1987 in video games explained

1987 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as , Dragon Quest II, Final Lap, and Zelda II, along with new titles such as After Burner, Contra, Double Dragon, Final Fantasy, Mega Man, Metal Gear, Operation Wolf, Phantasy Star, Shinobi, Street Fighter and The Last Ninja. The Legend of Zelda was also introduced outside of Japan.

The year's highest-grossing arcade game worldwide was Sega's Out Run. The year's bestselling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the fourth year in a row. The best-selling 1987 home video game release in Japan was , while the year's best-selling home video games in Western markets were The Legend of Zelda in the United States and Out Run in the United Kingdom.

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

The year's highest-grossing arcade game worldwide was Sega's Out Run.

Japan

The following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1987 in Japan, according to the annual Gamest and Game Machine charts.

Rank	Gamest^[1]			Game Machine^[2]
	Title	Cabinet	Points	Title	Cabinet	Points
1	Out Run	Large	33	Out Run	Deluxe	3734
2	R-Type	Table	26	Arkanoid	Table	3118
3	After Burner	Large	20	Hi Sho Zame (Flying Shark)	Table	2434
4		Table	12	Major League	Table	2285
5	Double Dragon	Table	10	World Cup (Tehkan World Cup)	Table	2210
6	Darius	Large	8	Bubble Bobble	Table	2041
7	Dragon Spirit	Table	7	Super Hang-On	Ride-on	1901
8	Hi Sho Zame (Flying Shark) Yokai Dochuki	Table	5	Double Dragon	Table	1890
9		Table	5		Table	1778
10	Super Hang-On	Large	4	Side Pocket	Table	1744

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Out Run was the most successful arcade game of the year.^{[3] [4]} The following titles were the top-grossing games on the monthly arcade charts in 1987.

Month	Title	Manufacturer	Genre
February	Out Run	Sega	Racing	^[5] ^[6]
March
April	Bubble Bobble	Taito	Platformer	^[7]
May
June
July	Double Dragon	Taito	Beat 'em up	^[8]
August				^[9]
September	After Burner	Sega	Combat flight sim	^[10]
October	Operation Wolf	Taito	Light gun shooter	^[11]
November	1942	Capcom	Scrolling shooter	^[12]
December	Operation Wolf	Taito	Light gun shooter	^[13]
1987	Out Run	Sega	Racing

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1987.

Rank	Play Meter	AMOA^[14] ^[15]
		Dedicated cabinet	Conversion kit
1	Out Run^[16]	Out Run	Arkanoid
2	Contra, Double Dragon, Rolling Thunder	Ikari Warriors, Rastan, Top Gunner, World Series
3
4
5

The following titles were the top-grossing games on the monthly RePlay arcade charts in 1987.

Month	Upright cabinet	Software kit
January	Out Run	Gauntlet II	^[17]
February		Championship Sprint	^[18]

Best-selling home systems

Rank	System(s)	Manufacturer	Type	Generation	Sales
					Japan	USA	EU	Worldwide
1	Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom	Nintendo	Console	8-bit	1,780,000^[19]	3,000,000	300,000^[20]	5,080,000+
2	Commodore 64 (C64)	Commodore	Computer	8-bit				1,500,000^[21]
3	Sega Mark III / Master System	Sega	Console	8-bit	280,000^[22]	500,000	155,000	935,000
4	IBM PS/2 (Model 30 / 50)	IBM	Computer	16-bit				^[23]
5	PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16)	NEC	Console	16-bit	600,000			600,000
6	Apple Macintosh	Apple Inc.	Computer	16-bit				550,000
7	NEC PC-88 / PC-98	NEC	Computer	8-bit / 16-bit	,000^[24] ^[25]			540,000+
8	Apple II	Apple Inc.	Computer	8-bit				500,000
9	Atari ST	Atari Corp.	Computer	16-bit				400,000
10	MSX	ASCII Corp.	Computer	8-bit	,000^[26]			340,000+

