Games Released in April 1994

102 new games released in April 1994, with Super Famicom being the most active platform. April 1 was the busiest day, with 21 new releases.

Which days had the most releases?

April 1 saw the most activity with 21 releases.

How did each week compare?

The fourth week of April was the busiest with 40 releases.

Week 1 (April 1–7)

28 releases
Final Fantasy III

Most popular release in Week 1

Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy III is the sixth main installment in the Final Fantasy series, developed and published by Square. It was the final title in the series to feature two-dimensional graphics, and the first story that did not revolve around crystals. The game gives players up to fourteen playable characters, the largest cast in the series, and features the Active Time Battle pseudo-turn based menu command system. A party can consist of up to four characters, though some events require the player to assemble three different parties of up to four and switch between them. Each character has a unique command ability, such as Terra's Trance, Locke's Steal, Edgar's Tools or Sabin's Blitz, and can also learn Magic spells from earning AP from battles with magicite equipped. Each character's rare Desperation Attack will randomly activate after using the Attack command when at critical health.

Week 5 (April 29–30)

9 releases
NBA Jam

Most popular release in Week 5

NBA Jam

NBA Jam is a basketball arcade game published and developed by Midway in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series. The main designer and programmer for this game was Mark Turmell. Midway had previously released such sports games as Arch Rivals in 1989, High Impact in 1990, and Super High Impact in 1991. The gameplay of NBA Jam is based on Arch Rivals, another 2-on-2 basketball video game. However, it was the release of NBA Jam that brought mainstream success to the genre. The game became exceptionally popular, and generated a significant amount of money for arcades after its release, creating revenue of $1 billion in quarters. In early 1994, the Amusement & Music Operators Association reported that NBA Jam had become the highest-earning arcade game of all time. The release of NBA Jam gave rise to a new genre of sports games which were based around fast, action-packed gameplay and exaggerated realism, a formula which Midway would also later apply to the sports of football (NFL Blitz), and hockey (2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge).

Which platforms saw the most releases?

Super Famicom received 23 new titles in April 1994. The runner up was Super Nintendo Entertainment System with 13 new titles.

Super Famicom23 releases
Super Nintendo Entertainment System13 releases
Arcade9 releases
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis9 releases
DOS8 releases
Game Boy7 releases
Sega CD6 releases
PC-9800 Series6 releases
Sega Game Gear5 releases
FM Towns4 releases

What genres were most popular?

Adventure was the dominant genre in April 1994 with 16 titles. Role-playing followed closely with 14.

Adventure16
Role-playing14
Platform13
Sport13
Shooter12
Puzzle12
Fighting11
Arcade11
Visual Novel7
Racing6