1996 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as Blazing Heroes, Super Mario 64, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil, Dead or Alive, Duke Nukem 3D and Tomb Raider.
Notable releases of the year 1996| Release | Title | System | Developer/Publisher | Notes |
|---|
| January 26 | Guardian Heroes | Sat | Treasure (company)/Sega | a beat-em-up game developed by Treasure |
| January 26 | The Realms of Lore | Sat | Micro Cabin/Sega | a tactical RPG |
| January 29 | Duke Nukem 3D | DOS | 3D Realms/GT Interactive | a popular first person shooter |
| January 31 | Mega Man X3 | SNES | Capcom | third X installment in popular Mega Man franchise. |
| February 9 | Bahamut Lagoon | SNES | SquareSoft | Tactical RPG spin-off in the Final Fantasy series, before Final Fantasy Tactics. |
| February 23 | Gun Hazard | SNES | SquareSoft | Sequel to strategy Super Famicom RPG Front Mission. |
| February 27 | Pokémon Red and Green | GB | Nintendo | launched a wildly popular game series |
| February 29 | Civilization II | Win | MicroProse | acclaimed sequel to the highly influential 1991 4X game |
| February 29 | Ripper (video game) | DOS | Take Two Interactive | Interactive movie, Point-and-click adventure Single Player game |
| February 29 | Resurrection | Win, Sat, PS1 | Mirage/ Acclaim Entertainment | the sequel to the fighting game, Rise of the Robots. |
| February 29 | Strike Force Centauri | DOS | Looking Glass Studios | critically acclaimed FPS |
| February 29 | Nemesis | Win | Activision | 11th game in the Zork series, employing 360-degree views of environment |
| March 9 | Super Mario RPG | SNES | SquareSoft/Nintendo | unprecedented crossover game which paired a renowned RPG developer with a popular platforming mascot, beginning a long-running series of Mario RPGs |
| March 21 | Kirby Super Star | SNES | HAL Labs/Nintendo | considered to be one of the best games in the Kirby franchise. |
| March 22 | Resident Evil | PS1 | Capcom | one of the foundational games in the survival horror genre, for a time it held the record for best-selling PlayStation game |
| March 22 | Panzer Dragoon II Zwei | Sat | Team Andromeda/Sega | an acclaimed rail shooter |
| March 29 | Hyper Dimension | SNES | TOSE/Bandai | the last Super Famicom game in the Dragon Ball Z franchise. |
| April 20 | Barbie Fashion Designer | Win | Digital Domain Inc./Mattel Media | The game's strong sales sparked a renewed interest in developing games targeting girls. |
| April 26 | Jumping Flash! 2 | PS1 | Exact (company)/SCEA | Sequel to the first true 3D platformer. |
| April 30 | Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures | Win, Mac | LucasArts | Adventure game developed by LucasArts in the popular Indiana Jones franchise specifically to run in windowed form. |
| May 14 | Seisen no Keifu | SNES | Intelligent Systems/Nintendo | the fourth game in the popular Fire Emblem series. |
| May 24 | Metal Slug | Neo | SNK | the first in the Metal Slug series that proved popular in the arcades. |
| May 31 | Final Doom | DOS | id Software | Despite the name, it would be followed less than a year later by Doom 64. |
| May 31 | Kirby's Block Ball | GB | HAL Labs/Nintendo | Breakout-inspired game in popular Kirby franchise |
| June 22 | Quake | DOS | id Software | advanced 3D graphics technology and started a franchise that has sold more than 4 million games |
| June 23 | Super Mario 64 | N64 | Nintendo | One of two Nintendo 64 U.S. launch games.[2] An archetype for nearly every 3D platformer which followed it, from the day of release it was widely hailed as one of the greatest games of all time. |
| June 27 | Shining Wisdom | Sat | Camelot Software Planning/Sega | Action adventure game in the Shining series |
| June 30 | Triple Play 97 | PS1, Win | EA Sports | The critically praised first Triple Play game. |
