1995 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Quest VI, Mega Man 7, , , and Tekken 2, along with new titles such as Mario's Picross, Battle Arena Toshinden, Chrono Trigger, Rayman, Soul Edge, Twisted Metal, , Destruction Derby, Wipeout and Jumping Flash!
The year's highest-grossing arcade game in Japan was Virtua Fighter 2, while the best-selling arcade video games in the United States were Daytona USA (for the second year in a row) and Mortal Kombat 3. The home video game with the highest known sales in 1995 was Dragon Quest VI, despite only releasing in Japan. The Super Famicom was the best-selling game console in Japan, while the North American Super Nintendo was the best-selling console in North America.
The following video game releases in 1995 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.[9]
| Title | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Score (out of 40) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtua Fighter 2 | Sega Saturn | Sega | Fighting | 39 | |
| Ridge Racer Revolution | PlayStation | Namco | Racing | 39 | |
| Tekken | PlayStation | Namco | Fighting | 38 | |
| (Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer) | Super Famicom | Chunsoft | Roguelike | 38 | |
| Sega Rally Championship | Sega Saturn | Sega | Racing | 36 | |
| Virtua Fighter Remix | Sega Saturn | Sega | Fighting | 35 | |
| King's Field II | PlayStation | FromSoftware | Role-playing | 35 | |
| Boxer's Road | PlayStation | New Corporation | Boxing | 35 | |
| Sega Saturn | Atlus | Role-playing | 35 |
In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1995, according to the annual Gamest and Game Machine charts.
| Rank | Gamest[10] | Game Machine[11] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Manufacturer | Title | Type | Points | ||
| 1 | Virtua Fighter 2 | Sega | Virtua Fighter 2 | PCB / DX | ||
| 2 | Street Fighter Zero (Street Fighter Alpha) | Capcom | Daytona USA | 2P / DX | ||
| 3 | (Night Warriors) | Capcom | Sega Rally Championship | 2P / DX | ||
| 4 | Tekken | Namco | Virtua Cop | Dedicated | 3204 | |
| 5 | The King of Fighters '94 | SNK | Puzzle Bobble (Bust-a-Move) | PCB | 3186 | |
| 6 | Super Street Fighter II X (Super Street Fighter II Turbo) | Capcom | Taisen Puzzle-Dama (Crazy Cross) | PCB | 3111 | |
| 7 | X-Men: Children of the Atom | Capcom | Puyo Puyo 2 | PCB | 2639 | |
| 8 | Shin Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown II) | SNK | Tetris (Sega) | PCB | 2638 | |
| 9 | Tekken 2 | Namco | Shanghai III | PCB | 2455 | |
| 10 | Puzzle Bobble (Bust-a-Move) | Taito | Ace Driver | Dedicated | 2414 | |
In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1995, according to the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) and Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA).
| Rank | AAMA[12] [13] | AMOA[14] [15] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Award | Dedicated cabinet | Conversion kit | |
| 1 | Daytona USA, Neo Geo MVS, Mortal Kombat 3 | Diamond | Cruis'n USA | Mortal Kombat 3 |
| 2 | Daytona USA, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3 | Mortal Kombat II, Raiden II, Tekken, X-Men: Children of the Atom | ||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | Sega Rally Championship, WWF WrestleMania, Area 51 | Platinum | ||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | rowspan="5" | |||
| 7 | 2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge, Indy 500, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop | Silver | ||
| 8 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 10 | ||||
| Rank | Manufacturer | Game console | Type | Generation | Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-type="number" | Japan | data-sort-type="number" | USA | data-sort-type="number" | Worldwide | |||
| 1 | Nintendo | Super NES / Super Famicom | Home | 16-bit | 1,780,000[16] | [17] | 3,518,000+ | |
| 2 | Sony | PlayStation | Home | 32-bit | 1,700,000[18] | 800,000 | 3,100,000 | |
| 3 | Sega | Sega Saturn | Home | 32-bit | 1,660,000 | 400,000[19] | 2,060,000+ | |
