1994 - The most interesting Video Game year ever !

[Anthony1]

Ok, first let me start by saying that I'm not trying to say that 1994 was the best year in the history of video games. Personally, I don't think that is the case. But, and the key word is but, but it sure as hell is the most "INTERESTING" year in the History of Video Games, and it won't be easy for a year to come along that will actually be more interesting.


Here is why 1994 was one of the coolest years ever.


1. The Panasonic 3DO had just been released in October 1993, but was just starting to get some good games in 1994, and the future of the system seemed incredibly bright. Ultimately the 3DO would turn out to be somewhat of a dud, but the initial excitement and hype of the possibilities was pretty freaking amazing.

2. The Atari Jaguar had just been released also in October 1993, but it didn't start getting any decent games till 1994 as well. Again, people were super excited that Atari could actually make a comeback. The excitement was definitely there.

3. The Super NES was at it's absolute prime of it's lifespan

4. The Sega Genesis was just barely past it's prime of it's lifespan.

5. The Sega CD was still alive at this point.

6. The Playstation was released in December of 1994 in Japan

7. The Saturn was released in December of 1994 in Japan

8. The 32X was released in November 1994 in the U.S. and turned out to ultimately be a total dud, but still at the time I was excited as anybody, thinking that it would be sweet. The excitement was there.

9. The Turbo Duo was still barely alive

10. The PC Engine was still barely alive

11. The TG-16 was dead in the U.S., but some people still had them with the converters and getting PC engine Hu cards.

12. When did the Neo Geo CD player come out? Did it come out in Japan in 1994? Either it was out or people were still using the regular Neo Geo.


I mean just think of all the shit that was going on in 1994. Then think about all the games that got released in 1994 somewhere in the world.

Please, people expand on this, regarding Pioneer Laseractive, NEX FX, FM Towns Marty, SuperGrafx, etc, etc.

[Raedon]

Final Fantasy 6/3 was released.. EASILY the greatest of the series to date.

(you ff7 fanboys are all 5 years under me.)

The release of Super SFII SNES was up there.

DKC for Snes.. that game is one that still makes the snes amazing.

[Proclus]

1994 was by far my most "active" year as an hardcore gamer (on the Genesis, SNES + 3DO).

[gamegirl79]

Now that I think about it, you guys are right. 1994 was a very busy and fun year for video games.

The Super Game Boy was released in '94. What a cool accessory...no more pea green graphics, AND you got to play GB carts on the big screen!

When I wasn't obsessively playing Street Fighter II Turbo for SNES, I was salivating over the release of the 32x.

I first started reading EGM about this same time too. Back then, weren't the issues massive? Like, 300+ pages?

I remember watching the Donkey Kong Country promo video I got from Nintendo hundreds of times.

I didn't pay much attention to the 3DO other than the infomercials I saw on it (or was that the CD-i? I can't remember).

[DigitalSpace]

I have to mention that 1994 was the year that my favorite game of all time was released: Super Metroid.

Also, Sonic & Knuckles was released on the Genesis. Not only was it a great game, but it was the debut of Sega's lock on cartridge, which allowed you to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2 and 3, and you could access minigames by holding down the A, B, and C buttons on incompatible games. Sadly, Sonic & Knuckles was the only game released on a lock-on cartridge. One can imagine the possibilities.

And Final Fantasy III was my favorite FF game too.

[YoshiM]

Yeah, '94 was a pretty busy year. I remember mags like EGM where just THICK with both ads and content. There were a bunch of systems available and arcades (at least in my area) still had a fair amount of people frequenting them. PC gaming was starting to grow in popularity thanks to the push of "Multimedia PCs", VGA (256+ color) graphics being standard, dropping PC prices and the ease of Windows (even though it was Windows 3.1X).

I remember plunking down $250 bones on my fresh new Sears card for a clearance 486 SX 25 with 4 MB of RAM and a 250MB hard drive Packard Bell. That thing was SCREAMING compared to my 8088 10 MHz (on Turbo) 640K, 20 MB hard drive IBM-PC clone boat anchor.

[digitalpress]

A good year indeed, though a little crowded and very confusing for the consumer. We're lucky the industry didn't collapse AGAIN that year - as I recall, that was a very common topic of discussion back then.

For kicks, punch "94" into the release date in our database. Lotsa great titles released that year.