Best-selling home video games

Japan

In Japan, according to Famicom Tsūshin (Famitsu) magazine, the following titles were the top ten best-selling 1987 releases, including later sales up until mid-1989.^[27]

Rank	Title	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Platform	Sales
1		Chunsoft	Enix	RPG	Famicom	2,400,000^[28]
2	Pro Yakyū: Family Stadium '87	Namco	Namco	Sports	Famicom	< 1,300,000^[29]
3	Moero!! Pro Yakyū (Bases Loaded)	TOSE	Jaleco	Sports	Famicom	< 1,000,000^[30]
4	Zelda 2: Link no Bōken (The Adventure of Link)	Nintendo R&D4	Nintendo	Action RPG	Famicom Disk System
5		Nintendo R&D2	Nintendo	Sports	Famicom	< 740,000
6		Bandai	Bandai	Action RPG	Famicom	rowspan="5"
7	Momotarō Densetsu (Momotarō Legend)	Hudson Soft	Hudson Soft	RPG
8	Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School	Squaresoft	Nintendo	Dating sim	Famicom Disk System
9	Sanma no Meitantei (Great Detective Sanma)	Namco	Namco	Adventure	Famicom
10		Nintendo R&D4	Nintendo	Adventure	Famicom Disk System

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 1987.

Chart	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
	(Famicom)^[31]		Zelda 2: Link no Bōken (Famicom Disk System)		^[32]
	Dragon Quest II (Famicom)		Family Computer Golf: Japan Course (FC)		^[33]
	Sanma no Meitantei (Famicom)		Argus no Senshi (Famicom)	Family Jockey (Famicom)	^[34] ^[35]
	Kinnikuman 2 (FDS)	(Famicom)		Yūshi no Monshō (FDS)	^[36]
	Bug-tte Honey (Famicom)	Family Boxing (Famicom)
			Saint Seiya: Ōgon Densetsu (Famicom)	Dracula II: Noroi no Fūin (FC)	^[37]
	Shin Onigashima (Famicom Disk System)
			Side Pocket (Famicom)	Momotaro Densetsu (FC)	^[38]
	(FDS)
	Pro Yakyū: Family Stadium '87 (Famicom)		Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School (Famicom Disk System)^[39]

United Kingdom and United States

In the United States, The Legend of Zelda was the best-selling home video game of 1987, becoming the first third-generation video game (non-bundled) to cross a million US sales that year,^[40] followed by Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!^[41] In the United Kingdom, Out Run was the best-selling home video game of 1987,^[42] with its 8-bit home computer ports becoming the fastest-selling games in the UK up until then.^[43]

The following titles were the top-selling home video games on the monthly charts in the United Kingdom and United States during 1987.

Month! colspan="3"

United Kingdom	United States
All formats	ZX Spectrum	Sales	Title	Platform	Sales
	Gauntlet^[44]	Olli & Lissa^[45]
		Leader Board^[46]
	Feud^[47] ^[48]
		BMX Simulator^[49]
		Milk Race
				The Legend of Zelda	NES		^[50]
		Exolon					^[51]
	Renegade^[52]	Renegade^[53]					^[54]
							^[55]
		Game Set and Match		Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!	NES		^[56]
	Out Run^[57] ^[58]		250,000+^[59]				^[60]
1987	Out Run		350,000^[61]	The Legend of Zelda	NES	1,000,000+	^[62]