| 4 | Sega | Mega Drive / Genesis | Home | 16-bit | 30,000 | 1,998,000+ | ||
| 5 | Nintendo | Game Boy | Handheld | 8-bit | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000+ | ||
| 6 | Panasonic | 3DO | Home | 32-bit | 150,000 | 250,000[20] | 400,000+ | |
| 7 | Nintendo | NES / Famicom | Home | 8-bit | 80,000 | ,000 | 184,000+ | |
| 8 | Sega | Game Gear | Handheld | 8-bit | 180,000 | 180,000+ | ||
| 9 | Atari Corp | Atari Jaguar | Home | 32-bit | 150,000 | 150,000+ | ||
| 10 | NEC | PC-FX | Home | 32-bit | 120,000 | 120,000+ | ||
The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1995 in Japan and the United States.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | USA[21] [22] | Combined | ||||
| 1 | (Realms of Reverie) | Super Famicom | 2,482,640 | |||
| 2 | Chrono Trigger | Super NES | 2,000,000+ | 2,000,000+ | ||
| Super NES | 1,000,000+ | 1,000,000+ | 2,000,000+ | |||
| Mortal Kombat 3 | Super NES, Sega Genesis | + | 2,000,000+ | |||
| 5 | Super NES | 1,000,000+ | 1,987,295+ | |||
| 6 | Donkey Kong Country (Super Donkey Kong) | Super NES | 643,028 | 1,000,000+ | 1,643,028+ | |
| 7 | Virtua Fighter 2 | Sega Saturn | 1,500,000+ | 1,500,000+ | ||
| 8 | Derby Stallion III | Super Famicom | 1,086,141 | 1,086,141 | ||
| 9 | Killer Instinct | Super NES | 1,000,000+ | 1,000,000+ | ||
| 10 | Tekken | PlayStation | 942,000 | 942,000+ | ||
In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1995.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Realms of Reverie) | Super Famicom | Enix | Role-playing game | [23] | ||
| 2 | Chrono Trigger | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | Role-playing game | 2,000,000+ | [24] | |
| 3 | Virtua Fighter 2 | Sega Saturn | Sega | Fighting | 1,500,000+ | [25] | |
| 4 | Derby Stallion III | Super Famicom | ASCII Corporation | Simulation | 1,086,141 | [26] | |
| 5 | (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island) | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Platformer | 1,000,000+ | [27] | |
| 6 | (Donkey Kong Country 2) | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Platformer | |||
| 7 | Tekken | PlayStation | Namco | Fighting | 942,000 | [28] | |
| 8 | Romancing SaGa 3 | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | Role-playing game | 786,000 | ||
| 9 | Arc the Lad | PlayStation | Sony | Role-playing game | 697,000 | ||
| 10 | Mobile Suit Gundam | PlayStation | Bandai | First-person shooter | 668,242 |
In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1995.[29]
| Rank | Title | Publisher | Genre | Platform(s) | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mortal Kombat 3 | Williams Entertainment | Fighting | Super NES, Sega Genesis | + |
| 2 | Donkey Kong Country | Nintendo | Platformer | Super NES | 1,000,000+ |
| 3 | Killer Instinct | Nintendo | Fighting | Super NES | 1,000,000+ |
| 4 | Nintendo | Platformer | Super NES | 1,000,000+ | |
| 5 | Nintendo | Platformer | Super NES | 1,000,000+ | |
| 6 | Madden NFL '96 | EA Sports | Sports | Sega Genesis | rowspan="5" |
| 7 | Acclaim Entertainment | Sports | Sega Genesis | ||
| 8 | Super NES | ||||
| 9 | Mortal Kombat II | Acclaim Entertainment | Fighting | Sega Genesis | |
| 10 | The Lion King | Virgin Interactive | Platformer | Super NES |
In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1995.[30]
| Release | Title | System | Developer/Publisher | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Battle Arena Toshinden | PS1 | One of the first fully 3D fighting games | ||
| January 13 | Bust-a-Move | SNES | |||
| February 15 | DOS | The first in a successful series of Star Wars-based first-person shooters | |||
| February 16 | Ristar | SMD | a platform game | ||
| February 24 | Front Mission | SNES | |||
| March 10 | Panzer Dragoon | Sat | |||
| March 11 | Chrono Trigger | SNES | |||
| March 14 | Mario's Picross | GB | The first installment in a series of Mario-themed Picross titles released in the mid-1990s | ||
| March 17 | Descent | DOS | Portal rendering with texture-mapped polygons, polygonal enemies, and six degrees of freedom. | ||
