider-Man	[29]
1991							Street Fighter II		[14]

Best-selling home systems

Rank	System(s)	Manufacturer	Type	Generation	Sales
					Japan	USA	Europe	Korea	Worldwide
1	Game Boy	Nintendo	Handheld	8-bit	1,940,000[30]	4,000,000[31]	1,400,000[32]	Un­known	7,340,000+
2	Super NES	Nintendo	Console	16-bit	3,150,000[30]	1,900,000+[33]	—	—	5,050,000+
3	NES / Famicom	Nintendo	Console	8-bit	1,240,000[30]	2,100,000[31]	500,000+[34]	100,000[35]	3,940,000+
4	Mega Drive / Genesis	Sega	Console	16-bit	700,000[30]	1,600,000+[36]	815,000[37]	51,000[35]	3,166,000+
5	IBM PC	IBM	Computer	16-bit	—	—	—	—	2,910,000[38]
6	Macintosh	Apple Inc.	Computer	16-bit	—	—	—	—	2,100,000[39]
7	Master System	Sega	Console	8-bit	Un­known	< 50,000[40]	1,745,000[37]	160,000[35]	1,905,000+
8	NEC PC-88 / PC-98	NEC	Computer	8-bit / 16-bit	1,720,000[41][42]	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	1,720,000+
9	Game Gear	Sega	Handheld	8-bit	400,000[30]	600,000+[43]	520,000[37]	Un­known	1,520,000+
10	Amiga	Commodore	Computer	16-bit	—	—	—	—	1,035,000[39]

Best-selling home video games

Sonic the Hedgehog was the best-selling home video game of 1991,^[44] with 2 million copies sold worldwide during the year.^[45]

Japan

In Japan, according to Famicom Tsūshin (Famitsu) magazine, the following titles were the top ten best-selling 1991 releases, including later sales in 1992.^[46]

Rank	Title	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Platform	Sales
1	Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce (A Link to the Past)	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Action-adventure	Super Famicom	< 1,160,000[47]
2	Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy II)	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	Role-playing	Super Famicom	Un­known
3	Yoshi	Game Freak	Nintendo	Puzzle	Famicom	Un­known
4					Game Boy
5	Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki (Mystical Ninja)	Konami	Konami	Action-adventure	Super Famicom	Un­known
6	SaGa 3: Jikū no Hasha (Final Fantasy Legend III)	Squaresoft	Squaresoft	Role-playing	Game Boy	< 650,000[48]
7	Chō Makaimura (Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts)	Capcom	Capcom	Action-platformer	Super Famicom	Un­known
8	SimCity	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	City-building
9	Super Wagan Land	Namco		Platformer
10	Super Formation Soccer (Super Soccer)	Human Entertainment		Sports (football)	Super Famicom	< 600,000[49]

The following titles were the best-selling home video games on the Famitsu charts in 1991. The charts were bi-weekly up until July 1991, when they switched to a weekly format.

Month	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Ref
January	Un­known		Super Mario World (Super Famicom)		[50]
February	Super Mario World (Super Famicom)
March					[50][51]
April	Ultraman (Super Famicom)		Super Mario World (Super Famicom)
May	Super Mario World (Super Famicom)		SimCity (Super Famicom)		[50][51][52]
June	SimCity (Super Famicom)		Magical Taruruto (Game Boy)		[50]
July	SimCity (Super Famicom)	Super R-Type (SFC)	Final Fantasy IV (Super Famicom)
August	Un­known	Un­known	Final Fantasy IV (SFC)	Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza (FC)	[50][53]
September	Final Fantasy IV (Super Famicom)		Chibi Maruko-chan 2 (GB)	Mario Open Golf (Famicom)	[53][54][55]
October	Chō Makaimura (Super Famicom)				[55][56][57]
November	Chō Makaimura (Super Famicom)	Akumajō Dracula (SFC)	Super Mario World (SFC)	Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce (SFC)	[50][58]
December	Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce (SFC)[58]	Mega Man 4 (FC)	SaGa 3 (Game Boy)		[50][59][60]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the best-selling home video games on the monthly Computer and Video Games (CVG) charts in 1991.

