| Release |
Title |
System |
Developer/Publisher |
Notes |
| January 26 | Guardian Heroes | Sat | Treasure (company)/Sega | a beat-em-up game developed by Treasure |
| January 26 | Mystaria: The Realms of Lore | Sat | Micro Cabin/Sega | a tactical RPG |
| January 29 | Duke Nukem 3D | DOS | 3D Realms/GT Interactive | a popular first person shooter |
| January 31 | Mega Man X3 | SNES | Capcom | third X installment in popular Mega Man franchise. |
| February 9 | Bahamut Lagoon | SNES | SquareSoft | Tactical RPG spin-off in the Final Fantasy series, before Final Fantasy Tactics. |
| February 23 | Front Mission: Gun Hazard | SNES | SquareSoft | Sequel to strategy Super Famicom RPG Front Mission. |
| February 27 | Pokémon Red and Green | GB | Nintendo | launched a wildly popular game series |
| February 29 | Civilization II | Win | MicroProse | acclaimed sequel to the highly influential 1991 4X game |
| February 29 | Rise 2: Resurrection | Win, Sat, PS1 | Mirage/ Acclaim Entertainment | the sequel to the fighting game, Rise of the Robots. |
| February 29 | Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri | DOS | Looking Glass Studios | critically acclaimed FPS |
| February 29 | Zork: Nemesis | Win | Activision | 11th game in the Zork series, employing 360-degree views of environment |
| March 9 | Super Mario RPG | SNES | SquareSoft/Nintendo | unprecedented crossover game which paired a renowned RPG developer with a popular platforming mascot, beginning a long-running series of Mario RPGs |
| March 21 | Kirby Super Star | SNES | HAL Labs/Nintendo | considered to be one of the best games in the Kirby franchise. |
| March 22 | Resident Evil | PS1 | Capcom | one of the foundational games in the survival horror genre, for a time it held the record for best-selling PlayStation game |
| March 22 | Panzer Dragoon II Zwei | Sat | Team Andromeda/Sega | an acclaimed rail shooter |
| March 29 | Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension | SNES | TOSE/Bandai | the last Super Famicom game in the Dragon Ball Z franchise. |
| April 20 | Barbie Fashion Designer | Win | Digital Domain Inc./Mattel Media | The game's strong sales sparked a renewed interest in developing games targeting girls. |
| April 30 | Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures | Win, Mac | LucasArts | Adventure game developed by LucasArts in the popular Indiana Jones franchise specifically to run in windowed form. |
| May 14 | Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | SNES | Intelligent Systems/Nintendo | the fourth game in the popular Fire Emblem series. |
| May 24 | Metal Slug | Neo | SNK | the first in the Metal Slug series that proved popular in the arcades. |
| May 31 | Final Doom | DOS | id Software | Despite the name, it would be followed less than a year later by Doom 64. |
| May 31 | Kirby's Block Ball | GB | HAL Labs/Nintendo | Breakout-inspired game in popular Kirby franchise |
| June 22 | Quake | DOS | id Software | advanced 3D graphics technology and started a franchise that has sold more than 4 million games |
| June 23 | Super Mario 64 | N64 | Nintendo | One of two Nintendo 64 U.S. launch games.[2] An archetype for nearly every 3D platformer which followed it, from the day of release it was widely hailed as one of the greatest games of all time. |
| June 27 | Shining Wisdom | Sat | Camelot Software Planning/Sega | Action adventure game in the Shining series |
| June 30 | Triple Play 97 | PS1, Win | EA Sports | The critically praised first Triple Play game. |
| July 5 | NiGHTS into Dreams... | Sat | Sega | The advertising campaign features the rebirth of the Sega Saturn; August 21 (US) |
