1987

51 games in archive from 1987

Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Mega Man — and the PC Engine

Few years introduced as many long-running series as 1987: Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Mega Man, Street Fighter and Contra all debuted. NEC's PC Engine opened the fourth console generation in Japan, the NES was the world's best-selling system, and Sega's Out Run was the year's top-grossing arcade game.

PC Engine (30 October)

NEC released the PC Engine in Japan on 30 October, beginning the fourth generation of consoles.

Final Fantasy (18 December)

Square released Hironobu Sakaguchi's Final Fantasy for the Famicom in Japan; it would not reach the United States for three years.

Zelda Comes West

The Legend of Zelda reached America and Europe on 22 August and sold over a million copies in the US that year, while its sequel, Zelda II, had already appeared in Japan in January.

Out Run Rules the Arcade

Sega's Out Run was the highest-grossing arcade game worldwide, and its home versions made it the best-selling game of the year in the UK.

A Year of First Instalments

Many of the medium's longest-running series began in 1987. Konami released Metal Gear on the MSX2 in July and Contra in the arcades in February; Capcom released the first Street Fighter in August and Mega Man in December; Square released Final Fantasy the following day; and Sega released Phantasy Star for the Master System, a role-playing game led by a woman. Technōs Japan's Double Dragon and Irem's R-Type set the standard for the beat 'em up and the scrolling shooter, and Konami followed Castlevania with Simon's Quest.

In Japan the year's biggest home game was Enix's Dragon Quest II, which went on to sell 2.4 million copies.

Computers and the New Console Generation

On computers, Lucasfilm Games released Maniac Mansion, the first game built on its SCUMM engine, and Sierra released Leisure Suit Larry. IBM launched the PS/2 line, bringing VGA graphics and 3.5-inch floppy drives to the PC, and Commodore released the Amiga 500. In October NEC's PC Engine arrived in Japan, beginning the generation in which Nintendo's dominance would finally be contested. Meanwhile, SSI acquired the licence for Dungeons & Dragons, which led to its Gold Box role-playing games.