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https://linkto.run/p/6555MXZQ

Between NA, EU and JP, which region was the best this year? Which one produced the most great games, or perhaps those few quality titles that still stand out from the rest to you?

Reference (based on user ratings at various database sites, original release dates):
Text: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ZldIgjpMG4g_P-oHK2YNnmZiUilcW4nvfO_agoBzGM/edit?usp=sharing
Visualized: https://minirevver.weebly.com/good-retro-games-by-region-of-origin.html#

Other good resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKl4RohAauw&t=1m30s
Japan, another nostalgia vote, Resident Evil came out this year and I want mad for that series in my first few years of high school after see resi 1, 2 & 3 round a friends house. Oh and Mario 64, Pilotwings 64 and a couple of other big games and the N64 came out of japan this year.
Still a lot of good games from Japan. Especially for SRPGs with: Fire Emblem 4, Langrisser III, Bahamut Lagoon, Vandal Hearts. But I played those games only in the mid 2000s. Not that much nostalgia for those games.
I guess it's EU this time. Donkey Kong Country 3, Donkey Kong Land 2 and Tomb Raider hold a very special place in my heart.
Looking at NA is kinda weird. So many high profile names of quite some reknown and I only played like 2 of them. Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal and Diablo. Diablo isn't bad, but it's sequel is so much better. I did play some of C&C: Red Alert and Gex, but not for long, so they don't really count as anything.
Went with US for my top 6 games here which took up most of my time back then and I can still go back to and have a lot of fun with. JP is basically on par, I just prefer strategy to its best genres this year. Rough ranking of my faves from this year:
Front Mission: Gun Hazard - SNES (Omiya Soft (some devs from Masaya and Nobuo Uematsu))
Panzer Dragoon Zwei - SAT (Sega CS & Team Andromeda)
Saturn Bomberman - SAT (Hudson)
Mole Mania - GB (Pax Softonica)
Soul Blade - PS1 (1995 ARC port w/ new modes, Namco)
Darius Gaiden - PS1 (1994 ARC port, Nexus Interact, originally by Taito)
Street Fighter Alpha 2 - ARC/PS1/SAT (Capcom)
Battle Garegga - ARC (SAT 1998 (some differences), Eighting/Raizing)
Batsugun - SAT (1993 ARC port, Gazelle, originally by Toaplan)
Kirby Super Star - SNES (HAL/HAL Labs)
Hyper Duel - SAT (incl a remake+a port of the 1993 ARC game, TechnoSoft)
Super Puyo Puyo 2 - SNES (1994 MD/ARC port w/ new modes and balancing, Compile)
Super Puyo Puyo Tsuu Remix - SNES (1994 port w/ new modes, Compile)
Tactics Ogre - SAT (1995 SNES remaster, PS1 1997, Quest)
Tekken 2 - PS1 (1995 ARC port, new modes and chars?, Namco)
Street Fighter Alpha/Street Fighter Zero - SAT (1995 ARC port, Capcom)
Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001 - ARC/NG (Nazca ARC/SNK NG)
DonPachi - SAT/PS1 (1995 ARC port, Cave)
Mega Man 8/Mega Man 8: Anniversary Edition - PS1 (SAT 1997, Capcom)
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen - PS1/SAT (1993 SNES remaster or remake, Artdink PS1/Quest SAT, originally by Quest)
Vandal Hearts - PS1 (SAT 1997/WIN 1998, KCET/Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo)
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara - ARC (Capcom)
Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness - PS1 (Tecmo)
Dragon Quest III - SNES (1988 NES remake, Heart Beat, originally by ChunSoft)
Wave Race 64 - N64 (Nintendo EAD)
Keio Flying Squadron 2 - SAT (Victor Interactive Software)
DoReMi Fantasy: Milon no DokiDoki Daibouken - SNES (Hudson)
Mario Kart 64 - N64 (Nintendo EAD)
NiGHTS Into Dreams... - SAT (Sonic Team)
The House of the Dead - ARC (Sega AM1 & Sega AM4)
Dragon Force - SAT (Sega CS & J-Force)
Shin Kidou Senshi Gundam W: Endless Duel - SNES (Natsume)
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams... - SAT (Sonic Team)
PaRappa the Rapper - PS1 (NanaOn-Sha)
Dead or Alive - ARC (SAT 1997/PS1 1998, Team Ninja)
Nettou Samurai Spirits: Zankuro Musouken/Samurai Shodown III - GB (some differences, Betop)
Fighters Megamix - SAT (Sega AM2)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - SNES (Square, Mario made by Nintendo)
Sakura Taisen - SAT (Sega CS2, Red Company & Nextech)
Resident Evil - PS1 (Capcom)
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete - SAT (1992 MCD remake, PS1 1998/WIN 1999, Game Arts)
Policenauts - PS1/SAT (1995 3DO port, Konami PS1/KCEJ SAT, originally by Konami)
Star Ocean - SNES (Tri-Ace)
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo - ARC/PS1/SAT (Capcom)
Tenchi O Kurau II/Warriors of Fate - SAT (1992 ARC port, Capcom)
Virtua Fighter 3 - ARC (Sega AM2)
Battle Arena Toshinden - GB (different, AI)
The Legend of Oasis/Story of Thor 2 - SAT (Ancient)
Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge/Vampire Hunter: Darkstalkers' Revenge - SAT (1995 ARC port, Capcom)
Super Mario 64 - N64 (Nintendo EAD)
The King of Fighters '96 - SAT/NG/ARC (SNK)
X-Men vs Street Fighter - ARC (Capcom)
Gradius Deluxe Pack - PS1/SAT (Konami)

