1994 Year in Gaming: What Was Your Favorite Release?

[@DreamcastQ]

94 was such an incredible exciting year of gaming to live through

[@mecha2001]

Earthworm Jim (Genesis), Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct (arcade) yeah, 1994 was wild

[@theredshadow401]

For me, 1994 was all about Donkey Kong Country and Super Metroid, with Super Metroid getting the title of my favorite of that year. It's in my top 10 favorites of all time.

[@bawitback]

My top 10 favorite games of 1994 in no particular order - Mega Man X2, Gunbird, Pocky & Rocky 2 (Kiki Kaikai: Tsukiyo Soushi), Dynamite Headdy, Umihara Kawase, RayForce (Layer Section), Elevator Action² Returns, Virtua Fighter 2, Killer Instinct, Puyo Puyo Tsuu.

[@2Plus2isChicken2013]

My favorite game of all time came out in 1994 and that’s Final Fantasy III (or VI). I got it for Christmas that year along with Donkey Kong Country and Wario Land, two other games released that year that rank among my favorites of all time. Super Metroid is another one.

[@Eagleknight815]

Final Fantasy VI is the one that's ingrained with me forever. Hours and hours playing that game and loving that story. I finished another playthrough earlier in April as my own 30th anniversary edition to the game. Have a great time at Portland!

[@chemergency]

Super Metroid is a good contender for the best 2D action-adventure game ever made, the best game on the SNES, and the best game of the 90's.

[@sherekhangamedev]

What a great packed year, indeed. Impossible for me take just one, because there are many that I have fond memories about. But, one of the few games I have physically nowadays is Donkey Kong 94: sealed copy (player's choice) because I have a good childhood memory about it and I wanted to crystallize it with a sealed copy 12 years ago. Thanks, John, this is amazing! The Expo will rock!

[@RayPruitt-ji9jx]

A 1994 memory that stands out for me: I pre ordered Donkey Kong Country from Electronics Boutique. A few days before the official release date of November 21st, I came home and found a message on my answering machine, it was EB telling me that they have DKC ready for me. I rush right over to purchase it, and played the heck out of it. My sister and her husband were impressed by the graphics, even saying it was almost too much and just unbelievable.

[@SP-vl1jh]

One of my memories of that year was eagerly awaiting MK2 to be released on the SNES and Genesis. I skipped school that day so I could rent it. I was so desperate to play it that I asked my neighbor if I could borrow her car to go and rent it. I was 16 at the time. lol

[@BryanTruong]

Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Earthworm Jim, Dynamite Headdy, Streets of Rage 3, Crusader of Centy, Mickey Mania, Castlevania Bloodlines, Beyond Oasis, Jurassic Park Rampage Edition, Contra: Hard Corps, Monster World IV, Panorama Cotton

[@FalcomScott312]

I love watching your videos, John & my favourite one from 1994 is Super Metroid for the SNES.

[@kjhoskins]

Great collection, John. Thanks for sharing. I loved so many of those games, but Tie Fighter was fantastic, especially with me being a huge Star Wars fan. Thanks for the video!

[@johnhancockretro]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@kaminobatto]

FIFA Soccer 94 was my first ever soccer game, and I even used to play full 45-minute halves! Gex took a lot of my time, so did Need for Speed, Night Trap, and Road Rash on the 3DO. I was more of a Nintendo guy back then, so MKII and Donkey Kong Country were very big hits for me. On the Jaguar I had Alien VS Predator and Doom, but I only tried them out and never really got to playing them. Some other games I played quite a lot in 1994 were NBA Jam Tournament Edition and International Super Star Soccer, not sure if either is present in the collection and if I missed them. Also, I didn't see any New Geo CD games. I was obsessed with Street hoops, Samurai Showdown II, and the Art of Fighting. That said, I just realized that it's been 30 years since all this! You can beat me and slap me as much as you'd like but I can never believe that it's been this long. Another way to look at it is that your perception of time changes completely as you get older. In any case, 1994 remains one of my favorite years of all time! It's the year I began to work and the year my parents finally gave up on censoring which movies I watch with Brainscan and The Professional Leon being two of my favorites that year and two of my top movies of all time!