Top-rated games

Major awards

Award	Gamest Awards (Japan, December 1987)^[63]	2nd Famitsu Best Hit Game Awards (Japan, February 1988)^[64]	2nd Famimaga Game Awards (Japan, February 1988)^[65]	5th Golden Joystick Awards (United Kingdom, March 1988)^[66]
	Arcade	Console	Famicom	Computer
Game of the Year	Darius	Dragon Quest II (Famicom)		Out Run
Critics' Choice Awards		Tsuppari Ōzumō (Famicom) Zombie Hunter (Famicom) Shin Onigashima (Famicom Disk System) Family Computer Golf (Famicom Disk System) Bubble Bobble (Famicom) (Famicom)
Best Game Design		Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School (FDS)
Best Playability			Dragon Quest II
Best Story		Dragon Quest II (Yuji Horii)
Best Graphics	After Burner	Faxanadu (Famicom)
Best 3D Game		Highway Star (Rad Racer)
Best Speech Synthesis	Genpei Tōma Den
Best Music / Sound	Darius	Momotaro Densetsu / Exciting Billiards	Dragon Quest II
Best Character / Character Design	Athena Asamiya (Psycho Soldier)	Momotaro Densetsu (Famicom)	Dragon Quest II
Best Developer / Software House	Sega			U.S. Gold
Best Programmer				Jon Ritman
Best Ports		Wizardry / Salamander
Best Original Game / Originality			Dragon Quest II	Nebulus
Most Popular Game / Long Seller	Out Run	(R.B.I. Baseball)
Arcade Game of the Year				Out Run
Best Action Game		(Famicom)	Zelda 2: Link no Bōken (FDS)
Best Shooter		Fantasy Zone (Famicom)	Salamander
Best Adventure Game		Hokkaidō Rensa Satsujin: Okhotsk ni Kiyu (FC)	Shin Onigashima (FDS)	The Guild of Thieves
Best RPG		Dragon Quest II (Famicom)	Dragon Quest II
Best Action RPG		Zelda 2: Link no Bōken (FDS)
Best Sports Game		Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! (Famicom)
Best Puzzle Game		Shanghai
Best Simulation / Strategy Game		SD Gundam World Gachapon Senshi (Famicom)		Vulcan
Best Leisure / Casual Games		Mezase Pachi Pro: Pachio-kun / Side Pocket
Best Board Game		Tetsudou Ou (Famicom)
Best Mahjong Game		Professional Mahjong Gokū

Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame

The following 1987 video game releases entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.^[67]

Title	Platform	Score (out of 40)	Developer	Publisher	Genre
(Dragon Warrior II)	Family Computer (Famicom)	38	Chunsoft	Enix	RPG
Zelda 2: Link no Bōken (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link)	Famicom Disk System	36	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Action RPG

Business

• New companies: Acclaim, Apogee, The Bitmap Brothers, Empire Interactive, GameTek, Maxis, Natsume Co., Ltd.
• Defunct: Electric Transit, English Software, Muse
• Electronic Arts acquires Batteries Included.
• Atari Games establishes the Tengen division for porting their games to home systems.
• Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Blockbuster Entertainment lawsuit: Nintendo sues Blockbuster for photocopying complete NES manuals for its rental games. Nintendo wins the suit, and Blockbuster includes original manuals with its rentals.
• SSI President Joel Billings acquires the license to the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game, setting the stage for the Gold Box line of D&D games.

Notable releases

Arcade

• February 20 – Konami releases Contra
• July 1 – Irem releases scrolling shooter R-Type.
• July – Technōs Japan releases Double Dragon to arcades, distributed internationally by Taito.
• August 30 – Capcom releases Street Fighter, the first game of the series.
• Taito releases Rastan and Operation Wolf.
• Namco releases Wonder Momo, which is their last 8-bit game, Yokai Dochuki, which is their first 16-bit game, Dragon Spirit, Blazer, Quester, Pac-Mania, Galaga '88 and Final Lap.
• Atari Games releases RoadBlasters, Xybots, and APB.

