1992 in video games

1992 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Quest V, Final Fantasy V, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, and Super Mario Kart, along with new titles such as Art of Fighting, Lethal Enforcers, Mortal Kombat and Virtua Racing.
The year's highest-grossing video game worldwide was Capcom's arcade fighting game Street Fighter II for the second year in a row, while also being the year's highest-grossing entertainment product. The year's best-selling home system was the Game Boy for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video games were Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive/Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System port of Street Fighter II, which were both also the year's highest-grossing home entertainment products.

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Hardware releases

April 11 – The Super NES releases in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
June - The Super NES releases in the rest of Europe.
June 8 - The Super NES releases in Chile.
July 3 - The Super NES releases in the Australasia region.
October – Sega releases the Model 1, Sega's first arcade system board supporting 3D polygon graphics.
October 10 - The PC Engine Duo releases in North America as the TurboDuo, an updated version of the TurboGrafx-16 with built-in CD-ROM drive and Super System Card for Super CD-ROM² support.
October 15 - Sega releases the Mega-CD as Sega CD in North America, almost a year after the equivalent Japanese launch.
October 21 - The Amiga 1200 computer is released. It's the final lower-cost Amiga model before Commodore's bankruptcy.
Namco releases the System 22, an arcade system board that introduces 3D texture mapping and Gouraud shading.
JVC releases the Wondermega console in Japan, a combined Mega Drive and Mega CD.
Nintendo releases the Super Scope for the Super NES.

Top-rated games

Game of the Year awards

The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1992.

Awards	Game of the Year	Publisher	Genre	Platform
Chicago Tribune	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Fighting	SNES
Electronic Gaming Awards	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Fighting	SNES
Electronic Gaming Monthly	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Fighting	SNES
European Computer Trade Show	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Fighting	SNES
GameFan Golden Megawards	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Fighting	SNES
Game Informer	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Fighting	SNES
Golden Joystick Awards	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Fighting	SNES
Gamest Awards	Street Fighter II Dash	Capcom	Fighting	Arcade
Chicago Tribune	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past	Nintendo	Action-adventure	SNES
GameFan Golden Megawards	Cybernator	Masaya Games	Run and gun	SNES
GameFan Golden Megawards	Streets of Rage 2	Sega	Brawler	GEN
GameFan Golden Megawards	Wonderdog	JVC Musical Industries	Platformer	SCD
PC Engine Fan	Far East of Eden II: Manji Maru	Hudson Soft	RPG	PCD

''Famitsu'' Platinum Hall of Fame

The following video game releases in 1992 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.

Title	Developer	Publisher	Score	Genre	Platform
Dragon Quest V: Tenkū no Hanayome	Chunsoft	Enix	36	RPG	SNES
Shin Megami Tensei	Atlus	Atlus	36	RPG	SNES
I Love Mickey & Donald: Fushigi na Magic Box	Sega AM7	Sega	36	Platformer	SCD
Street Fighter II	Capcom	Capcom	35	Fighting	SNES
Mario Paint	Nintendo R&D1	Nintendo	35	Art	SNES

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 games in Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and worldwide.

Market	Title	Coin drop revenue	Inflation	Manufacturer	Genre
Japan	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior			Capcom	Fighting
United Kingdom	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior			Capcom	Fighting
United States	Street Fighter II / Champion Edition			Capcom	Fighting
Worldwide	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior			Capcom	Fighting

Japan

The following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1992 in Japan, according to Gamest, Game Machine and Famicom Tsūshin magazines.

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1992.

Australia

On Australia's Timezone monthly arcade charts published in the June 1992 issue of Leisure Line magazine, Capcom's Street Fighter II: Champion Edition was the top-grossing arcade conversion kit and Konami's X-Men was the top-grossing dedicated arcade cabinet.

Best-selling home video games

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Street Fighter II each sold units worldwide in 1992, making them the year's highest-grossing entertainment products. The following home video games sold more than 1 million units worldwide in 1992.
The following table lists the year's top-selling home video game releases in several markets, including Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.

Market	Title	Platform	Sales
Europe	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	GEN	+
Japan	Dragon Quest V: Tenkū no Hanayome	SNES	2,800,000
South Korea	Street Fighter II	SNES
United States	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	GEN	2,000,000
United States	Street Fighter II	SNES	2,000,000

Asia

In Japan and South Korea, according to Famicom Tsūshin magazine, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video game releases of 1992.