| March 17 | Discworld | DOS, Mac, PS1, Saturn (1996) | |||
| March 21 | Kirby's Dream Land 2 | GB | An installment in the Kirby series | ||
| March 24 | Mega Man 7 | SNES | |||
| April | Jagged Alliance | DOS | The first installment in the Jagged Alliance series | ||
| April 15 | Mortal Kombat 3 | Arcade, SNES, PS1, GB, SMD | |||
| April 27 | Jumping Flash! | PS1 | |||
| April 28 | Super Bomberman 3 | SNES | First game in the Super Bomberman series to not get an American release; final game in the series released outside Japan on the SNES | ||
| April 30 | Full Throttle | DOS, Mac | Graphical adventure | ||
| May 25 | Light Crusader | SMD | |||
| May | King Arthur & the Knights of Justice | SNES | |||
| June 5 | Street Fighter Alpha | Arcade | |||
| June 7 | Flight Unlimited | DOS, Win95 | |||
| June 21 | Tekken 2 | Arcade | |||
| June 30 | DOS, Mac | ||||
| July 11 | Space Quest 6 | DOS, Mac | Sierra Online | Graphical adventure | |
| July 21 | SNES | Port of . | |||
| July 24 | MechWarrior 2 | DOS | |||
| July 25 | The King of Fighters '95 | Arcade | Second installment in the King of Fighters series | ||
| July 31 | Phantasmagoria | DOS, Win95, Mac, Sat (1997) | A controversial point-and-click adventure game | ||
| August 2 | Comix Zone | SMD | A beat 'em up game heavily inspired by comic books | ||
| August 5 | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | SNES | A critically acclaimed platformer | ||
| August 11 | Shining Wisdom | Sat | Action adventure game in the Shining series | ||
| August 31 | Command & Conquer | DOS, Mac | One of the first popular real-time strategy games, it spawned a franchise | ||
| August 31 | DOS | The first game in the popular turn-based strategy game franchise | |||
| September | Wild Woody | SCD | [31] | ||
| September 9 | Rayman | PS1, Sat, Jag | The first game in the popular series | ||
| October 1 | Secret of Evermore | SNES | |||
| October 6 | SNES | Ported to the Sega Saturn (1996) and the PlayStation (1997) | |||
| October 13 | Hyper Iria | SNES | Banpresto | Based on , an animated series. | |
| October 15 | DOS, Mac | ||||
| October 20 | Terranigma | SNES | |||
| October 27 | Panel de Pon | SNES | Intelligent Systems\Nintendo | Released in America under the name "Tetris Attack", featuring a Yoshi's Island theme | |
| October 31 | Destruction Derby | PS1 | |||
| October 31 | I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream | DOS, Mac | An adaptation of writer Harlan Ellison's short story, won Computer Gaming World's award for "Best Graphic Adventure Game" of the year | ||
| October 31 | Win, Mac | ||||
| November 5 | Twisted Metal | PS1 | Started longest running PlayStation franchise, popular vehicular combat series. | ||
| November 11 | Romancing SaGa 3 | SNES | Square | ||
| November 20 | SNES | ||||
| November 24 | Battle Arena Toshinden 2 | PS1, Arcade | Tamsoft\Capcom | ||
| November 24 | Mac | ||||
| November 30 | The Dig | DOS, Mac | Adventure game | ||
| December | Soul Edge | First game in the Soulcalibur series. | |||
| December | Worms | Ami | An artillery video game and the first game in the Worms series | ||
| December | Time Crisis | Arcade, PS1 (1997) | The first game in the popular light-gun series Time Crisis. | ||
| December 1 | Mega Man X3 | SNES | |||
| December 9 | SNES | ||||
| December 9 | DOS, Mac | Sequel to their initial real-time strategy title, and a far more popular title | |||
| December 15 | Tales of Phantasia | SNES | The first in the Tales series | ||
| December 15 | Suikoden | PS1 | Debut of the Suikoden series; ported to the Sega Saturn in Japan in 1998 | ||
| December 15 | Brain Dead 13 | DOS | An "FMV adventure" game | ||
| December 22 | Final Fight 3 | SNES | |||
| December 31 | DOS, Win, Mac | Adventure game; sequel to | |||
| December 31 | King's Field II | PS1 | First game in the King's Field series to eventually be released outside Japan; renamed simply "King's Field" in NTSC-U/C and PAL regions when released there in 1996 |