| July 19 | Star Ocean | SNES | tri-ace/Enix | the first game in the Star Ocean series. |
| July 25 | The King of Fighters '96 | Neo, NeoCD, Sat | SNK | an entry in the popular King of Fighters series. |
| July 26 | Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition | Sat, PS1 | Taito Corporation/Acclaim | The first home versions of the popular arcade puzzle game. |
| July 31 | Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh | DOS, Win | Sierra On-Line | a controversial sequel to the controversial Phantasmagoria. |
| July 31 | Virtua Fighter Kids | Sat, Arcade | Sega AM2 | a spin-off in the Virtua Fighter series |
| August 25 | Tekken 2 | PS1 | Namco | the second game in the popular fighting game series Tekken |
| August 31 | The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall | Win | Bethesda Softworks | an evolution of the sandbox RPG started with The Elder Scrolls: Arena |
| August 31 | Die Hard Trilogy | Win, PS1, Sat | Probe Entertainment/Fox Interactive | 3 original games in 1 disk, each based on a different movie in the series. |
| August 31 | Tetris Attack | SNES, GB | Intelligent Systems/Nintendo | first release of the popular Panel de Pon series in the US. |
| August 31 | Madden NFL 97 | SMD, PS1, Win, SNES, Sat, GB | EA Sports/Electronic Arts | The first Madden game on gen 5 platforms. |
| August 31 | Jumping Flash! 2 | PS1 | Exact (company)/SCEA | sequel to the PlayStation European launch game. |
| August 31 | Beyond the Beyond | PS1 | Camelot Software Planning/SCEA | The first traditional Japanese-style RPG for the PlayStation |
| August 31 | Jet Moto | PS1 | SingleTrac/SCEA | A jet ski racing game |
| September | Virtua Fighter 3 | Arcade | Sega AM2 | A fighting game considered to have the most technically impressive graphics at the time. |
| September 9 | Crash Bandicoot | PS1 | Naughty Dog/Universal/Sony | Crash was used as the mascot for the PlayStation console. |
| September 14 | GunGriffon | Sat | Game Arts/Sega | critically acclaimed mech game, first in its series. |
| September 20 | Revelations: Persona | PS1 | Atlus | first game in the Persona series, a spin-off series of the Megami Tensei series. Also the first Megami Tensei-related game to release outside Japan |
| September 26 | Pilotwings 64 | N64 | Nintendo | One of two Nintendo 64 U.S. launch games.[2] |
| September 27 | Meridian 59 | Win | 3DO | one of the first MMORPGs. |
| September 30 | Wipeout XL/2097 | PS1 | Psygnosis | a poster child of the PlayStation for pop culture infusions and sleek extreme action |
| September 30 | Shattered Steel | DOS | BioWare/Interplay | first game developed by BioWare |
| September 30 | Street Fighter Alpha 2 | Arcade, SNES, PS1, Sat | Capcom | second game in the Street Fighter Alpha spin-off series |
| September 30 | Mr. Bones | Sat | Zono/Sega | platformer for the Saturn |
| September 30 | Tobal No. 1 | PS1 | DreamFactory/SCEA | fighting game famous for including a demo for Final Fantasy VII. |
| September 30 | Formula 1 | PS1 | Bizarre Creations/SCEA | first racing game developed by Bizarre. |
| September 30 | Donkey Kong Land 2 | GB | Rare (company)/Nintendo | second Donkey Kong Land game |
| October 10 | Mortal Kombat Trilogy | N64, PS1, R-Zone | Avalanche Software, Midway Games, Point of View, Inc. | |
| October 15 | Marathon Infinity | Mac | Bungie | The last game in the Marathon trilogy. |
| October 31 | Command & Conquer: Red Alert | DOS | Westwood Studios | the second major title in the Command & Conquer universe, and one of the most popular |
| October 31 | Master of Orion II | DOS | Simtex/MicroProse | |
| October 31 | The Neverhood | Win | The Neverhood Inc./DreamWorks Interactive | The game is done almost entirely in claymation and has gained a sequel. |
