70 Fun Facts About 90s Video Game

Unlike the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, the Nintendo 64 stored its games on what?

Nintendo cited faster loading and piracy concerns, but the small, costly format pushed third-party publishers such as Square toward Sony.

Sony's PlayStation grew out of a failed deal to build a CD-ROM add-on for which console?

Sony engineer Ken Kutaragi had already supplied the SNES sound chip; when the CD deal collapsed, Sony turned the project into its own console.

At the first E3 in 1995, Sega surprised retailers by launching the Saturn in the US that day at what price?

Sony's answer from the same stage was a one-word price for the PlayStation, $299, and stores left out of the early launch such as KB Toys refused to stock the Saturn.

How many Power Stars are there to collect in Super Mario 64?

Collect all of them and Yoshi appears on the castle roof with a message from the developers and 100 extra lives.

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, what is the name of the fairy who guides Link?

Navi's job was partly to explain Z-targeting to players, and pressing the top C-button calls her for a hint.

Which British studio developed the 1997 Nintendo 64 shooter GoldenEye 007?

Director Martin Hollis's team visited the film set, and MGM let them add sequences and characters that never appeared in the movie.

Doom (1993) was distributed under which model, with its first episode given away free?

id Software gave away episode one and sold the other two, a trick that had already worked for Wolfenstein 3D.

Sonic the Hedgehog made his 1991 debut on which console?

Sega built Sonic to give the Genesis a mascot fast enough to rival Mario, and his blue matched the company logo.

Which company developed the 1991 arcade hit Street Fighter II: The World Warrior?

More than 6.3 million SNES copies were sold, making it the company's best-selling single game for the next 20 years.

Which 1992 fighting game's gory finishing moves helped prompt the creation of the ESRB rating system?

Its digitized actors and Fatalities, along with Night Trap, were the star exhibits at the 1993 US Senate hearings on video game violence.

How many Pokémon are there to catch in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Neither version contains them all; players had to trade over a link cable to complete the Pokédex.

Which puzzle game was bundled with the Game Boy in North America and Europe?

The Game Boy version went on to sell 35 million copies, making it the best-selling edition of the game.

Which Derby-based studio created Lara Croft and the original Tomb Raider (1996)?

Toby Gard, credited as Lara's creator, was the game's lead artist and left the studio soon after its release.

Who is the spiky-haired mercenary protagonist of Final Fantasy VII (1997)?

Cloud claims to be a former 1st Class SOLDIER, a claim the game slowly unravels.

Which studio developed the original Crash Bandicoot (1996) for the PlayStation?

Crash is a genetically enhanced bandicoot created by Doctor Neo Cortex, and the studio later made Crash Team Racing before moving on to Jak and Daxter.

Which FOXHOUND member in Metal Gear Solid (1998) famously 'reads' the player's memory card?

The fight was designed by Hideo Kojima's team of about 20 people; switching your controller to port two breaks his mind-reading.

Which 1996 Shinji Mikami game traps S.T.A.R.S. officers in a zombie-filled mansion?

Its inventory limits, save system and heartbeat monitor became conventions of the whole survival horror genre.

The very first Mario Kart game, released in 1992, ran on which console?

Its Mode 7 tracks and battle mode set the template; a top-four finish earned nine, six, three or one points.

In Donkey Kong Country (1994), who is Donkey Kong's small sidekick hunting the stolen bananas?

The game's pre-rendered 3D look came from Silicon Graphics workstations, and Nintendo commissioned it partly to answer Sega's Aladdin.

Which 1993 first-person puzzle adventure by Cyan was the best-selling PC game for nearly a decade?

Brothers Rand and Robyn Miller made it on Macs; it sold more than six million copies before The Sims overtook it.

Which company created the 1994 3D fighting game Tekken?

Designer Seiichi Ishii had worked on Sega's rival 3D fighter before switching sides.

Outside North America, what name did Sega use for the console sold in the US as the Genesis?

It launched in Japan in 1988 and did poorly there against the Super Famicom and PC Engine, but thrived in Europe, Brazil and the US.

Which 1993 SNES rail shooter was Nintendo's first polygon game, using a Super FX chip?

The Super FX was the first 3D graphics accelerator sold in a consumer product, and Argonaut's Jez San led its design.

