List of best-selling Sega Genesis games

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Sega Genesis, along with its controller

This is a list of Sega Genesis / Mega Drive video games that have sold or shipped at least one million copies, sorted in order of copies sold. The best-selling title is Sonic the Hedgehog, first released in North America on June 23, 1991. Due to being bundled with the console, it sold 15 million copies. The second best-selling game is its sequel, 1992's Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which was also bundled with many consoles with more than 7.55 million copies sold.

List

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games that have sold or shipped at least one million copies
Title Copies sold Release date Developer(s) Publisher(s)
Sonic the Hedgehog 15 million[1][2] June 23, 1991 Sonic Team Sega
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 7.55 million[3][4][5][6][7] November 21, 1992 Sega Technical Institute Sega
6.2 million[a]
  • February 2, 1994
  • October 18, 1994
Mortal Kombat 4.33 million[9] September 13, 1993 Midway Acclaim Entertainment
Disney's Aladdin 4 million[10] October 19, 1993 Virgin Games Sega
John Madden Football '93 3 million[b] December 1992 Electronic Arts Electronic Arts
NHL '94 2.6 million[c] September 1993 Electronic Arts Electronic Arts
Joe Montana Football 2.2 million[d] December 1990 Park Place Productions Sega
Jurassic Park 2.2 million[11] August 10, 1993 BlueSky Software Sega
NBA Jam 1.93 million[12] March 4, 1994 Midway Acclaim Entertainment
Mortal Kombat II 1.78 million[12] September 9, 1994 Midway Acclaim Entertainment
Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition 1.665 million[13] September 27, 1993 Capcom Capcom
Eternal Champions 1.6 million[14] December 11, 1993 Sega Interactive Development Division Sega
Altered Beast 1.4 million[e] August 14, 1989 Team Shinobi Sega
X-Men 1 million[15][16] March 8, 1993 Western Technologies Inc Sega
Mortal Kombat 3 1.02 million[12] October 13, 1995 Midway
Ms. Pac-Man 1 million[17] July 1991 Midway Manufacturing
NFL '98 1 million[18] May 14, 1997
Sega
NFL Football '94 1 million[15] November 1993 BlueSky Software Sega
Sonic Spinball 1 million[15] November 23, 1993 Sega Technical Institute Sega
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 1 million[19][20] November 1994 Nova Sega
Streets of Rage 1 million[f] August 1991 Sega Sega
Sonic 3D Blast 1 million[21] November 1996 Sega

Notes

  1. Once the Genesis sold 20 million, 31% were for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles's game data[8]
  2. Once the Genesis sold 20 million, 15% were for John Madden Football '93's game data[8]
  3. Once the Genesis sold 20 million, 13% were for NHL '94's game data[8]
  4. Once the Genesis sold 20 million, 11% were for Joe Montana Football's game data[8]
  5. Once the Genesis sold 20 million, 11% were for Joe Montana Football's game data[8]
  6. Once the Genesis sold 20 million, 5% were for Streets of Rage's game data[8]

See also

References

  1. Sonic the Hedgehog GameTap Retrospective Pt. 3/4. Event occurs at 1:21. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016.
  2. "Review: Sonic Jam". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 22. August 1997. p. 68. ISSN 1360-9424.
  3. "Saturday Night". Saturday Night. Vol. 111, no. 1–5. Consolidated Press Limited. 1996. p. 92. Archived from the original on 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2023-02-07. Sonic 2 has sold 5-million copies in North America alone.
  4. "Sonic: A brief history". MegaTech. No. 26 (February 1994). United Kingdom: Maverick Magazines. 20 January 1994. p. 24.
  5. "Top-Selling Video Game Titles In UK — 1993 (All Formats)". Screen Digest. Screen Digest Limited: 110. 1994. Archived from the original on 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2023-02-07. 2   Sonic 2   Sega
    nb sales level at number 5 = 400,000 units
  6. "Video game sales scale greater heights". Screen Digest. Screen Digest Limited: 271. 1992. Archived from the original on 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2023-02-07. Initial orders for Sonic The Hedgehog 2 game from Sega suggest it will become best-selling European title to date. First orders from UK, France, Germany, Spain and Austria totalled 1.5m units—0.75m in UK alone, worth £25m at retail.
  7. "Sonic CD Slips Up" (PDF). Sega Force. No. 16 (April 1993). 4 March 1993. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2023. In other news, Sonic 2's enormous overseas success has surprisingly not been matched in Japan. (...) Sega officially claims to have sold 400,000 units.
  8. "Part of VGHF's Michael Shorrock collection, here's the most owned games by Sega Genesis users in 1994, split by 'Sega Channel user' and 'not Sega Channel user".
  9. Kent, Steven L. (2000). The First Quarter: A 25-year History of Video Games. BWD Press. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-9704755-0-3. Archived from the original on 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2023-02-07. Acclaim sold approximately 6.5 million Mortal Kombat cartridges. The Genesis version, which included the original arcade fatality moves, outsold the edited-down Super NES version by nearly three-to-one
  10. Horowitz, Ken (2006-03-28). "Interview: Dr. Stephen Clarke-Willson". Sega-16. Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2018-05-13.
  11. "American Jurassic Boxes Clever". Computer and Video Games. No. 143. October 1993. p. 11.
  12. "US Platinum Videogame Chart". The Magic Box. December 27, 2007. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2008.
  13. "Million titles" (PDF). Company Profile. Capcom. May 2001. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  14. Horowitz, Ken (2016). "Omega Group". Playing at the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games. McFarland & Company. p. 307. ISBN 9780786499946.
  15. "Sega of America in the early 1990s - Sales Year for Sega's Genesis, Game Gear and Sega CD". SEGA Forum. Business Wire. factiva. Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  16. Iwasaki, Eric. "Part-time Artist / Western Technologies, Inc. / jun. 1990 - may. 1994". LinkedIn. Retrieved July 24, 2024. Company's first dedicated video game artist. Despite working summers-only before Fall 1993, made immediate and significant contributions including pixel-pushed 2D animated sprites appearing within SEGA's million-plus selling X-Men for Genesis. Team's first 3D artist - learned 3D Studio Release 3 on personal time, volunteering rendered elements for Trivial Pursuit titles on SEGA CD and Windows.
  17. Cifaldi, Frank. "Retronauts Episode 91: A Tengen Family Reunion". Frank Cifaldi talks to rebellious NES game developers Franz Lanzinger (Toobin', Ms. Pac-Man), Steve Woita (Super Sprint, Police Academy) and Mark Morris (Hard Drivin', 007: License to Kill) about the old days. 1Up.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  18. "FarSight Studio Games: NFL 98". Archived from the original on 2005-02-10. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  19. "Masterpiece Album". Development staff interview with Ryouichi Hasegawa. Sega Corporation. Archived from the original on 2008-03-06. Retrieved 2010-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. "Masterpiece Album (English translation)". English translation of the development staff interview with Ryouichi Hasegawa as published by Sega.jp. romhacking.net. Archived from the original on 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
  21. Horowitz, Ken (2016). "Changing of the Guard". Playing at the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games. McFarland & Company. p. 156. ISBN 9780786499946.