Games Released in December 1988

109 new games released in December 1988, with Family Computer being the most active platform. December 31 was the busiest day, with 22 new releases.

Top Platform

Family Computer

New Releases

109

Busiest Day

December 31

Final Fantasy II

What was the most popular game of December 1988?

Final Fantasy II

Final Fantasy II is the second installment in the Final Fantasy series, developed and published by Squaresoft. It was directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, with Yoshitaka Amano designing the characters and Nobuo Uematsu composing the score. It was notable for being one of the first story-intensive RPGs released for console systems, and introducing many series staples, including chocobos and a character named Cid. Its story is unrelated to the original FINAL FANTASY, and its gameplay is a major departure from the previous title for eliminating the traditional experience-based progression system.

Which days had the most releases?

December 31 saw the most activity with 22 releases.

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Game cover

22 releases

December 31

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20 releases

December 1

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12 releases

December 9

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7 releases

December 16

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat

Thu, Dec 1

20 releases

Fri, Dec 2

3 releases

Sat, Dec 3

1 release

Sun, Dec 4

3 releases

Mon, Dec 5

1 release

Tue, Dec 6

No releases

Wed, Dec 7

No releases

Thu, Dec 8

1 release

Fri, Dec 9

12 releases

Sat, Dec 10

2 releases

Sun, Dec 11

No releases

Mon, Dec 12

No releases

Tue, Dec 13

1 release

Wed, Dec 14

No releases

Thu, Dec 15

3 releases

Fri, Dec 16

7 releases

Sat, Dec 17

3 releases

Sun, Dec 18

3 releases

Mon, Dec 19

2 releases

Tue, Dec 20

4 releases

Wed, Dec 21

2 releases

Thu, Dec 22

4 releases

Fri, Dec 23

4 releases

Sat, Dec 24

6 releases

Sun, Dec 25

2 releases

Mon, Dec 26

2 releases

Tue, Dec 27

No releases

Wed, Dec 28

No releases

Thu, Dec 29

1 release

Fri, Dec 30

No releases

Sat, Dec 31

22 releases

How did each week compare?

The first week of December was the busiest with 28 releases.

Week 1 (December 1–7)

28 releases
Bosconian

Most popular release in Week 1

Bosconian

The object of Bosconian is to score as many points as possible by destroying enemy bases and ships. The player controls a small fighter ship that can move in eight directions and can fire both forward and backward. Each level consists of a number of green space stations that must all be destroyed to advance to the next level (a semi-transparent mini-map helps identify their location). Each station consists of six cannons arranged in a hexagon, surrounding a central core. The player must either destroy all six cannons or shoot the core to destroy a station, and in later levels the core is capable of defending itself. Additionally, the player must avoid or destroy asteroids, mines, and a variety of enemy missiles and ships that attempt to collide with the player's ship. Enemies occasionally launch formation attacks — destroying the leader causes all remaining enemies to disperse, but destroying all enemies in a formation scores extra bonus points. A spy ship (worth a random bonus value) also appears occasionally, which must be destroyed or the enemies will go berserk.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

Family Computer received 29 new titles in December 1988. The runner up was Nintendo Entertainment System with 13 new titles.

Family Computer29 releases
Nintendo Entertainment System13 releases
Sharp X680009 releases
Family Computer Disk System8 releases
Commodore C64/128/MAX7 releases
Amstrad CPC7 releases
PC-8800 Series6 releases
MSX26 releases
ZX Spectrum4 releases
DOS3 releases

What genres were most popular?

Adventure was the dominant genre in December 1988 with 29 titles. Shooter followed closely with 25.

Adventure29
Shooter25
Arcade19
Platform18
Role-playing15
Sport11
Racing9
Visual Novel7
Simulator6
Strategy5
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