Home

• January 14 – Nintendo releases for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.
• February 12 – Infocom releases Bureaucracy from author Douglas Adams.
• May 1 – Konami releases Castlevania in North America.
• June 21 – Nihon Falcom releases for the PC-8801 in Japan only. The game's director is Masaya Hashimoto, and it is the first game in the long running Ys series.
• June – Codemasters release Dizzy – The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure
• July 1 – Nintendo releases Kid Icarus in North America.
• July 5 – the Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards adventure is released by Sierra Entertainment.
• July 13 – Konami releases Metal Gear for the MSX2 home computer platform in Japan and Europe.
• August 15 – Nintendo releases Metroid in North America.
• August 22 – Nintendo releases The Legend of Zelda in America and Europe, a year after being available in Japan.
• August 28 – Konami releases in Japan, the second Castlevania title released for the NES/Famicom.
• October – Nintendo releases Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! for NES/Famicom.
• October – LucasArts releases Maniac Mansion, the first game to use the SCUMM engine, innovating the point-and-click interface for the adventure game genre.
• November 14 – Sierra On-Line releases , the second game in the Space Quest series.
• December 17 – Capcom releases the first Mega Man game in the long-standing series for the NES/Famicom.
• December 18 – Square's Hironobu Sakaguchi releases Final Fantasy for the Famicom in Japan. Originally intended to be the company's last release, the game's success resulted in a prolific series. It was released in the US 3 years later.
• December 20 – Sega releases Phantasy Star on the Master System, featuring a female protagonist.
• FTL Games releases Dungeon Master for the Atari ST.
• Sierra On-Line releases , the first game in the Police Quest series.
• MIDI Maze for the Atari ST is a first person shooter allowing up to 16 computers to be networked via the built-in MIDI ports for deathmatch-style fights.
• Incentive Software releases Driller, a first person game using 3D filled polygons.
• Ocean Software releases Head Over Heels, an isometric arcade adventure, for several 8-bit home computers.
• MicroProse releases Sid Meier's Pirates!, the first game from Meier with his name in the title.
• System 3 releases The Last Ninja.
• Accolade releases Test Drive.

Hardware

• March 28 – Sharp releases the X68000 in Japan.
• April – IBM launches the PS/2 line of computers which introduces VGA graphics and 3.5 inch floppy disk drives to PCs.
• September – Master System released in Europe.
• October 30 – NEC releases the PC-Engine console in Japan.
• Acorn releases the Acorn Archimedes 32-bit home computer, which brought the game Zarch (later known on other platforms as Virus) to prominence.
• Commodore releases the lower-cost Amiga 500 which became a significant gaming machine, particularly in Europe, and becomes the best-selling model.
• Atari Corporation releases the XE Game System, or Atari XEGS, a repackaged 65XE computer which is the last in the Atari 8-bit computer series.
• Master System is released in Japan.
• AdLib sets a de facto standard for PC audio with its Yamaha YM3812-based sound card.
• Namco develops the Namco System 1 arcade system board, followed later in the year by the Namco System 2.
• The IBM PCjr is discontinued after three years.

See also

• 1987 in games

External links

• Video Game, Released between 1987-01-01 and 1987-12-31 (IMDb)