[@mumfnah]

I reckon Micro Machines 2 must've been a competitor for one of the games we played most. Back in the good ol' couch co-op gaming, we sat up nights on end playing that i remember

[@AngryCalvin]

The year I graduated from high school. By this time I was going full throttle into PC gaming. But all the hype was on like Donkey Kong. My cousin who had a Sega Genesis rented an SNES and Donkey Kong Country and we were all psyched playing it. Especially since I was working at Fred Meyer electronics for Christmas help at the time and was experiencing all the hype firsthand. The visuals were stunning. The pinnacle of 16-bit gaming. While I was more interested in the 32-bit future at the time and had my eyes on the Atari Jaguar while Sega Saturn was about to release… I was absolutely blown away by what Donkey Kong Country had to offer. As a young kid going to the arcades when Donkey Kong was the big thing. And experiencing different versions of Donkey Kong at home. I was thrilled to have a comeback. Still a thrill to play it this day and a big reason I bought a Super Famicom mini.

[@ricsw9303]

Incredible collection you have and feeling amazed and jealous at the same time. I was a PC gamer for the longest time and have a ton of PC games during the 90's era which ironically I can't play right now but hold on to for sentimental reasons mostly. Still seeing those games you have brings back the fond memories of those yester-years just as easily as when I look at my PC games.

[@VerySadPenguin]

Quarantine is one of my top 10 games, I absolutely loved it. Driving a taxi in some post apocalyptic world, adding upgrades to your cab such as chainsaw bumpers and gattling guns, all set to an awesome soundtrack of Aussie punk bands. Love that one... it was available on pc as well, definitely worth a playthrough.

[@stepsgaming]

Can't wait to see the collection at the Expo! I will be there with Give Kids the World Village.

[@64-Bit-Gamer]

Tempest 2000 gets my vote!

[@markjones5647]

Back when u was 20 years old man there's so many to choose from Mr Hancock

[@robzo87]

I was 7 years of age in the mighty 94 era of gaming, and SEGA was my entertainment system connected to a television that was releasing games of that time. Earthworm Jim, Sonic the hedgehog 3, Sonic and Knuckles, and when we are talking about gameboy there was Donkey Kong ‘94! My cousin had the SNES so there was donkey Kong country, super Metroid, Castlevania, and so much more! Arcade was another year of greatness with Alien VS Predator, killer instinct, primal rage, x-Men children of the atom, samurai showdown II, and probably a lot more that I can’t name right off the bat. I’m glad Tyler from my retro game introduced us to you. Awesome collection man!

[@johnhancockretro]

Thank you! Tyler is an amazing person!

[@robzo87]

@@johnhancockretro Agreed! And you are as well. Happy Sunday 🙏🏼

[@seekah1]

I still remember picking up my Gameboy back in the day, was so amped...it came bundled with Spiderman and Tetris, got so much fun out of it, happy days!

[@zacharygoode1107]

Dynamite Headdy is one of the best games of the 90s. It's definitely a challenge but the gameplay and music are still awesome.

[@justice4all72]

1994 was an excellent year of gaming! Had my SEGA Genesis and was around this time I really got hooked on games as a kid

[@dbfalcao]

It's just amazing! I would say the 3DO games, because in an awkward way, it was the console that I was in touch in the 5th generation, in 1994. Thanks for Sharing! Big Hugs!

[@jameskozy7254]

I like this video idea. Would love to see a 2017 one at some point. That year was insane

[@JayRCela]

Hi there John, another great video,/ in regard's to the 3DO / I wish you could have mentioned, Star Blade, an awasome arcade classic by Namco that was released for the consone along with 2 others, Sega CD and Sony PS , sadly this was not untill 1995.

[@darthwiizius]

For me '94 was all about Donkey Kong Country and Tempest 2000. DKC was groundbreaking and rave culture was alive and larging it, T2000 was perfect for the post party vibe (Not sure the neighbours saw it quite like that though).

[@rbdriftin]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles

[@RetroWasteLand81]

1994 was a great year for video games. The Genesis and the SNES were in their prime and computer games were mind blowing during this time. I don’t know that I have had as much excitement for video games as I did in 1994.

[@maxstoner5527]

Shining Force 2 was my favourite game for a few years. Loved this game. I’ve only got the cart and haven’t played it in a long time.