Month	Home computers	Sega Mega Drive	PC Engine	Ref
January	Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (C64)	Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse	Out Run	[61]
February	Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Amiga)			[62]
March	Lemmings (Amiga)	Gynoug	Parasol Stars	[63]
April	Magicland Dizzy (ZX Spectrum)	Midnight Resistance		[64]
May				[65]
June		Sonic the Hedgehog	Legend of Hero Tonma	[66]
July	Bubble Bobble (ZX Spectrum)		—	[67]
August	Manchester United Europe	—	—	[68]
September	Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker	Streets of Rage	PC Kid 2	[69]
October	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	Mercs	Hit the Ice	[70]
November	Lotus Turbo Challenge 2	QuackShot	Time Cruise II	[71]
December	WWF WrestleMania	RoboCod	Gradius	[72][73]

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the top three best-selling home video game releases of 1991.

Rank	Title	Platform	Sales	Ref
1	Sonic the Hedgehog	Sega Genesis	1,000,000+	[44]
2	Super Mario World	Super Nintendo Entertainment System	Un­known	[74]
3	F-Zero

The following titles were the best-selling home video games of each month in 1991.

Month	All platforms			Nintendo consoles
	Title	Platform	Ref	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Ref
May	Un­known	Un­known		Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)				[75]
June	Un­known	Un­known						[76][77]
August	Sonic the Hedgehog	Sega Genesis	[78]	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
September				Un­known	Tetris (NES)	Super Mario World (Super NES)	Un­known	[79]
October				Super Mario World (Super NES)[80][81][82]
November				Un­known
December			[44]	Super Mario World (Super NES)[83][84][85]

Events

Notable releases

• January - The first two THQ releases came out in stores.
• February 14 – DMA Design releases Lemmings, a puzzle game that requires the player to lead a group of anthropomorphic lemmings through a dangerous environment to an escape portal.
• March – AOL, SSI, TSR and Stormfront Studios collaborate and launch Neverwinter Nights, credited as the first graphical MMORPG.
• March 7 – Capcom releases Street Fighter II for arcades.^[86][87] It becomes highly successful and is routinely listed as the grandfather of the fighting game genre. It is also credited with revitalizing the arcade game industry at the time,^[88] and popularizing direct tournament-level competition between players.^[89]
• May 6 – Sierra On-Line releases The Sierra Network, which is also credited as the first graphical MMORPG (due to its inclusion of The Shadow of Yserbius), TSN would later become its more memorable name, ImagiNation Network, after a total buyout from AT&T in 1994.
• June 23 – Sega releases Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis which later becomes the pack-in game and defining title for the console. It introduces the eponymous character, who would go on to be Sega's mascot. Sega also releases a version of the game for the Master System and Game Gear.
• July 19 – Square releases Final Fantasy IV in Japan, the first Final Fantasy game for the Super Famicom (released in November as Final Fantasy II in North America).
• August 13 – Intelligent Systems releases SimCity for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
• August 23 – Nintendo releases Super Mario World and F-Zero along with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. Super Mario World was the original pack-in game for the SNES. The game introduces the Yoshi character to the Mario series.
• September – Namco releases Starblade for arcades, featuring one of the earliest instances of real-time 3D graphics in video games.
• September – Electronic Arts releases motorcycle racing combat game Road Rash for Sega Genesis, starting the series.
• October 14 - Nintendo releases Mario The Juggler, the final Game & Watch title.
• November – Nintendo releases Metroid II: Return of Samus for the Game Boy in North America.
• November – Delphine Software releases cinematic action-adventure game Another World for the Amiga, which uses polygons instead of sprites.
• November 21 – Nintendo releases The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Famicom in Japan.
• November 25 – SNK releases Fatal Fury: King of Fighters for the Neo Geo.
• December 1 – LucasArts releases Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge for Amiga, MS-DOS, Macintosh, and FM Towns.
• December 4 – Konami releases Super Castlevania IV for SNES in North America.
• December 6 – Mega Man 4 is released in Japan.
• December 13 – Tecmo releases Tecmo Super Bowl for NES, the follow-up to 1989's Tecmo Bowl.
• December 16 – MicroProse releases Civilization. As of 2005, it is still Sid Meier's most successful game.
• Team17 release Alien Breed, the first of the series, for the Amiga.

Hardware

Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in North América

• July – Atari updates their Lynx handheld system with a smaller form-factor, better screen, and longer battery life.
• August 23 – Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in North America.
• December 1 – Sega releases the Mega-CD in Japan.
• September – S3 launches with the 86C911, often regarded as the first significant graphics accelerator chip for the Microsoft Windows platform.

Business

• New companies: Vicarious Visions, Inc, id Software, Bungie, Silicon & Synapse (now known as Blizzard Entertainment), The 3DO Company (founded as SMSG, Inc.), Cyberdreams
• In August, Game Informer (a monthly video game magazine) is released for the first time.

See also

• 1991 in games