| Release |
Title |
System |
Developer/Publisher |
Notes |
| January 26 | Guardian Heroes | Saturn | Treasure (company)/Sega | a beat-em-up game developed by Treasure, one of the defining games of the Saturn. |
| January 26 | Blazing Heroes | Saturn | Micro Cabin/Sega | a turn-based strategy game for the Sega Saturn |
| January 29 | Duke Nukem 3D | PC | 3D Realms/GT Interactive | a genre-redefining title for first person shooters |
| January 31 | Mega Man X3 | SNES | Capcom | third X installment in popular Mega Man franchise. |
| February 3 | Radical Dreamers | SNES | SquareSoft | Visual novel pseudo-sequel to legendary RPG Chrono Trigger, would later serve as inspiration for the story for actual sequel Chrono Cross. |
| February 9 | Bahamut Lagoon | SNES | SquareSoft | Turn-based strategy RPG spin-off in the Final Fantasy series, before Final Fantasy Tactics. |
| February 23 | Front Mission: Gun Hazard | SNES | SquareSoft | Sequel to strategy Super Famicom RPG Front Mission. |
| February 27 | Pokémon Red and Green | GB (JP) | Nintendo | launching a wildly popular game series |
| February 29 | Civilization II | PC | MicroProse | acclaimed sequel to the highly influential 1991 turn-based strategy game |
| February 29 | Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri | MS-DOS | Looking Glass Studios | critically acclaimed FPS by the developers who later developed genre-redefining titles such as System Shock 2 and the Thief series |
| February 29 | Zork: Nemesis | PC | Activision | 11th game in the Zork series, employing 360-degree views of environment |
| March | Time Crisis | Arcade | Namco | the first game in the popular light-gun series Time Crisis. |
| March 9 | Super Mario RPG | SFC | Nintendo | beginning a long-running series of Mario RPGs |
| March 21 | Kirby Super Star | SNES (JP) | HAL Labs/Nintendo | One of the last major SNES releases in the US, also considered to be one of the best games in the Kirby franchise. |
| March 22 | Resident Evil | PS1 | Capcom | It is considered to have invented the term "survival horror" |
| March 22 | Panzer Dragoon II Zwei | Saturn | Team Andromeda/Sega | considered to be one of the best games on the Sega Saturn and one of the best on-rail shooters of all-time. |
| March 29 | Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension | SNES (JP) | TOSE/Bandai | the last Super Famicom game in the Dragon Ball Z franchise. |
| April 5 | Tekkyu: True Pinball | PS1, Saturn | Digital Illusions/Ocean (company) | Pinball game by the developers who would go on to develop the Battlefield series of games. |
| April 30 | Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal | PC | Blizzard Entertainment | Expansion pack to popular RTS game WarCraft II. |
| April 30 | Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures | PC | LucasArts | Point-and-click adventure game developed by LucasArts in the popular Indiana Jones franchise. |
| May 14 | Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | SNES (JP) | Intelligent Systems/Nintendo | the fourth game in the popular Fire Emblem series, considered by many to be one of the best entries. |
| May 24 | Metal Slug | Neo-Geo | SNK | the first in the Metal Slug series that has proved extremely popular in the arcades. |
| May 24 | Treasure Hunter G | SNES (JP) | SquareSoft | Obscure Japan-only late-in-life Super Famicom RPG. |
| May 31 | Final Doom | MS-DOS | id Software | the final part of the original Doom series. |
| May 31 | Kirby's Block Ball | GB | HAL Labs/Nintendo | Breakout-inspired game in popular Kirby franchise |
| June 22 | Quake | MS-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 (JP) | Nintendo | the first 3D Mario platformer, as the flagship for their new system. |
| June 30 | Triple Play 97 | PlayStation, PC | The first Triple Play game on gen 5 platforms. |
| July 5 | NiGHTS into Dreams... | Saturn (JP) | Sega | The advertising campaign features the rebirth of the Sega Saturn; August 21 (US) |
| July 19 | Star Ocean | SNES (JP) | tri-ace/Enix | the first of seven games in the Star Ocean series. |
| July 25 | The King of Fighters '96| Neo-Geo, PlayStation, Saturn, GB | SNK | the entry released in the popular King of Fighters series this year. |
| July 26 | Bust a Move 2: Arcade Edition | Saturn | Taito Corporation/Acclaim | The second home console game in the popular puzzle game series Bust-a-Move. |
| July 27 | Shining Wisdom | Saturn | Camelot Software Planning/Working Designs | Action RPG developed by Camelot, the developers who would go on to work on the Golden Sun series and the Mario sports games |
| July 31 | Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh | PC | Sierra On-Line | a controversial sequel to the controversial original. |
| July 31 | Virtua Fighter Kids | Saturn, 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 | The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall | PC | Bethesda Softworks | a notable evolution of the sandbox RPG started with The Elder Scrolls: Arena |
| August 31 | Die Hard Trilogy | PC, PlayStation, Saturn | Probe Entertainment/Fox Interactive | 3 original games in 1 disk, all of them based off the movies. |
| 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 | Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, PlayStation, PC, SNES, Saturn, GB | EA Sports/Electronic Arts | The first Madden game on gen 5 platforms. |
| August 31 | Jumping Flash! 2 | PS1 | Exact (company)/SCEA | sequel to the PS1 launch game. |
| August 31 | Beyond the Beyond | PS1 | Camelot Software Planning/SCEA | RPG developed by Camelot, the team that would go on to develop the popular Golden Sun series. |
| August 31 | Jet Moto | PS1 | SingleTrac/SCEA | PS1 exclusive 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 is used as the mascot for the PlayStation console. |