Notes and References

1. 87' ゲーメスト大賞 〜 ベストインカム . 87' Gamest Awards – Best Income . . December 28, 1987 . 17 (February 1988) . 25-38 (36-7) . ja. alternate url
2. Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: '87 . . 324 . . 15 January 1988 . 20 . ja .
3. Prisco . Jacopo . How Out Run changed video games forever . 4 November 2021 . . 18 September 2021.
4. Burn Rubber . . 15 December 1987 . 75 (January 1988) . 50–1 .
5. Top Ten Coin-Ops of the Month . . March 1987 . 66 (April 1987) . 92 .
6. Arcade Action . . April 1987 . 67 (May 1987) . 93 .
7. Arcade Action . . 15 July 1987 . 70 (August 1987) . 112 .
8. Street Life . . August 1987 . 21 (September 1987) . 34–5 .
9. Street Life . . 10 September 1987 . 22 (October 1987) . 66–7 .
10. Street Life . . 12 October 1987 . 23 (November 1987) . 72–3 .
11. Street Life . . November 1987 . 24 (December 1987) . 38–9 .
12. Arcade Action: The Top Ten . . 15 December 1987 . 75 (January 1988) . 151 .
13. Street Life . . January 1988 . 26 (February 1988) . 22–3 .
14. Nominees Announced For AMOA's JB, Games, & Vending Promo Awards . . October 3, 1987 . 37 .
15. Compasio . Camille . Around The Route . . 1987-11-14 . 32 . Cash Box Pub. Co..
16. 1987 . . December 1994 . 20 . 13 . 78 .
17. 米国「リプレイ」誌 ザ•プレイヤーズ •チョイス 1987年1月号から . US "RePlay" Magazine: The Players Choice - From the January 1987 Issue . . 300 . . 15 January 1987 . 17 . ja .
18. News: Coin-Op Top Ten . Top Score . Winter 1987 . Amusement Players Association .
19. 小川 (Ogawa). 純生 (Sumio). 2010-12-14. テレビゲーム機の変遷 —ファミコン、スーパーファミコン、プレステ、プレステ2、Wiiまで—. Recent Developments in Video Game Technology in Japan — Famicom, Super Famicom, Play Station, Play Station 2 and Wii —. 経営論集 (Keiei Ronshū). ja. March 2011. 77. 1-17 (2). 0286-6439. https://web.archive.org/web/20150725185700/www.toyo.ac.jp/uploaded/attachment/3049.pdf. 2015-07-25. 2021-12-06. Toyo University Academic Information Repository (Toyo University).
20. March 1988. Las Vegas, un coup de joystick dans le sable. Las Vegas, a joystick in the sand. Tilt. fr. 52. 18-23 (19).
21. Web site: Reimer. Jeremy. 2005-12-15. Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures. live. 2021-11-27. Ars Technica. en-us . https://web.archive.org/web/20120607023023/http://arstechnica.com:80/features/2005/12/total-share/ . June 7, 2012.
    • Web site: Jeremy Reimer . 2012-12-07 . Total Share: Personal Computer Market Share 1975-2010 . Jeremy Reimer.
22. Book: Tanaka. Tatsuo. Network Externality and Necessary Software Statistics. August 2001. Statistics Bureau of Japan. 2.
23. Book: Personal Computing. October 1988. 219.
24. Methe. David. Mitchell. Will. Miyabe. Junichiro. Toyama. Ryoko. January 1998. Overcoming a Standard Bearer: Challenges to NEC's Personal Computer in Japan. Research Papers in Economics (RePEc). 35. ResearchGate.
25. Book: Japan Electronics Almanac. 1990. Dempa Publications. 145. The domestic shipment value of personal computers in fiscal 1988 totaled (up 23 percent over fiscal 1987); the domestic shipment volume was 1,375,000 (up 14 percent over 1987). The value of domestic shipments has recorded annual growth. Conversely, the volume of domestic shipments of personal computers stabilized at the 1,200,000-nit mark for four years beginning in fiscal 1984. However, this volume began to increase rapidly in fiscal 1988..
26. Book: Japan Electronics Almanac. 1990. Dempa Publications. 146. The volume of domestic shipments of the MSX remained at the 150,000 mark, for a marked decline of 56 percent from 1987..
27. Book: ファミコン通信 〜 '89全ソフトカタログ. 15 September 1989. Famicom Tsūshin. 78. Famicom Tsūshin: '89 All Software Catalog. 総合TOP50. Total Top 50. ja.
28. Fujii. Daiji. 2005-06-10. The Birth of "Final Fantasy": Square Corporation. 岡山大学経済学会雑誌 (Okayama Economic Review). Okayama University. 37. 1. 63–88 (82). 0386-3069. Okayama University Scientific Achievement Repository.