Europe

The following titles were the top three best-selling home video game releases of 1992 in Europe and the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the top-selling home video games of each month in 1992.

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the top three best-selling home video games of 1992.

Rank	Title	Publisher	Genre	Sales	Platform
1	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	Sega	Platformer	2,000,000	GEN
1	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Fighting	2,000,000	SNES
3	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past	Nintendo	Action-adventure	1,000,000	SNES

The following titles were the best-selling home video games of each month for video game consoles in 1992.

Month	NES	Super Nintendo	Sega Genesis	TurboDuo	Game Boy	Atari Lynx
June		Final Fantasy II
August	Yoshi	Street Fighter II	Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing		Super Mario Land	Batman Returns
September	Yoshi	Turtles in Time	Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing		Super Mario Land	Batman Returns
October	Tecmo Super Bowl	Street Fighter II	NHLPA Hockey '93	Cosmic Fantasy 2	Kirby's Dream Land	NFL Football
November	Tecmo Super Bowl	Street Fighter II	John Madden Football '93	Air Zonk	Super Mario Land 2	NFL Football
December	Tecmo Super Bowl	Street Fighter II	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	Air Zonk	Super Mario Land 2	Batman Returns

The following titles were the top-selling personal computer games on the monthly PC Research charts in 1992, as reported by Electronic Games magazine.

Month	DOS games	DOS educational games	Amiga	Macintosh	CD-ROM
May	Hardball III
June	Aces of the Pacific	Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
July	Aces of the Pacific	Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
August	Links	Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
September	Falcon 3.0: Operation Fighting Tiger	Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
October	King's Quest VI	Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?	Civilization	Prince of Persia	Battle Chess

Events

January 1 – Atari Corporation drops support for the Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 7800, and software for those systems.
May 25 – FuncoLand founder David Pomije is named "Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year" by the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce.
July 2 – FuncoLand's parent company Funco Inc. files a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of one million shares of its common stock at $5 a share, with plans to use the proceeds from the sold shares to repay short-term debt and finance the opening of other FuncoLand locations.
July 13 – The first Chicago-area FuncoLand location opens in Bloomingdale.
August 12 – Funco's initial public offering, underwritten by Miller, Johnson & Kuehn Inc., is announced.
September 22 – The first south suburban Chicago-area FuncoLand location opens in Orland Park.
December – the Apple IIGS is discontinued.
Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of America Inc.
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc.
Sega v. Accolade
Activision files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
New companies: Wow Entertainment Inc., Humongous Entertainment, Halestorm