Which theoretical physicist does the player control in Valve's Half-Life (1998)?

Half-Life was Valve's debut product, and it told its story without a single cutscene.

StarCraft (1998) is famous for its three balanced playable races. Which of these is one of them?

Terran, Zerg and Protoss each play completely differently, an approach widely credited with revolutionizing real-time strategy.

Diablo (1996) sends players beneath which small town to fight through 16 dungeon levels?

The town grew up next to a ruined monastery, and its theme music became one of PC gaming's most recognisable pieces.

Which musician and his band composed the soundtrack for id Software's Quake (1996)?

Nine Inch Nails' ambient drones set the tone, and the game's nail-gun ammo boxes carry the band's NIN logo.

What is the name of the Allied spy who escapes Castle Wolfenstein in Wolfenstein 3D (1992)?

William Joseph Blazkowicz is an American of Polish descent, and id followed his escape with Doom a year later.

Sega's Dreamcast launched in Japan in November 1998 at what price, selling out by the end of the day?

It reached North America on 9 September 1999, the '9/9/99' launch, and was Sega's last home console.

Which 1997 PlayStation racing sim sold 10.85 million copies, the console's best-seller?

It took Kazunori Yamauchi's team five years, and the studio was renamed Polyphony Digital just before the Western release.

Which studio developed Spyro the Dragon (1998) after its debut shooter Disruptor sold poorly?

Universal Interactive liked Disruptor's reviews enough to fund another game, and the same studio later made Ratchet & Clank.

How many playable characters are in the original Super Smash Bros. (1999) once every fighter is unlocked?

Eight are available from the start and four more, including Ness and Captain Falcon, must be unlocked.

Which Dragon Ball manga creator designed the characters for Chrono Trigger (1995)?

Square called him, Final Fantasy's Hironobu Sakaguchi and Dragon Quest's Yuji Horii the 'Dream Team'.

Which 1993 Sega arcade game was the first fighting game with fully 3D polygon graphics?

Its movement was still restricted to a 2D plane, but its real-world martial arts moves influenced every 3D fighter that followed.

Which 1993 Atari console was marketed as 'the world's first 64-bit game system'?

Critics argued its mix of 32-bit and 64-bit chips did not really make it a 64-bit machine, and it was Atari's last console.

Nintendo's Virtual Boy (1995) displayed its stereoscopic 3D games in which single colour?

It was rushed out unfinished so the company could concentrate on the Nintendo 64, and was gone within a year.

Night Trap, a target of 1993 Senate hearings on game violence, launched on which add-on?

It was a full-motion-video 'interactive movie' from Digital Pictures, and far tamer than the senators suggested.

Which 1994 SNES game stars bounty hunter Samus Aran retrieving a stolen infant from the planet Zebes?

It was the third game in its series and is often credited, with Symphony of the Night, for the 'Metroidvania' genre name.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) hides a second half of the game in what form?

Reaching the Inverted Castle depends on saving Richter rather than killing him, and doubles the map for players who find it.

Which studio developed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, released for the PlayStation in September 1999?

In the UK and Australia it was sold as Tony Hawk's Skateboarding; the studio made eight annual sequels.

In Banjo-Kazooie (1998), what kind of creature is Kazooie, who rides in Banjo's backpack?

She is a 'breegull', a made-up species, and the pair defeat the witch Gruntilda until only her skull is left.

Silent Hill (1999) covered its town in thick fog largely for what reason?

Team Silent turned a hardware limitation into the game's signature atmosphere, hiding pop-in behind fog and darkness.

Which 1996 PlayStation game about a rapping dog is considered the first true rhythm game?

Music producer Masaya Matsuura and artist Rodney Greenblat set the template later followed by Bemani and Harmonix games.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) introduced which two-tailed fox as Sonic's sidekick?

His full name is Miles Prower, a pun on 'miles per hour', and a second player can grab a controller and steer him at any time.

Which studio developed Age of Empires (1997) for Microsoft?

The team built the campaigns with the same Scenario Builder that shipped in the box for players.

In Command & Conquer (1995), the Global Defense Initiative fights which cult-like faction led by Kane?