| July 5 | NiGHTS into Dreams... | Sat | Sega | The advertising campaign features the rebirth of the Sega Saturn; August 21 (US) |
| July 19 | Star Ocean | SNES | tri-ace/Enix | the first game in the Star Ocean series. |
| July 25 | The King of Fighters '96 | Neo, NeoCD, Sat | SNK | an entry in the popular King of Fighters series. |
| July 26 | Arcade Edition | Sat, PS1 | Taito Corporation/Acclaim | The first home versions of the popular arcade puzzle game. |
| July 31 | A Puzzle of Flesh | DOS, Win | Sierra On-Line | a controversial sequel to the controversial Phantasmagoria. |
| July 31 | Virtua Fighter Kids | Sat, Arcade | Sega AM2 | a spin-off in the Virtua Fighter series |
| August 25 | Tekken 2 | PS1 | Namco | the second game in the popular fighting game series Tekken |
| August 31 | Daggerfall | Win | Bethesda Softworks | an evolution of the sandbox RPG started with Arena |
| August 31 | Die Hard Trilogy | Win, PS1, Sat | Probe Entertainment/Fox Interactive | 3 original games in 1 disk, each based on a different movie in the series. |
| August 31 | Tetris Attack | SNES, GB | Intelligent Systems/Nintendo | first release of the popular Panel de Pon series in the US. |
| August 31 | Madden NFL 97 | SMD, PS1, Win, SNES, Sat, GB | EA Sports/Electronic Arts | The first Madden game on gen 5 platforms. |
| August 31 | Beyond the Beyond | PS1 | Camelot Software Planning/SCEA | The first traditional Japanese-style RPG for the PlayStation |
| August 31 | Jet Moto | PS1 | SingleTrac/SCEA | A jet ski racing game |
| September | Virtua Fighter 3 | Arcade | Sega AM2 | A fighting game considered to have the most technically impressive graphics at the time. |
| September 9 | Crash Bandicoot | PS1 | Naughty Dog/Universal/Sony | Crash was used as the mascot for the PlayStation console. |
| September 14 | GunGriffon | Sat | Game Arts/Sega | critically acclaimed mech game, first in its series. |
| September 20 | Persona | PS1 | Atlus | first game in the Persona series, a spin-off series of the Megami Tensei series. Also the first Megami Tensei-related game to release outside Japan |
| September 26 | Pilotwings 64 | N64 | Nintendo | One of two Nintendo 64 U.S. launch games.[2] |
| September 27 | Meridian 59 | Win | 3DO | one of the first MMORPGs. |
| September 30 | Wipeout XL/2097 | PS1 | Psygnosis | a poster child of the PlayStation for pop culture infusions and sleek extreme action |
| September 30 | Shattered Steel | DOS | BioWare/Interplay | first game developed by BioWare |
| September 30 | Street Fighter Alpha 2 | Arcade, SNES, PS1, Sat | Capcom | second game in the Street Fighter Alpha spin-off series |
| September 30 | Mr. Bones | Sat | Zono/Sega | platformer for the Saturn |
| September 30 | Tobal No. 1 | PS1 | DreamFactory/SCEA | fighting game famous for including a demo for Final Fantasy VII. |
| September 30 | Formula 1 | PS1 | Bizarre Creations/SCEA | first racing game developed by Bizarre. |
| September 30 | Donkey Kong Land 2 | GB | Rare (company)/Nintendo | second Donkey Kong Land game |
| October 10 | Mortal Kombat Trilogy | N64, PS1, R-Zone | Avalanche Software, Midway Games, Point of View, Inc. |
| October 15 | Marathon Infinity | Mac | Bungie | The last game in the Marathon trilogy. |
| October 31 | Red Alert | DOS | Westwood Studios | the second major title in the Command & Conquer universe, and one of the most popular |
| October 31 | Master of Orion II | DOS | Simtex/MicroProse |
| October 31 | The Neverhood | Win | The Neverhood Inc./DreamWorks Interactive | The game is done almost entirely in claymation and has gained a sequel. |
| October 31 | Bubsy 3D | PS1 | Eidetic/Accolade | Noted for its negative reception. |
| October 31 | Drowned God | Win | Epic Multimedia Group/Inscape | Adventure game. |
| October 31 | SimCopter | Win | Maxis | Flight simulation game in popular Sim series. |
