1991 in video games

List of years in video games
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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.

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
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)
European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) Sega Mega Drive
Golden Joystick Awards
Chicago Tribune Splatterhouse Namco NEC Beat 'em up TurboGrafx-16
Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo Platformer NES
European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) Lemmings DMA Design Psygnosis Strategy Home computers
Famitsu Best Hit Game Awards Final Fantasy IV Squaresoft Squaresoft Role-playing Super Famicom
Gamest Awards Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Capcom Capcom Fighting Arcade (CP System)

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.

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. 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
United Kingdom Street Fighter II: The World Warrior 10,000 $229 million+ $490 million+ Capcom Fighting
United States Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Un­known Un­known Capcom Fighting
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Un­known Un­known Konami Beat 'em up
Australia Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Un­known Un­known Capcom Fighting
Worldwide Street Fighter II: The World Warrior 50,000 Capcom Fighting

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 Game Machine
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 AMOA 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
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 Un­known Un­known
February Escape Kids Street Fighter II Cisco Heat Hard Drivin' Big Run
March Street Fighter II Hard Drivin' Big Run F-15 Strike Eagle
April Street Fighter II Gun Force F-15 Strike Eagle
May Street Fighter II F-15 Strike Eagle Hard Drivin'
June Hard Drivin'
July Street Fighter II Mutant Fighter
August Mutant Fighter D. D. Crew Hard Drivin' Time Traveler
September WWF WrestleFest Street Fighter II Time Traveler Hard Drivin'
October Street Fighter II Vendetta Hard Drivin' Race Drivin' Final Lap 2 Spider-Man
1991 Street Fighter II

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 4,000,000 1,400,000 Un­known 7,340,000+
2 Super NES Nintendo Console 16-bit 3,150,000 1,900,000+ 5,050,000+
3 NES / Famicom Nintendo Console 8-bit 1,240,000 2,100,000 500,000+ 100,000 3,940,000+
4 Mega Drive / Genesis Sega Console 16-bit 700,000 1,600,000+ 815,000 51,000 3,166,000+
5 IBM PC IBM Computer 16-bit 2,910,000
6 Macintosh Apple Inc. Computer 16-bit 2,100,000
7 Master System Sega Console 8-bit Un­known < 50,000 1,745,000 160,000 1,905,000+
8 NEC PC-88 / PC-98 NEC Computer 8-bit / 16-bit 1,720,000 Un­known Un­known Un­known 1,720,000+
9 Game Gear Sega Handheld 8-bit 400,000 600,000+ 520,000 Un­known 1,520,000+
10 Amiga Commodore Computer 16-bit 1,035,000

Best-selling home video games

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

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.

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
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
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

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)
February Super Mario World (Super Famicom)
March
April Ultraman (Super Famicom) Super Mario World (Super Famicom)
May Super Mario World (Super Famicom) SimCity (Super Famicom)
June SimCity (Super Famicom) Magical Taruruto (Game Boy)
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)
September Final Fantasy IV (Super Famicom) Chibi Maruko-chan 2 (GB) Mario Open Golf (Famicom)
October Chō Makaimura (Super Famicom)
November Chō Makaimura (Super Famicom) Akumajō Dracula (SFC) Super Mario World (SFC) Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce (SFC)
December Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce (SFC) Mega Man 4 (FC) SaGa 3 (Game Boy)

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
February Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Amiga)
March Lemmings (Amiga) Gynoug Parasol Stars
April Magicland Dizzy (ZX Spectrum) Midnight Resistance
May
June Sonic the Hedgehog Legend of Hero Tonma
July Bubble Bobble (ZX Spectrum)
August Manchester United Europe
September Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker Streets of Rage PC Kid 2
October Terminator 2: Judgment Day Mercs Hit the Ice
November Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 QuackShot Time Cruise II
December WWF WrestleMania RoboCod Gradius

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+
2 Super Mario World Super Nintendo Entertainment System Un­known
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)
June Un­known Un­known
August Sonic the Hedgehog Sega Genesis Un­known Un­known Un­known Un­known
September Un­known Tetris (NES) Super Mario World (Super NES) Un­known
October Super Mario World (Super NES)
November Un­known
December Super Mario World (Super NES)

Events

Notable releases

Hardware

Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in North América

Business

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-01-07 14:45 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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