[@litjellyfish]

I miss Combat Cars (Accolade) in your collection. It’s my favorite because I made the graphics and it was the first console game I worked professionally on and it more or less started my career in game development :)

[@comchia4306]

Off the top of my head: i think TIE Fighter, Wing Commander III, and Fleet Defender are my favourite 1994 games. MS-DOS was absolutely goated back then, and got me started on the PC Master Race early.

[@JGKingCrusher]

This year was all about the 3DO for me! Loved that system! I was fortunate enough to have them all at the time. We ran a pool hall / game shop so I had to keep our inventory up to date! 🙂 As far as popularity in our store, the 3DO was actually the most played, with Need For Speed being the #1 requested title. Jaguar was actually last.

[@SP-vl1jh]

Super Metroid is my favorite game of all time. In May of 1994 my mom took us to Blockbuster to rent some movies and games. I rented Super Metroid and completely fell in love with it.

[@jasonshouseoffunandvideoga7169]

Great vid. According to my CLZ app for cataloging my collection, the majority of the collection comes from this year. Very difficult to pick from here but it has to be the sega cd. I find it interesting that night trap for the 3do didn't have a rating on the box. Didn't look like any did. ☝️💪🙌✨️

[@Astro_Zombie92]

Love this type on content.

[@johnhancockretro]

Thank you very much!

[@branmuffin411]

I turned 6 in 1994. I got a Sega Genesis for my birthday. It was my first console. It came bundled with Sonic Spinball, so for a while that was the only game I owned. I never got past level 2. But I got to rent games from the video store a couple times a month. My favourite game from 1994 was Earthworm Jim. For a long time I couldn’t get past level 2 in that one either (I sucked pretty bad when I was a kid) But later in life I came back to EWJ and beat the game. The surreal humor and art style was so unique. I was totally gutted when they canceled the new EWJ that was going to be on the Amico.

[@kbrsretrogameroom327]

A lot of good games that year. I got Sonic 3 as soon as it came out and it was one of my favorite on the console at that time. 1994 was also the year I added a CD-Rom to my 486DX I owned at the time and I was really into playing point & click adventures (mostly Sierra Online and Lucasfilm) at that time as well.

[@mattbuck]

Favorite game release of 1994 and of my life time goes to drumroll....... Super Metroid!

[@Hoodooter]

Thinking about this... It was my first year post High School, living with a bunch of friends and working at at video game store. It was a great year for us vidiots. Here is a sample of what I was playing back then. PC Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, Wing Commander III, Star Wars: TIE Fighter, DOOM 2, Theme Park, and Elder Scrolls Sega Genesis/CD Dune: Battle for Arrakis, Sonic 3, Shadowrun, Castlevania Bloodlines, Snatcher, Rock n' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings SNES Final Fantasy III (U.S. Release), Earthbound, Super Metroid, Breath of Fire, Robotrek, Super Return of the Jedi, Super Punch Out, Donkey Kong Country, and Uniracers

[@compaq98sc]

To many great games in 94 to pick a clear winner. Comes down to type of game you loved

[@catholicactionbibleonlyist1813]

1994: the year I go my Sega genesis This is also the year my 6th birthday was a super Mario theme birthday party Sonic 3 & Knuckles

[@renkitty]

Not an easy choice -- mid 90s through mid 00s were such a wonderful time for the medium! For 1994... probably between Darius Gaiden, Castlevania Bloodlines, Super Metroid, or System Shock! Donkey Kong '94 also has a special place in my heart but I don't love it quite on the same level for it to be a top contender. Oh yeah, and Mother 2 is another obvious option, just never fell in love with it as much as with the first or third entries myself. Awesome awesome games. I'd argue things start getting even better toward the end of the decade, but '94 has sooooo many great things! Makes me wish I'd gotten to try them back when they came out, but the joy of the present is getting to discover all sorts of great games from every year.

[@TheTubulartube]

home release of MK2 was such a big deal for us as kids. training for the arcade baby!

[@khreativa]

NBA Jam and Windjammers are two of THE best arcade sports games ever released.

[@stringanime]

Dynamite Headdy, just might be the most creative game of that year.