[Raedon]

A good year indeed, though a little crowded and very confusing for the consumer. We're lucky the industry didn't collapse AGAIN that year .

It was the start of a crash.. Sega started to die that year as consumers were seeing the Saturn but were being told CD 32x. Wasn't the Virtual Boy released in Japan in 94 also?

[MagicMajenta]

And if you were into fighters, 94 was when it was at in the arcades. People watching other people play and waiting their turns on SF2, MK and whatever other fighters were out at that time. Not like now that arcades are dead.

[rolenta]

Another important event occurred in 1994.

The first edition of the first serious videogame history book , Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Home Videogames, was published in 1994.

[it290]

1994 was also the year that Commodore finally went bust.

[TheRedEye]

Pac-Man 2, Earthworm Jim, Donkey Kong Country, and Sonic & Knuckles were all released for the holiday season.

[MegaDrive20XX]

1994 was the year Sega Genesis finally got Konami support from TMNT, Contra, and CastleVania

Sonic the HedgeHog 3 and Sonic and Knuckles was released by 9 months apart just about.

Sonic airred on TV for the first time in two cartoon forms Weekday and Weekend.

Sega finally released the most promotional items of merchandise during that year as well

[NeoZeedeater]

6. The Playstation was released in December of 1994 in Japan

7. The Saturn was released in December of 1994 in Japan

Does anyone know the exact days of release. I remember them coming out close to each other but I'm curious how close they were.

And System Shock deserves a mention for 1994 releases. I didn't play it until almost 5 years after its release but I think it's the most impressive game that year and ahead of its time.

[towerofsong]

1994 was also the year that Commodore finally went bust.

and very depressing that was too

[Graham Mitchell]

I worked at Babbage's during the 94-95 holiday season, and there was so much stuff I wanted. I ended up buying more games that year than any other time because not only did I have a discount there, but there was so much great stuff released. I believe 94 is also the year Super Metroid made it to the US. Lunar: the Silver Star for Sega CD was actually released at the tail end of 93, but it's brilliance wasn't realized until sometime in 94. So all in all, 94 was a great year.

In fact, every year from 89 to about 96 was phenomenal for gaming. After that the Doom clones took over, and dominated everything.

[goatdan]

A good year indeed, though a little crowded and very confusing for the consumer. We're lucky the industry didn't collapse AGAIN that year - as I recall, that was a very common topic of discussion back then.

For kicks, punch "94" into the release date in our database. Lotsa great titles released that year.

That is exactly why I think that the market didn't crash. Consumers still knew that they could get good games from certain places. The crash of 83 was ultimately because of the fact that so many developers were bringing out crap that got drastic discounts immediately, and people didn't know what to buy.

In 94, there was a ton of really quality stuff out. Buying just about any game for $50 or $60 ensured you a pretty darn good game.

Interestingly enough, Sega / Take 2's decision to make NFL 2K5 $20.00 seems to have had a domino effect throughout the industry, and it is interesting to see how many games you can get really, really cheap now and how quickly they go on clearance. This year seems to be mirroring the half of 1983 that didn't happen in 1994, but the industry has avoided a crash because the products aren't bad.

At least, that's how I see it. I don't mind at all though... more games for me at a better price

[squirrelnut]

Yeah but kurt cobain died

[Iron Draggon]

Oh man, 1994 sucked the hell out of my wallet! Luckily though, that was the year that I finally got my $10,000 settlement from my slip & fall case. It only took me 2 months to spend every single dime of it too, all on games & systems. So it's a real good thing that I got that settlement when I did. I wouldn't have half of what I have right now otherwise. And when all of my settlement money was gone, that was when I started ruining my credit with credit cards. I had to keep feeding my addiction by then, and there was no turning back. Until all of my cards were maxed out, and I couldn't get more. But by then, 16BIT was already dead, and 32BIT was rapidly dying too. So it was a great ride, while it lasted. And I'd do it all over again, in a heartbeat!

[Steven]

Ahhh, good ole 1994. I think this was the peak of video gaming and possibly, my life thus far even. Just a lot of GREAT (not just "good") times. Best friend, best video games, plenty of exciting sleepovers spent playing multiplayer Bomberman and NBA Jam... God Damn man... hell, my school teacher in 1994 was also the coolest cat ever!

1994 was also the absolute PEAK of the 2D fighter.

I miss 1994.... but life, as always, stops for nothing or no one... life marches on, continously..