| September 14 | GunGriffon | Saturn | Game Arts/Sega | mech game published by Sega, first in its series. |
| September 20 | Revelations: 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 | The Nintendo 64 is released in North America.[2] One of two Nintendo 64 launch games, also a sequel to the original Pilotwings. |
| September 26 | Super Mario 64 | N64 (NA) | Nintendo | One of two Nintendo 64 launch games.[2] |
| September 27 | Meridian 59 | Windows | 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 | MS-DOS | BioWare/Interplay | first game developed by BioWare, the developers of the Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect series. |
| September 30 | Street Fighter Alpha 2 | Arcade, SNES, PlayStation, Saturn | Capcom | second game in the Street Fighter Alpha spin-off series |
| September 30 | Mr. Bones | Saturn | Zono Inc./Sega | obscure 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 (video game) | PS1 | Bizarre Creations/SCEA | first racing game developed by Bizarre, the team that would go on to develop the popular Project Gotham Racing series. |
| September 30 | Donkey Kong Land 2 | GB | Rare ltd./Nintendo | second Donkey Kong Land game on the Game Boy |
| October 15 | Marathon Infinity | PC | Bungie Software | The last game in the Marathon trilogy, the FPS series developed by Bungie, who would later go on to create the immensely popular Halo and Destiny franchises. |
| October 31 | Command & Conquer: Red Alert | MS-DOS | Westwood Studios | the second major title in the Command & Conquer universe, and one of the most popular |
| October 31 | Master of Orion II | MS-DOS | Simtex/MicroProse | the sequel to the revolutionary original. |
| October 31 | The Neverhood | PC | The Neverhood Inc./DreamWorks Interactive | The game is done almost entirely in claymation and has gained a sequel. |
| October 31 | Bubsy 3D | PlayStation | Epic Games/Inscape | Considered one of the worst video games of all time. |
| October 31 | Scorched Planet | MS-DOS | Criterion Games/Virgin Interactive | DOS action game by the developers who would go on to develop the Burnout series of games. |
| October 31 | Drowned God | PC | Eidetic/Accolade | Adventure game by the developers of Unreal Tournament and Gears of War. |
| October 31 | SimCopter | PC | Maxis | Flight simulation game in popular Sim series. |
| October 31 | King's Field II | PS1 | FromSoftware/ASCII Entertainment | early game in the King's Field series, the predecessor series to the popular Demon's/Dark Souls series. |
| October 31 | DeathDrome | PC | Zipper Interactive/Viacom | First game developed by Zipper Interactive, the team that would go on to develop the SOCCOM series. |
| October 31 | WWF In Your House | PC, PS1, Saturn | 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 | Reflection Interactive/SCEA | Second game in the popular Destruction Derby franchise. |
| October 31 | NBA Live 97 | PS1, Saturn, SNES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis | Electronic Arts, EA Sports | First NBA game developed for the fifth gen consoles. |
| November | Dead or Alive | Arcade | Team Ninja/Tecmo | The first game in the Dead or Alive series of fighting games. |
| November 15 | Tomb Raider | PC, PS1, Saturn | Core Design/Eidos | It spawns a series of sequels as well as a series of movies. |
| 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 | the sequel to the popular violent fighting game, Killer Instinct. |
| November 26 | Area 51 | PlayStation, PC, Saturn | Mesa Logic/Atari Games | Ported versions of the classic arcade shooter. |
| November 30 | Sonic 3D Blast | Saturn, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis | Sega/Traveller's Tales | Isometric platformer in the popular "Sonic the Hedgehog," series. The only platformer in the series on the Sega Saturn, and the only game in the series developed by Traveller's Tales. |
| November 30 | Contra: Legacy of War | Saturn, PlayStation | Konami/Appaloosa Interactive | game in the popular Contra series, considered to be notably bad. |
| November 30 | Dragon Force | Saturn | Sega/Working Designs | one of the defining RPGs on the Saturn. |
| November 30 | Fighting Vipers | Saturn, Arcade | Sega AM2 | a popular Saturn fighting game. |
| November 30 | Virtua Cop 2 | Saturn, Arcade | Sega AM2 | a popular Saturn light gun game |
| November 30 | Virtua-On: Cyber Troopers | Saturn, Arcade | CRI/Sega | the first game in the Virtua-On series released outside Japan |
| November 30 | Bug Too! | Saturn | Sega/Realtime Associates | an obscure sequel to the Saturn launch game |
| November 30 | FIFA Soccer 97 | Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, PlayStation, PC, SNES, Saturn, GB | EA Canada/Electronic Arts | The first FIFA game on gen 5 platforms. |
| November 30 | Legend of Oasis | Saturn | 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 13 | The Sacred Mirror of Kofun | PC | Enteractive/Future Concepts | the first game to include actual underwater footage, co-produced by Jean-Michel Cousteau |
| December 17 | Mega Man 8 | PS1, (JP) | 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-90s. Also a spiritual successor to Illusion of Gaia. |
| December 27 | Fire ProWrestling S: 6Men Scramble | Saturn | Human Entertainment | The only Saturn game in the Fire ProWrestling series. |
| December 31 | Death Rally | MS-DOS | Remedy Entertainment/GT Interactive | the first game developed by Remedy Entertainment, the team that would go on to develop Max Payne and Alan Wake. |
| December 31 | Diablo | PC | Blizzard Entertainment | the first chapter in the enormously popular series. |
| December 31 | NBA Hangtime | Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, PlayStation, PC, N64, Arcade, SNES | Midway | arcade-style basketball game developed by Midway. |
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