| October 31 | King's Field III | PS1 | FromSoftware/ASCII Entertainment | the last of three games in the King's Field series released for the PlayStation. |
| October 31 | DeathDrome | Win | Zipper Interactive/Viacom | First game developed by Zipper Interactive. |
| October 31 | WWF In Your House | DOS, PS1, Sat | Acclaim | First WWF game developed specifically for consoles. |
| October 31 | Twisted Metal 2 | PS1 | SingleTrac/SCEA | Second game in the popular Twisted Metal franchise. |
| October 31 | Destruction Derby 2 | PS1 | Reflections Interactive/SCEA | Second game in the popular Destruction Derby franchise. |
| October 31 | NBA Live 97 | PS1, Sat, SNES, SMD | Electronic Arts, EA Sports |
| November | Dead or Alive | Arcade | Team Ninja/Tecmo | The first game in the Dead or Alive series of fighting games. |
| November 15 | Tomb Raider | PS1, Sat, DOS | Core Design/Eidos | Action adventure game which was among the year's most critically acclaimed games and proved highly influential on both 3D games development and cinematic presentation |
| November 20 | Sonic 3D Blast | Sat, SMD | Sega/Traveller's Tales | Isometric platformer in the popular "Sonic the Hedgehog" series. |
| November 22 | Donkey Kong Country 3 | SNES | Rare/Nintendo | the third installment to the popular Donkey Kong Country franchise |
| November 25 | Killer Instinct Gold | N64 | Rare/Nintendo | a home fighting game based on the arcade's Killer Instinct 2. |
| November 26 | Area 51 | PS1, Win, Sat | Mesa Logic/Atari Games | Ported versions of the classic arcade shooter. |
| November 30 | Legacy of War | Sat, PS1 | Konami/Appaloosa Interactive | the first true 3D entry in the popular Contra series |
| November 30 | Dragon Force | Sat | Sega/Working Designs | a combination of war simulation and RPG |
| November 30 | Fighting Vipers | Sat, Arcade | Sega AM2 | a popular fighting game. |
| November 30 | Virtua Cop 2 | Sat, Arcade | Sega AM2 | a popular light gun game |
| November 30 | Cyber Troopers | Sat, Arcade | CRI/Sega | the first game in the Virtual On series |
| November 30 | Bug Too! | Saturn, Win | Sega/Realtime Associates | a sequel to Bug! |
| November 30 | FIFA Soccer 97 | SMD, PS1, Win, SNES, Sat, GB | EA Canada/Electronic Arts |
| November 30 | The Legend of Oasis | Sat | Sega/Ancient (company) | Sequel to the Genesis Zelda-style action game Beyond Oasis. |
| December 3 | Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire | N64 | LucasArts/Nintendo | one of the first Nintendo 64 games, an action game in the popular Star Wars franchise. |
| December 14 | Mario Kart 64 | N64 | Nintendo | The Mario Kart series first 3D game. |
| December 17 | Mega Man 8 | PS1 | Capcom | The first Mega Man game to be released on PlayStation. |
| December 19 | Terranigma | SNES | Quintet/Nintendo | Popular RPG famous for being released in Europe but not in America, a rarity in the mid-1990s. Also a spiritual successor to Illusion of Gaia. |
| December 31 | Death Rally | DOS | Remedy Entertainment/GT Interactive | the first game developed by Remedy Entertainment. |
| December 31 | Diablo | Win | Blizzard Entertainment | the first chapter in the enormously popular series. |
| December 31 | NBA Hangtime | SMD, PS1, Win, N64, Arcade, SNES | Midway | arcade-style basketball game developed by Midway. |
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1996 saw a major shakeup in the crowded home console market, with the Virtual Boy, Atari Jaguar, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Sega CD, 32X, and CD-i all being discontinued.
1. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/wikis/e3/Attendance_and_Stats|title=Attendance and Stats|publisher=IGN|accessdate=May 21, 2015}}
2. ^1 {{cite web |url=http://www.pennoaks.net/archive64/Miscellaneous_Articles/N64_US_Launch.htm |last=McCall |title=N64's U.S. Launch |work=Teleparc |first=Scott |date=September 28, 1996 |accessdate=September 29, 2015}}