Games released in 1992

Release date	Title	Platform	Genre
January	The Addams Family	GB, NES	Action
January	Art Alive!	GEN	Educational
January	Back to the Future Part III	GEN	Adventure
January	Beetlejuice	GB	Action
January	Big Nose the Caveman	NES	Action
January	Bucky O'Hare	NES	Action
January	Cowboy Kid	NES	Action
January	Darkwing Duck	PCE	Action
January	Die Hard	NES	Action
January	Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop	LYNX	Action
January	Heavy Nova	GEN	Action
January	Hydra	LYNX	Action
January	Lynx Casino	LYNX	Simulation
January	Mario Lemieux Hockey	GEN	Sports
January	Monster in My Pocket	NES	Action
January	Nightshade	NES	Action
January	Pinball Jam	LYNX	Simulation
January	Pit-Fighter	LYNX	Action
January	Prince of Persia	GB	Action
January	Rampart	NES	Adventure
January	Rings of Power	GEN	RPG
January	Sword Master	NES	Action-adventure
January	Trouble Shooter	GEN	Action
January	Wheel of Fortune Featuring Vanna White	NES	Game show
January	The Games: Winter Challenge	GEN	Sports
January 11	Super Adventure Island	SNES	Action
January 14	Super Fantasy Zone	GEN	Shoot 'em up
January 25	Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Super Saiyan	SNES	RPG
January 28	Romancing SaGa	SNES	RPG
January 31	Football Frenzy	Arcade	Sports
January 31	Soul Blazer	SNES	RPG
February	Adventure Island	GB	Action
February	Alisia Dragoon	GEN	Action
February	Asteroids	GB	Action
February	Boggle Plus	GB	Puzzle
February	California Games	GEN	Sports
February	F-15 Strike Eagle	NES	Simulation
February	Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters	NES	Action
February	Hudson Hawk	NES	Action
February	InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Berlitz German Translator	GB	Educational
February	M.C. Kids	NES	Action
February	Paperboy	GEN	Action
February	Qbert*	GB	Puzzle
February	Sesame Street: Countdown	NES	Educational
February	Super Smash TV	SNES	Action
February	Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (NES)	NES	Action
February	Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (GB)	GB	Action
February	Super Spy Hunter	NES	Action
February	Tiny Toon Adventures: Babs' Big Break	GB	Action
February	Xenon 2: Megablast	GEN	Shoot 'em up
February 14	Soccer Brawl	Arcade	Sports
February 21	Football Frenzy	NEO	Sports
February 28	Contra III: The Alien Wars	SNES	Action
March	The Addams Family	SNES	Action
March	Baseball Heroes	LYNX	Sports
March	Desert Strike	GEN	Action
March	Fisher-Price: Firehouse Rescue	NES	Educational
March	G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor	NES	Action
March	Ghoul School	NES	Action
March	InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Berlitz German & Japanese Translator	GB	Educational
March	Kid Chameleon	GEN	Action
March	Missile Command	GB	Action
March	PGA Tour Golf	SNES	Sports
March	Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back	NES	Action
March	The Terminator	GEN	Action
March	Toki	LYNX	Action
March	Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss	DOS	RPG
March	Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?	GEN	Educational
March	Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros: Visions of Power	NES	Action
March 13	Soccer Brawl	NEO	Sports
March 16	Mutation Nation	Arcade	Action
March 20	Shining Force	GEN	RPG
March 23	Last Resort	Arcade	Shoot 'em up
March 27	Arcana	SNES	RPG
March 27	Rival Turf!	SNES	Action
April	Crystal Mines II	LYNX	Action
April	Devilish: The Next Possession	GEN	Action
April	Double Dragon	GEN	Brawler
April	Earnest Evans	GEN	Action
April	George Foreman's KO Boxing	GG	Sports
April	Hatris	NES	Puzzle
April	Hook	NES	Action
April	The Mutant Virus: Crisis in a Computer World	NES	Action
April	Paperboy 2	GB, NES	Action
April	Square Deal	GB	Simulation
April	Super Skweek	LYNX	Action
April	Toxic Crusaders	NES	Action
April	Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds	NES	RPG
April 5	Aerobiz	SNES	Simulation
April 15	Baseball Stars 2	Arcade	Sports
April 17	Mutation Nation	NEO	Action
April 24	Last Resort	NEO	Shoot 'em up
April 27	Kirby's Dream Land	GB	Action
April 28	Baseball Stars 2	NEO	Sports
April 30	Ninja Commando	Arcade	Shoot 'em up
May	Ballistix	PCE	Sports
May	NBA All-Star Challenge 2	GB	Sports
May	Night Creatures	PCE	Action
May	Rampart	LYNX	Action
May	Roundball: 2 on 2 Challenge	NES	Sports
May	Super Battletank	SNES	Simulation
May	Turn and Burn: The F-14 Dogfight Simulator	GB	Action
May 5	Wolfenstein 3D	DOS	FPS
May 25	King of the Monsters 2	Arcade	Fighting
May 29	Ninja Commando	NEO	Shoot 'em up
June	Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge	NES	Sports
June	High Stakes Gambling	GB	Simulation
June	Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis	DOS	Adventure
June 15	Andro Dunos	Arcade	Shoot 'em up
June 19	King of the Monsters 2	NEO	Fighting
July 29	Ecco the Dolphin
August 27	Super Mario Kart		Racing
September 1	Championship Manager	AMI, ATRST
September 24	Art of Fighting	Arcade
September 27	Dragon Quest V
October	Virtua Racing	Arcade	Racing
October	Zool	AMI	Platformer
October 8	Mortal Kombat	Arcade	Fighting
October 15	Night Trap	SCD
October 21	Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins	GB
November	Star Control II
November	Prince of Persia	SNES
November 21	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	GEN
December	Dune II		RTS
December 4	Mega Man 5
December 10	Fatal Fury 2	Arcade, NEO
December 15	Mega Man 5
Unknown	Alone in the Dark		survival horror
Unknown	Flashback	AMI