[@sneakysquidgaming916]

Mega Man X, Maximum Carnage, and Pitfall are some of my favorites from 1994

[@ItsMeMattCarter]

Shining Force II. Its literally my fav game of all time.

[@smoothALOE]

I gotta go with Sonic & Knuckles and Donkey Kong Country, above all else. Outside of those games, I was mostly focused on sports titles in those days.

[@alpiston]

1994-95 had some great games. Golden year.

[@ClassicDOOM]

Doom II. :)

[@johnhancockretro]

Huge release and excellent year for PC gaming.

[@popeyedoyle6360]

What a powerful year.

[@LordelX]

1994...Final Fantasy VI (known as Final Fantasy III back then) blew us away. Super Metroid and Donkey Kong Country were awesome, but that opera scene...

[@astuteboy]

Donkey Kong Country was great (think I got that for Christmas) but the game I enjoyed most in 1994 on the SNES was Super Empire Strikes Back (I think the US got it in late 93). I remember it cost me £50 which was all the money I had saved as a 12 year old!

[@MikeChimeri]

My favorite 1994 games, in order of appearance: Genesis: Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles (Sonic 3 & Knuckles), World Series Baseball, WWF Raw SNES: Donkey Kong Country, Jeopardy! Sports Edition, Tetris & Dr. Mario, Wheel of Fortune Deluxe Edition NES: Wario's Woods (I also liked the SNES version with the voice samples, including the Joey Russo [Joey Lawrence] "whoa!" from "Blossom") Game Boy: Donkey Kong

[@mjdf122]

1994 Final Fantasy VI Donkey Kong Country Earthworm Jim King of Fighters 94 NBA Jam Ridge Racer Virtua Fighter Vampire The Night Warriors Daytona USA Mortal Kombat II Alien vs Predator Doom I Doom II Super Street Fighter II Sonic 3 & Knuckles Super Metroid Aladdin Killer Instinct Tekken Phantasy Star IV Need for Speed tons of great games that year blessed to see and have all from 1980-Now

[@Metal-Josh]

My favourite is no secret. Favourite game of all time: sonic 3 & Knuckles. Branching paths and variety in play styles, sonic hasn’t gotten better since in my opinion. I notice Zoda’s Revenge, one of if not the last NES games by Nintendo. Epic game, my only criticisms of this series (which we really need it to come back) was the first Mike Jones is too stiff, this one he’s too slippery. But beyond that, great game, both were. I couldn’t help but notice your case of Power Rangers for Genesis wasn’t the one I remember, the one I remember was just the five rangers with a black background. Variations on packaging didn’t really happen back then, so I’m curious

[@michaelt.lancaster9776]

It was Mortal Kombat that steered me to get a Genesis. Still miss it.

[@tonybarnes2920]

Well, if I'm being biased, my favorites from 1994 are; Need for Speed 3DO, Road Rash 3DO, Madden and Bill Walsh, and Urban Strike. 😉 But if we're talking about my favs, that would probably be; Contra Hard Corps, Beyond Oasis, CastleVania Bloodlines, Super Punch-Out, Donkey Kong Country.

[@matthewnikitas8905]

Donkey Kong Country has to be my fav but I like Beyond Oasis too

[@michaelkeller5927]

I LOVED Tie Fighter. Played it so much till one day i got a "stack overload" error and nobmatter what i did it would never work again :'(

[@G_Rad_Ski]

What a year to start being a teenage gamer.

[@tedadamgreen]

Have a great time at the Expo!!

[@dashalpha]

easy, Super Metroid and FF3 (6). 2 of my favorite games of all time, I'd be hard pressed to have to choose between them. From time to time I replay the early sequences in both just for the nostalgia, music, and atmosphere they give off right from the get go. Also loved DKC but more for the music and graphics and less nostalgic for that one then the others.

[@danielespeziari5545]

1994 was certainly an incredible year with a great variety of systems supported from different generations, from 8 to 32 (and fake-64 😂) bits

[@theconsolekiller7113]

The only games that I might categorize as "Kids" are games like Math Blaster , which are trying to teach very basic skills or lean more toward school type of educational themes. Alot of the cartoony games with mascot types of characters were too hard for alot of kids, even adults to complete and had a broad appeal. There are also some simple games with no educational value or that really attempt to do that, like Barney's Hide And Seek or the Barbie games, though they are clearly too simplistic to offer any substance to anyone who is older.