| October 31 | Bubsy 3D | PS1 | Eidetic/Accolade | Noted for its negative reception. |
| October 31 | Drowned God | Win | Epic Multimedia Group/Inscape | Adventure game. |
| October 31 | SimCopter | Win | Maxis | Flight simulation game in popular Sim series. |
| October 31 | King's Field III | PS1 | FromSoftware/ASCII Entertainment | the last of three games in the King's Field series released for the PlayStation. |
| October 31 | DeathDrome | Win | Zipper Interactive/Viacom | First game developed by Zipper Interactive. |
| October 31 | WWF In Your House | DOS, PS1, Sat | Acclaim | First WWF game developed specifically for consoles. |
| October 31 | Twisted Metal 2 | PS1 | SingleTrac/SCEA | Second game in the popular Twisted Metal franchise. |
| October 31 | Destruction Derby 2 | PS1 | Reflections Interactive/SCEA | Second game in the popular Destruction Derby franchise. |
| October 31 | NBA Live 97 | PS1, Sat, SNES, SMD | Electronic Arts, EA Sports | |
| November | Dead or Alive | Arcade | Team Ninja/Tecmo | The first game in the Dead or Alive series of fighting games. |
| November 15 | Tomb Raider | PS1, Sat, DOS | Core Design/Eidos | Action adventure game which was among the year's most critically acclaimed games and proved highly influential on both 3D games development and cinematic presentation |
| November 20 | Sonic 3D Blast | Sat, SMD | Sega/Traveller's Tales | Isometric platformer in the popular "Sonic the Hedgehog" series. |
| November 22 | Donkey Kong Country 3 | SNES | Rare/Nintendo | the third installment to the popular Donkey Kong Country franchise |
| November 25 | Killer Instinct Gold | N64 | Rare/Nintendo | a home fighting game based on the arcade's Killer Instinct 2. |
| November 26 | Area 51 | PS1, Win, Sat | Mesa Logic/Atari Games | Ported versions of the classic arcade shooter. |
| November 30 | Contra: Legacy of War | Sat, PS1 | Konami/Appaloosa Interactive | the first true 3D entry in the popular Contra series |
| November 30 | Dragon Force | Sat | Sega/Working Designs | a combination of war simulation and RPG |
| November 30 | Fighting Vipers | Sat, Arcade | Sega AM2 | a popular fighting game. |
| November 30 | Virtua Cop 2 | Sat, Arcade | Sega AM2 | a popular light gun game |
| November 30 | Virtual On: Cyber Troopers | Sat, Arcade | CRI/Sega | the first game in the Virtual On series |
| November 30 | Bug Too! | Saturn, Win | Sega/Realtime Associates | a sequel to Bug! |
| November 30 | FIFA Soccer 97 | SMD, PS1, Win, SNES, Sat, GB | EA Canada/Electronic Arts | |
| November 30 | The Legend of Oasis | Sat | Sega/Ancient (company) | Sequel to the Genesis Zelda-style action game Beyond Oasis. |
| December 3 | Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire | N64 | LucasArts/Nintendo | one of the first Nintendo 64 games, an action game in the popular Star Wars franchise. |
| December 14 | Mario Kart 64 | N64 | Nintendo | The Mario Kart series first 3D game. |
| December 17 | Mega Man 8 | PS1 | Capcom | The first Mega Man game to be released on PlayStation. |
| December 19 | Terranigma | SNES | Quintet/Nintendo | Popular RPG famous for being released in Europe but not in America, a rarity in the mid-1990s. Also a spiritual successor to Illusion of Gaia. |
| December 31 | Death Rally | DOS | Remedy Entertainment/GT Interactive | the first game developed by Remedy Entertainment. |
| December 31 | Diablo | Win | Blizzard Entertainment | the first chapter in the enormously popular series. |
| December 31 | NBA Hangtime | SMD, PS1, Win, N64, Arcade, SNES | Midway | arcade-style basketball game developed by Midway. |
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