29. Web site: Japan Platinum Game Chart . The Magic Box . 23 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080101043949/www.the-magicbox.com/Chart-JPPlatinum.shtml . 2008-01-01.
30. Web site: Game Search . Game Data Library . . 12 September 2021.
31. ファミコン通信 TOP 30: 1月23日 . Famicom Tsūshin Top 30: January 23 . . 6 February 1987 . 1987 . 3 . 8–9 . ja.
32. Web site: 1987 Weekly . Game Data Library . . 13 August 2021.
33. 2/9～2/15 — 2/16～2/22 . . 20 March 1987 . . 132–3 . ja.
34. 4/6～4/12 — 4/13～4/19 . . 15 May 1987 . . 136–8 . ja.
35. 4/20～4/26 — 4/27～5/3 . . 5 June 1987 . . 138–9 . ja.
36. 5/25～5/31 — 6/1～6/7 . . 3 July 1987 . . 172–3 . ja.
37. 8/24～8/30 — 8/31～9/6 . . 2 October 1987 . . 122 . ja.
38. 10/26～11/1 — 11/2～11/8 . . 4 December 1987 . . 180 . ja.
39. ファミコン通信 TOP 30: 2月5日 . Famicom Tsūshin Top 30: February 5 . . 19 February 1988 . 1988 . 4 . 12–7 . ja.
40. Book: Lindner . Richard . Video Games: Past, Present and Future; An Industry Overview . 1990 . . United States .
41. News: Gellene . Denise . The Joystick Lives: New Technology, Better Marketing Give Video Games a Second Life . 13 September 2021 . . 13 June 1988 . 57.
42. June 1988. OutRun. Computer and Video Games. EMAP. 80. 30–1. 0261-3697.
43. February 1988. Out Run. Crash. Newsfield. 49. 22–23 (22). 0954-8661.
44. Top 20 . . April 1987 . 30 .
45. Top Ten Games . . May 1987 . 16 . 19 April 2021.
46. Top Ten Games . . May 1987 . 17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20001026141558/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/ys17.htm . October 26, 2000 . 9 April 2021 .
47. Top Ten Games . . June 1987 . 18 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20001207030300/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/ys18.htm . December 7, 2000 . 9 April 2021 .
48. Top Ten Games . . June 1987 . 19 (July 1987) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20001026152837/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/ys19.htm . October 26, 2000 . 9 April 2021 .
49. Top Ten Games . . July 1987 . 20 (August 1987) . 17 .
50. Top Ten Videogames . . August 1987 . 6 . 5 . 1 .
51. Top Ten Videogames . Computer Entertainer . September 1987 . 6 . 6 . 1 .
52. CVG Birthday Shout . . 9 October 1996 . 180 (November 1996) . 8–9 .
53. Top Ten Games . . 10 December 1987 . 25 (January 1988) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20001203201200/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/ys25.htm . December 3, 2000 . 9 April 2021 .
54. Top Ten Videogames . Computer Entertainer . October 1987 . 6 . 7 . 1 .
55. Top Ten Videogames . Computer Entertainer . November 1987 . 6 . 8 . 1 .
56. Top Ten Videogames . Computer Entertainer . December 1987 . 6 . 9 . 1 .
57. Web site: Cundy . Matt . Every Christmas Top 10 from the last 20 years . . 11 . 9 March 2021 . 25 December 2007.
58. Street Life . . February 1988 . 27 (March 1988) . 22–3 .
59. July 1988. License To Thrill?. ACE. Future plc. 10. 31. 0954-8076.
60. Top Ten Videogames . Computer Entertainer . January 1988 . 6 . 10 . 1 .
61. 10 March 1988 . Game of the Year . . 28 (April 1988) . 64–5.
62. Count Down Hot 100: USA Hot 10! . . 16 April 1993 . 226 . 83 . ja .
63. 87' ゲーメスト大賞 . 87' Gamest Awards . . December 28, 1987 . 17 (February 1988) . 25–38 . ja. alternate url
64. 1987 ベストヒットゲーム大賞 . 1987 Best Hit Game Awards . . February 19, 1988 . 1988 . 4 . 6–11 . ja.
65. 1987 ファミマガゲーム大賞 . 1987 Famimaga Game Awards . . 19 February 1988 . 114–7 . ja.
66. Golden Joystick Awards 1988. Computer and Video Games. 79 (May 1988). 15 April 1988. 39. Future Publishing.
67. Web site: 週刊ファミ通クロスレビュープラチナ殿堂入りソフト一覧 . Weekly Famitsu Cross Review Platinum Hall of Fame Software List . https://web.archive.org/web/20081027205828/http://geimin.net/da/db/cross_review/index.php . Geimin . ja . dead . October 27, 2008 . 24 February 2021 .