[A recurring feature each time I complete a year in the UK, in which I catch up with the games to have been #1 in the archived Japanese sales charts of that year, as reported in Famitsu. Thanks to Game Data Library for running the resource that makes finding these out easy.]
Here we go – as promised last time, there is much more extensive data available from now on, so here are twelve games which definitely made it to the top of the Japanese sales charts in 1991. Nintendo’s snazzy new Super Famicom is the leading format, for them and (mostly) others, but there are still some Famicom stragglers and some games finding their niche on the Game Boy.
Ultraman (Bandai, Super Famcicom)
Based on a TV series that was already 25 years old at this point, you take on giant monsters in a side-on fighting game! YES!
Sim City (Maxis/Nintendo, Super Famicom)
A lightly modified version of the city-building PC game, which isn’t the most obvious fit for mouse-less consoles but was a big success in Japan anyway.
まじかる☆タルるートくん / Magical Taluluto (Bandai, Game Boy)
A platformer with some very Super Mario Land elements based on another Weekly Shonen Jump manga. Taluluto is the one who appears to assist at the end of the second gif there.
Super R-Type (Irem, Super Famicom)
Uridium is basically the only shoot-’em-up in the list of UK #1s so far, but as this example shows the genre had a bit more lasting popularity in Japan.
Final Fantasy IV (Square, Super Famicom)
One can read a split between the philosophies of Japan’s two massively popular casual RPG series here – traditionalist Dragon Quest stuck to the Famicom for the fourth game, while spectacle-based Final Fantasy takes the earlier step up to the opportunity to look and sound that much better.
ドラゴンボールＺⅡ 激げき神しんフリーザ！！ / Dragon Ball Z II: A Fierce God Freeza!! (Bandai, Famicom)
Another DBZ card/board game type RPG, with not that much immediately different from the previous one to the casual non-fan observer (i.e. me)
ちびまる子ちゃん2 デラックスまる子ワールド / Chibi Maruko-Chan 2: Deluxe Maruko World (Takara, Game Boy)
Not only shonen manga about heroes make it into popular games – here is a shojo manga with more everyday concerns (which had an anime series running in 1991) that did it too. Wikipedia says it’s a minigame collection, and the bit I played involved playing rock-paper-scissors against a grandma, which is the kind of content games could do with more of.
超魔界村 / Chohmakaimura (Capcom, Super Famicom)
Known as Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts in the West. It exemplifies the widely taken same-thing-but-flashier approach to Super Famicom games, right down to repeating Makaimura’s already ridiculous princess-kidnapping intro, just slower and more dramatically.
悪魔城ドラキュラ / Akumajo Dracula (Konami, Super Famicom)
Known in the West as Super Castlevania IV, because it was the fourth Castlevania and was for the Super NES, rather than because it was the fourth Super Castlevania.
ゼルダの伝説 神々のトライフォース / The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods (Nintendo, Super Famicom)
Known in the West as A Link to the Past, which is not the same thing at all. This falls more into the triumphant-expansion-of-everything-about-the-game school of how to do a Super Famicom follow-up.
ロックマン4 新たなる野望!! / Rockman 4: A New Evil Ambition!! (Capcom, Famicom)
Another traditionalist game remaining on the Famicom for another round, in this case doing platforming/shooting action. Known in the West as Mega Man 4.
時空の覇者 Sa・Ga3 / The Ruler of Time and Space ~ SaGa3 (Square, Game Boy)
Less than two years on from the original SaGa, Square had already sped on to a third entry proving that RPGs could work, and music could sound awesome, on the Game Boy. Released as Final Fantasy Legend III in the West.