Games Released in December 1992

882 new games debuted in December 1992, with Super Famicom being the most active platform. December 30 was the busiest day, with 35 releases. Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty was the most popular release of the month.

Which days had the most releases?

December 30 saw the most activity with 35 releases.

35 releases

December 30

29 releases

December 18

21 releases

December 11

18 releases

December 31

How did each week compare?

The fifth week of December was the busiest with 56 releases.

Week 1 (December 1–7)

35 releases

Most popular release in Week 1

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

Dune II is often considered the first mainstream modern real-time strategy game and established many conventions of the genre. Even though set in Frank Herbert's famous Dune universe, the game is only loosely connected to the plot of any of the books or the films based from them. Controlling either of the three Houses, the player must fight a number of battles against the other Houses. In the early levels, the goal is simply to earn a certain number of credits, while in the later missions, all enemies must be destroyed. The single resource in the game is the Spice, which must be collected by harvesters. The spice is converted to credits in a refinery, which are then spent to construct additional buildings and units. There are two terrain types: buildings can only be constructed on stone, while the Spice is only found on sand. However, units moving on sand attract the large sandworms of Dune, who are virtually indestructible and can swallow even large units whole. As levels progress, new and more advanced buildings and units are made available, including structures like a radar station, a repair facility or defense turrets and, for units, various ground troops, light vehicles and tanks. Each House can construct one unique special unit, and, after building a palace improvement, can unleash a unique palace effect.

Week 2 (December 8–14)

37 releases

Most popular release in Week 2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The HyperStone Heist

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, released in Europe as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist and in Japan as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return of the Shredder is a side-scrolling beat 'em up based on the comic book characters the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the Sega Genesis.

Week 3 (December 15–21)

51 releases

Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose!

Most popular release in Week 4

Ecco the Dolphin

Life was an adventure for Ecco, the young dolphin. The ocean seemed endless with rolling breakers to race through! At high speed Ecco could burst through the waves leaping through the air – almost flying! Until one day, all of that changed. A freak whirlpool of air and water tore the life from Ecco’s home leaving Ecco all alone. Now he must fight to stay alive, while traversing the vast ocean in search of clues that will help him save his family and return them to the bay.

Week 5 (December 29–31)

56 releases

Most popular release in Week 5

The Incredible Machine

The Incredible Machine is a puzzle game. You have to solve different puzzles by building the incredible machine. You have predefined quantity of given building blocks and you have to build the machine to finish a simple goal. There are many different building blocks like ropes, pulleys, electrical generators, bowling balls, cats, mice and many more. The levels usually have some fixed objects that cannot be moved by the player, so you have to arrange the given building blocks around the fixed items.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

Super Famicom received 35 new titles in December 1992. The runner up was Watara/QuickShot Supervision with 33 new titles.

Super Famicom35 releases

Watara/QuickShot Supervision33 releases

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis19 releases

Game Boy18 releases

Family Computer13 releases

Turbografx-16/PC Engine CD13 releases

Arcade12 releases

PC-9800 Series11 releases

Super Nintendo Entertainment System9 releases

Nintendo Entertainment System8 releases

What genres were most popular?

Platform was the dominant genre in December 1992 with 36 titles. Adventure followed closely with 31.

Platform36

Adventure31

Puzzle31

Shooter31

Sport31

Arcade29

Strategy24

Role-playing23

Fighting14

Simulator12

1992 Review

Nov Jan

January February March April May June July August September October November

December