Die Hard Arcade/Dynamite Deka - ARC (Sega AM1, Sega Technical Institute & Fox Interactive)
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe - MD (Factor 5, originally by Konami)

Command & Conquer: Red Alert - DOS/WIN (Westwood Studios)
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal Expansion - DOS/MAC (Blizzard Entertainment)
Diablo - WIN (Blizzard Entertainment)
Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars - DOS/WIN (New World Computing)
Command & Conquer: Special Gold Edition - DOS (includes Covert Ops, Westwood Studios)
Strife/Strife: Trust No One - DOS (Rogue Entertainment)
Earthworm Jim 2 - PS1/SAT (1995 MD/SNES port, Screaming Pink, originally by Shiny)
Quake - DOS/WIN (SAT 1997, id Software)
PowerSlave/Exhumed - PS1/SAT (some differences, major differences compared to the PC ver., Lobotomy Software)
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - PS1 (WIN 1997, Silicon Knights)
Twisted Metal 2 - PS1 (SingleTrac)
Abuse - DOS (Crack dot Com)
Duke Nukem 3D - DOS (3D Realms)
NHL '97 - MD/SNES (High Score Productions MD/Al Baker and Associates SNES)
FIFA '97 - MD (Extended Play Productions (?) & XYZ Productions)
Road Rash - WIN (1994 3DO port, Buzz Puppet Productions, originally by Monkey Do Productions)
M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault & Exploration - DOS/WIN (Interplay Productions)
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 - SAT/SNES/MD (Eurocom SAT/Avalanche Software SNES/MD, originally by Midway)
Crash Bandicoot - PS1 (Naughty Dog)
The Neverhood - WIN (PS1 1998, The Neverhood)
Soviet Strike - PS1/SAT (EA Tiburon)

Death Rally - DOS (Apogee Software & Remedy Entertainment)

The Settlers II: Veni Vidi Vici - DOS (Blue Byte)
Lords of the Realm II - DOS/WIN/MAC (Impressions Games)
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars/Circle of Blood - DOS/WIN (Revolution Software)
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble - SNES (Rare)
Wipeout XL/WipEout 2097 - PS1 (WIN/SAT 1997, Psygnosis)
Micro Machines Military - MD (Supersonic Software)
Tomb Raider - DOS/PS1/SAT (Core Design)
Killer Instinct 2 - ARC (Rare)
Killer Instinct Gold - N64 (different from KI2 in some ways, Rare)
Pocahontas/Disney's Pocahontas - MD (Funcom)
Syndicate Wars - DOS (Bullfrog Productions)
Slam Tilt - AMI (Liquid Dezign - Sweden)
Post edited January 27, 2021 by ResidentLeever
There are lots of classic games from that year..........
Kings Field III, Resident Evil and Persona- Revelations ensured a Japan win this year. What a great year for Playstation games though.