[@aerosim5885]

Under a Killing Moon on PC, game is awesome.

[@atarijaguarsgarage8873]

Alien vs Predator (Jaguar), Doom (Jaguar), Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

[@daviddonnell2153]

I was in Japan at the time because I wanted to get the PlayStation 1 before the United States did. I got a copy of Parodius along with it

[@chrishensley5384]

Mutant League Hockey! :D

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

Favorite among the ones shown would have to Jaguar Alien vs. Predator.

[@reza.tofani]

Hi sir 😢damn to timeline

[@Ultimategc13]

John that hat is awesome 🤩 would be nice to have my own 😅 is it fitted or snap back ?

[@kyleh6671]

System Shock! The remake is quite good...but the original is still so very playable, especially the Enhanced Edition.

[@emanhero6311]

I remember 1994, the year I got my first job. But I was still broke, and 90% of my check went to many of these games. Unlike now, there were plenty of good games to play.

[@Vulpas]

1994 was packed but I'll say Donkey Kong Country was the best.

[@EirkenElite]

The lion king I really enjoyed

[@mrdeatheli]

Final Fantasy 6 is not only the best game of 1994, but best SNES game, best Final Fantasy and my favorite game ever!

[@Drizzt_Do_Entreri]

You beat me to it. FFIII (VI) was my fav game that year by far. Also one of the best soundtracks of any game of all time. Nobuo Uematsu continued to show why he was the best.

[@thortonortiz4045]

Streets of Rage 3!!!

[@redstratus97]

DKC is my game for 1994.

[@Jincman]

Donkey Kong Country. Also Gauntlet 3

[@fordxbgtfalcon]

My favorite game of 94 was Sonic CD.

[@The_Badseed]

Corpse Killer CD 32X is the best game of 94 if not all time 😉

[@MegaMeHaHa-h1h]

The year in gaming THAT'S RIGHT 1994.

[@GabeAtlantis]

Road Rash 3DO

[@Petrick69]

Uh oh.... Need For Speed 1, System Shock, Doom 2, Beneath a Steel Sky, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Theme Park etc etc.. I count all the platforms. Edit: Oh boy, Transport Tycoon!

[@johnhancockretro]

Watch the whole video ;). PC gaming represented.

[@Petrick69]

@@johnhancockretro Heck, its 2024. Only got time for short tiktok clips. ;)

[@hw5091]

contra hard corps. easily, first thought n best game of the year.

[@christofalbat1632]

Sad they forgot to include contra gb version in the collection.

[@jeremyaxtest]

Beyond Oasis!

[@TheSultan79]

panzer general 1 pc ea sports nhl 94 sega genesis

[@msd5808]

Tempest 2000

[@JP47471]

Shadowrun on Sega

[@KJM1984]

Donkey Kong Country.

[@joeyjo-joshabadu9636]

Sonic 3 and Knuckles

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

Daytona USA

[@gingerdude94]

A good year

[@epicon6]

Would you have preferred the Mega Drive remaining Mega Drive in North America, or could you even imagine a world without the Genesis naming?

[@johnhancockretro]

I love the Genesis name, but Mega Drive is good too. Long live Sega

[@epicon6]

@@johnhancockretroGreat answer! If i was Sega today i would create a really well made PC case and a newly designed controller and called it Dreamcast 2, and let people build their dream PC inside it. PC already has the largest collection of Sega games so it would be a good fit and people could out do even a PS6 if they wanted to, but feel they are getting a Sega experience.

[@richterbelmont5506]

Some amazing SNES boxes. How many SNES boxes do you have?

[@johnhancockretro]

Couple hundred

[@richterbelmont5506]

@@johnhancockretro you still try to hunt them down?

[@Suhadisgood]

1994 was arcade game machines that rules all consoles sucked I was buying arcade machines instead of NES sega Genesis turbo graphics or any consoles I hated consoles there wasn’t any great consoles until 2001 until Xbox joined and PS2 was here with GameCube that was just the beginning now consoles in 2024 are worth playing on don’t have to pay $3,000 for just one arcade machine