Games Released in October 1996

160 new games released in October 1996, with PlayStation being the most active platform. October 31 was the busiest day, with 37 new releases.

Top Platform

PlayStation

New Releases

160

Busiest Day

October 31

What was the most popular game of October 1996?

Pokémon Blue Version

Pokémon Blue is the third core series Pokémon game released as a minor revision of Pokémon Red and Green, which were released earlier that year. It was thus the first solitary version in the core series of Pokémon games. Various fixes in the game include a graphics and sound upgrade, as well as the removal of several known glitches that had been found in the original pair. Outside of Japan, its graphics, game engine and script formed the basis of Pokémon Red and Blue, while the wild Pokémon and game-exclusive Pokémon lists were changed to match Red and Green.

Which days had the most releases?

October 31 saw the most activity with 37 releases.

37 releases

October 31

20 releases

October 4

20 releases

October 25

17 releases

October 1

How did each week compare?

The fifth week of October was the busiest with 46 releases.

Week 1 (October 1–7)

45 releases

Most popular release in Week 1

Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars

Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing and published in 1996 by the 3DO Company. The game is the second installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic series and is typically credited as the breakout game for the series. Heroes II was voted the sixth-best PC game of all time by PC Gamer in May 1997.

Week 2 (October 8–14)

19 releases

Most popular release in Week 2

Circle of Blood

Circle of Blood is a 2D adventure game played from a third-person perspective. The player uses a point-and-click interface to interact with the environment and to guide protagonist George Stobbart through the game's world. To solve puzzles and progress in the game, the player collects items that may be combined with one another, used on the environment, or given to non-player characters. The protagonist converses with NPCs via dialogue trees presented through "conversation icons" to learn about the game's puzzles and plot. Clues and other information are obtained by clicking on items in the inventory and on objects in the environment. The player navigates with a map, to which new locations are added as the story unfolds. Unlike in most adventure games at the time, the protagonist's death is possible, after which the player starts from the last save point.

Week 3 (October 15–21)

30 releases

Most popular release in Week 4

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider is a 3D action game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. The game follows the exploits of Lara Croft, a British female archaeologist in search of ancient treasures. The objective of Tomb Raider is to guide Lara through a series of tombs and other locations in search of treasures and artifacts. On the way, she must kill dangerous animals and other creatures, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artifact. The game was critically acclaimed and widely influential, it spawned a number of sequels and a franchise of related media.

Week 5 (October 29–31)

46 releases

Most popular release in Week 5

The Neverhood

The game follows the adventure of a claymation character named Klaymen as he discovers his origins and his purpose in a world made entirely out of clay.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

PlayStation received 65 new titles in October 1996. The runner up was PC (Microsoft Windows) with 50 new titles.

PlayStation65 releases

PC (Microsoft Windows)50 releases

Sega Saturn26 releases

DOS12 releases

Mac11 releases

Arcade6 releases

Game Boy4 releases

Super Famicom4 releases

Satellaview3 releases

Super Nintendo Entertainment System3 releases

What genres were most popular?

Adventure was the dominant genre in October 1996 with 33 titles. Shooter followed closely with 33.

Adventure33

Shooter33

Puzzle21

Sport21

Simulator20

Strategy19

Fighting15

Platform14

Racing12

Arcade12

1996 Review

Sep Nov

January February March April May June July August September

October

November December