Games Released in January 1988

46 new games released in January 1988, with Family Computer being the most active platform. January 1 was the busiest day, with 14 new releases.

Top Platform

Family Computer

New Releases

46

Busiest Day

January 1

Super Contra

What was the most popular game of January 1988?

Super Contra

Super Contra is a Run and Gun-style action game produced by Konami, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is the sequel to the original Contra and the second game in the Contra series released for the arcades. Like in the original game, the game centers on soldiers Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, who are once again assigned to protect the Earth from an army of alien invaders. The game features standard side-scrolling stages, as well as all new overhead stages in lieu of the original game's "3D" stages.

Which days had the most releases?

January 1 saw the most activity with 14 releases.

Game cover
Game cover

14 releases

January 1

Game cover
Game cover

4 releases

January 12

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Game cover

4 releases

January 15

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Game cover

3 releases

January 18

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat

Fri, Jan 1

14 releases

Sat, Jan 2

1 release

Sun, Jan 3

No releases

Mon, Jan 4

1 release

Tue, Jan 5

1 release

Wed, Jan 6

No releases

Thu, Jan 7

2 releases

Fri, Jan 8

1 release

Sat, Jan 9

1 release

Sun, Jan 10

No releases

Mon, Jan 11

No releases

Tue, Jan 12

4 releases

Wed, Jan 13

No releases

Thu, Jan 14

1 release

Fri, Jan 15

4 releases

Sat, Jan 16

2 releases

Sun, Jan 17

No releases

Mon, Jan 18

3 releases

Tue, Jan 19

No releases

Wed, Jan 20

No releases

Thu, Jan 21

1 release

Fri, Jan 22

3 releases

Sat, Jan 23

1 release

Sun, Jan 24

No releases

Mon, Jan 25

No releases

Tue, Jan 26

No releases

Wed, Jan 27

3 releases

Thu, Jan 28

No releases

Fri, Jan 29

1 release

Sat, Jan 30

No releases

Sun, Jan 31

3 releases

How did each week compare?

The first week of January was the busiest with 19 releases.

Week 1 (January 1–7)

19 releases
Wasteland

Most popular release in Week 1

Wasteland

The game mechanics were based directly on those used in the tabletop role-playing games Tunnels and Trolls and Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes created by Wasteland developers Ken St. Andre and Michael Stackpole. Characters in Wasteland consequently have various statistics (strength, intelligence and luck among others) that allow them to use different skills and weapons. Experience is gained through battle and through use of skills. The game would generally let players advance with a variety of tactics: to get through a locked gate, a player could use his picklock skill, his climb skill, or his strength attribute; or he could force the gate with a crowbar - or a LAW rocket. The initial band of Desert Rangers encountered a number of NPCs as the game progressed who could be recruited into the party of up to seven. Unlike those of other computer RPGs of the time, these NPCs might temporarily refuse to give up an item or perform an action if ordered to do so. The game was also noted for its high and unforgiving difficulty level and for such combat prose as "reduced to a thin red paste" and "explodes like a blood sausage", which prompted an unofficial PG-13 sticker on the game packaging in the United States. Wasteland was one of the first games featuring a persistent world, where changes to the game world were stored and kept. Returning to areas later in the game, one would find them in the state one left them in, instead of being reset to their original state, as was common for games of the time. Since hard drives were still rare in home computers in 1988, this meant the original game disk had to be copied first, as the manual instructed one to do.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

Family Computer received 13 new titles in January 1988. The runner up was DOS with 6 new titles.

Family Computer13 releases
DOS6 releases
Family Computer Disk System5 releases
Arcade4 releases
Sega Master System/Mark III4 releases
Nintendo Entertainment System4 releases
Atari ST/STE2 releases
Amiga2 releases
Apple II2 releases
PC-9800 Series2 releases

What genres were most popular?

Shooter was the dominant genre in January 1988 with 10 titles. Adventure followed closely with 9.

Shooter10
Adventure9
Arcade8
Platform7
Sport7
Role-playing6
Simulator4
Turn-based strategy3
Hack and slash3
Card & Board Game3
1988 Review
DecFeb