Overview of the events of 1990 in video games
1990 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake Dr. Mario Dragon Quest IV Final Fantasy III Phantasy Star II Super Mario World Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light Magic Sword arcade video games were Final Fight Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game Boy , while the year's best-selling home video game was Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo Entertainment System .
Highest-grossing arcade games [ edit ] In Japan , the following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade video games of 1990.
United Kingdom and Australia [ edit ] In the United Kingdom and Australia, the following titles were the top-grossing arcade video games of each month.
In the United States , the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1990.
The following were the top-grossing arcade video games on the monthly RePlay arcade charts in 1990.
In Hong Kong, these were the top-grossing arcade video games of each month on the Bondeal charts.
Best-selling home systems [ edit ]
Rank
System(s)
Manufacturer
Type
Generation
Sales
Japan
USA
Europe
Korea
Worldwide
1
Game Boy
Nintendo
Handheld
8-bit
3,100,000[ 35]
5,000,000[ 36]
Unknown
Unknown
10,000,000[ 37]
2
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo
Console
8-bit
1,360,000[ 35]
7,200,000[ 38]
< 655,000[ 39]
80,000[ 40]
8,640,000+
3
IBM PC
IBM
Computer
16-bit
—
—
—
—
2,840,000[ 41]
4
Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Sega
Console
16-bit
900,000[ 42]
1,000,000[ 36]
193,000[ 43]
43,000[ 40]
2,136,000+
5
PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
NEC
Console
16-bit
1,300,000[ 42]
450,000[ 44] [ 45]
Unknown
Unknown
1,750,000+
6
Macintosh
Apple Inc.
Computer
16-bit
—
—
—
—
1,300,000[ 46]
7
Master System
Sega
Console
8-bit
Unknown
300,000[ 47]
725,000[ 43]
180,000[ 40]
1,205,000+
8
NEC PC-88 / PC-98
NEC
Computer
8-bit / 16-bit
1,100,000[ 48]
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
1,100,000+
9
Amiga
Commodore
Computer
16-bit
—
—
—
—
750,000[ 46]
10
Commodore 64 (C64)
Commodore
Computer
8-bit
—
—
—
—
700,000[ 46]
Best-selling home video games [ edit ] In Japan, according to Famicom Tsūshin Famitsu ) magazine, the following titles were the top ten best-selling 1990 releases, including later sales up until 1992.[ 49]
The following titles were the best-selling home video games on the Japan game charts published by Famicom Tsūshin (Famitsu ) and Family Computer Magazine Famimaga ) in 1990.
In the United States, Super Mario Bros. 3 [ 61] [ 62]
In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the best-selling home video games of each month in 1990, for various home computer and game console platforms.
Critically acclaimed titles [ edit ] Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame[ edit ] The following video game releases in 1990 entered Famitsu Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.[ 100]
English-language publications [ edit ] Notable video game releases in 1990 that have accumulated overall critical acclaim from at least three contemporary English-language sources include:
Sega Game Gear Camerica releases Codemasters ' Game Genie adapter in Canada and the UK (In the US, it was released by Galoob ).NEC releases the TurboExpress handheld console.Nintendo releases the Super Famicom 16-bit console in Japan.SNK releases the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System (AES) home console.September 28 – Nintendo releases the Game Boy across Europe. It became a huge success and a wide phenomenon over the continent, particularly in Germany and the UK.
October 6 – Sega's Game Gear color handheld is released in Japan. It is launched in North America in 1991 and Europe and Australia in 1992.
November 30 – Sega 's Mega Drive released in Europe.
Amstrad halts production of the ZX Spectrum , ending that platform's 8-year dominance of the UK home computer market.Amstrad introduces its only console, the Amstrad GX4000 , which fails to garner interest and is discontinued the following year.Bonk's Adventure NEC 's TurboGrafx-16 and is the first US appearance of Bonk , the mascot of the TurboGrafx-16.Namco releases Kyuukai Douchuuki World Stadium '90 Final Lap 2 Pistol Daimyo no Bouken Berabow Man Souko Ban Deluxe Dragon Saber Rolling Thunder 2 Steel Gunner Golly! Ghost! February 12 – Nintendo releases the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3
April – Konami releases Snake's Revenge Metal Gear Hideo Kojima .
April – Williams releases Smash TV
April 20 – Nintendo releases Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light tactical role-playing genre.
June 1 – Origin releases Ultima VI: The False Prophet
July 12 – Nintendo of America publishes Final Fantasy Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. This game started Square 's popular and long-running Final Fantasy series
July 20 – Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake ' s last major game for the hardware.
July 27– Nintendo releases Dr. Mario
August – Pit Fighter
September – Broderbund releases a port of Prince of Persia for the MS-DOS computers.
September 26 – Origin releases the first Wing Commander
September 28 – Capcom releases Mega Man 3 Rush and Proto Man , Mega Man's slide is introduced, and Capcom's character cameos.
November 9 – Sierra On-Line releases King's Quest V
October 15 – LucasArts releases The Secret of Monkey Island
November 1 – Mega Man 3 is released in the US.
November 21 – Nintendo releases Super Mario World F-Zero launch titles for the Super Famicom . Super Mario World introduced Yoshi and F-Zero introduced Captain Falcon .
December 14 – Commander Keen shareware , the first major platformer on a PC .
Sega releases the G-LOC: Air Battle R-360 Sid Meier 's Railroad Tycoon MicroProse .Infogrames releases Alpha Waves 3D platform game .[ 161] Mindscape publishes Captive Konami releases Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Arcade Game, on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
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