Westwood conceived it while finishing Dune II, and the two sides fight over the alien mineral Tiberium.

Sid Meier's Civilization (1991) was published by which company?

Meier and Bruce Shelley designed it after Railroad Tycoon; Meier's name went on the box because the publisher wanted a recognisable brand.

Which limbless hero was created by Michel Ancel for a 1995 Ubi Soft platformer?

Ancel dreamt him up as a teenager; the game targeted the Atari ST and then a SNES CD add-on before landing on Atari's 64-bit console.

EarthBound (1994) follows a boy named Ness. Under what title was it released in Japan?

Writer Shigesato Itoi and programmer Satoru Iwata returned from the first Mother, and its soundtrack borrows salsa, reggae and dub.

Kirby's Dream Land (1992) was the debut game of which designer, later famous for Super Smash Bros.?

Kirby was drawn as a placeholder blob that HAL kept, and the Game Boy's monochrome screen meant many players didn't know he was pink.

Which 1999 game about catching escaped monkeys was the first to require the DualShock controller?

Its controls are built around both analog sticks, and the villain is an ape named Specter made clever by an experimental helmet.

Sony's 1997 DualShock phased out the original PlayStation pad and which short-lived predecessor?

The DualShock went on to become the best-selling gamepad of all time, not counting controllers bundled with consoles.

Which Nintendo 64 game was the first to support the Rumble Pak, which came bundled with it?

Its 'do a barrel roll' line is technically an aileron roll, and the Rumble Pak ran on batteries with a single motor.

Sonic & Knuckles (1994) let you plug a second game into a hatch on top. What was this feature called?

Attaching Sonic 3 created the combined Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and attaching Sonic 2 let you play that game as Knuckles.

The 1991 puzzle game Lemmings was originally developed for which computer?

Its Scottish developer DMA Design later became Rockstar North and made Grand Theft Auto.

The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer console format was conceived by the founder of which game publisher?

Trip Hawkins licensed the design instead of building hardware; Panasonic made the first machines in 1993 at a steep $699.

SNK's Neo Geo home console launched in 1990 at what US price, then the most expensive ever for a console?

It began as a rental system for Japanese game shops because it was too costly to sell, and its games ran the same hardware as the arcade versions.

Who is the would-be pirate hero of The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)?

Ron Gilbert designed it with Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman, making the hero's death almost impossible.

How did SimCity 2000's viewpoint differ from the original SimCity?

Will Wright and Fred Haslam's 1993 sequel later reached the Saturn, SNES and PlayStation.

Which studio developed Duke Nukem 3D (1996)?

Jon St. John voiced Duke; the game is grouped with Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake as an FPS popularizer.

In Fallout (1997), what must the Vault Dweller find to fix the Vault's failed water system?

Interplay's turn-based RPG is set decades after a nuclear war between the United States and China.

Baldur's Gate (1998) was the first game built on which BioWare technology?

Interplay reused it for Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment in the Forgotten Realms setting.

Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994) casts the player as a pilot for which side?

Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, it followed up X-Wing with Gouraud shading.

Whose space-combat game Wing Commander launched Origin Systems' franchise in 1990?

It debuted on MS-DOS in September 1990 and was later ported to the Amiga, Sega CD and SNES.

Secret of Mana (1993) was released in Japan under what title?

Its predecessor had been sold as Final Fantasy Adventure in North America and Mystic Quest in Europe.

Which Sega studio produced the first three Panzer Dragoon games for the Saturn?

Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998) is the RPG exception in a series of rail shooters; Smilebit later made Orta for Xbox.

In Nights into Dreams (1996), which evil ruler threatens the dream world Nightopia?

Sonic Team's Saturn game follows teenagers Elliot and Claris flying with the exiled Nightmaren Nights.

Bubsy, Accolade's 1993 platform mascot, is what kind of animal?

Michael Berlyn's character borrowed from Mario and Sonic; the disastrous Bubsy 3D (1996) put the series on hold.

In Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994), what is Wario trying to buy with his treasure?

Wario had been the villain of Super Mario Land 2 before getting his own Game Boy spin-off.

Killer Instinct (1994) was developed by Rare and first released in arcades by which publisher?

Nintendo published the SNES and Game Boy ports the following year, and Acclaim Comics adapted the story.