1995 was a weird time for gamers. Developers were rushing to bring revolutionary 3D graphics to their games, and their marketing departments were keen to let us know how great this new generation was going to be. The eternal war between Nintendo and Sega went into its customary annual overdrive as December approached, but this time, there was a third name in the conversation.
Related
If 2024 Was A Mid Year For Games, Why Is My Christmas Backlog So Big?
All the games you probably missed that you really shouldn’t overlook.
Sony PlayStation
If you were the kind of gamer that had to have the newest console, then Christmas 1995 hopefully included a brand-new PlayStation under the tree. Unfortunately, being on top of new releases was the only reason to have a PS1 the year it came out in the West. Twisted Metal was the only title of any real note; all the iconic classics that we’ve come to associate with the console were still yet to come. Still, at least you had bragging rights that Santa had brought you a CD-ROM-based console!
PS1
- Brand
-
Sony
- Original Release Date
-
September 9, 1995
- Original MSRP (USD)
-
$299, £299
- Weight
-
3.2 lbs
Sega Saturn
The real gift console in 1995 was the Sega Saturn. Nintendo’s next-gen console was still months away, so Sega had really gotten the drop on them by releasing the Saturn in May. Of course, younger gamers who had begged for a 32X in 1994 probably heard, ‘You just got a new Sega last year,’ which didn’t help the Saturn’s surprisingly poor sales in North America.
If you were lucky enough to get this underrated console, you probably also unwrapped a copy of Virtua Fighter 2.
Game Boy Play It Loud Series
The Game Boy was an old handheld by 1995, but it was still miles ahead of any of its competitors, like the battery-draining Sega Game Gear. Given how much wear the portable devices took, a brand-new one made a great gift.
The Play It Loud series, launched earlier in 1995, introduced Game Boys with brightly-colored cases instead of the standard gray. Nobody knew it then, of course, but these Game Boys would see plenty of use in a few years when Pokemon burst onto the scene and revitalized the aging console.
Nintendo Game Boy
- Brand
-
Nintendo
- Original Release Date
-
July 31, 1989
- Original MSRP (USD)
-
$89.99
- Weight
-
7.76 oz
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest
The original Donkey Kong Country was THE video game gift in 1994 (at least as far as I was concerned), and Nintendo quickly followed up with a sequel in ‘95. Players hungry for more mine-cart riding, banana-hunting platforming would get everything they wanted and more in DKC2.
Diddy’s Kong Quest introduced Dixie Kong, who replaced Donkey Kong in the series’ tag-team gameplay. It’s also considered one of the hardest games of the 1990s, and the challenge starts in the early levels, which probably led to some surprises on Christmas morning.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest
- Released
-
November 20, 1995
- Developer
-
Rare
- How Long To Beat
-
10 hours
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
You can’t go wrong with a Mario game at Christmas. Super Mario World was a smash success, and not just because it was a pack-in title with the SNES. The sequel put Yoshi – who Nintendo was still holding up as the new mascot for the series – in the spotlight, escorting Baby Mario to safety.
Yoshi’s Island is a fine platformer with some great technical achievements for the time. It’s too bad most people just think of Baby Mario’s incessant wailing when the game is brought up.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
- Released
-
October 4, 1995
- Developer(s)
-
Nintendo EAD
- How Long To Beat
-
8 Hours
Chrono Trigger
JRPGs wouldn’t be more than a tiny corner of the games industry in the West until Final Fantasy 7 brought them to a wider audience. Still, there was a dedicated enough fanbase to bring over most of the larger titles, including a charming time-travel story by the genre’s greats.
Not big enough, though, to merit a localization of Dragon Quest 6, which only released in Japan despite being 1995’s top-selling video game even without the North American and European markets.
Nowadays, Chrono Trigger needs no introduction. When it launched in 1995, though, it was just a very cool collaboration between Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu, and Akira Toriyama. If you were an RPG fan that year, this was the game to have.
Chrono Trigger is a legendary RPG from Square, originally launched on the Super Nintendo in 1995. As Chrono, you must band together with a motley crew to travel through time, ultimately battling the alien entity Lavos.
- Released
-
March 11, 1995
- How Long To Beat
-
23 Hours
Warcraft 2: Tides Of Darkness
PC gamers likely had one title on their mind during the 1995 holiday season. Warcraft 2 took everything that was great about the previous year’s fantasy RTS and expanded it, creating one of the most iconic PC games of all time. It introduced naval combat, a deep and challenging campaign for both factions, and online multiplayer for multiple connection types (you had to be there).
Blizzard knew what they were doing with this one; Warcraft 2 launched on December 9, 1995, so if you weren’t lining up to get a copy on day one you were probably hoping your place on the Nice List had earned you a trip to Azeroth.
Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness
- Released
-
December 9, 1995
- Developer(s)
-
Blizzard Entertainment
- How Long To Beat
-
21 hours
Magic: The Gathering Ice Age Booster Box
A booster box is always a welcome gift for a Magic player, and that wisdom goes all the way back to the beginning. Normally, the most recent set is the way to go, but in December 1995 that would have been Homelands, which is still considered the worst Magic set ever printed. Magic players would have been happier to receive a box of Ice Age, which had been released in the spring.
While most of the cards in Ice Age are now only notable due to their age, the set did have the first series of Pain Lands: Adarkar Wastes, Brushland, Karplusan Forest, Sulfurous Springs, and Underground River.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition Revised Core Rulebooks
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. D&D is bigger than it’s ever been, and so the publisher releases a revised version of the core rulebooks. It’s not technically a new edition, and it’s mostly compatible with everything that you have, but you really should buy the new books since everything going forward will be based off of them. Those new rulebooks sure will make a great gift this holiday season for the gamer in your life!
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game that first took the world by storm in the 1970s, and continues to enchant millions of players today. With a seemingly endless number of modules and campaigns for you to play, as well as the possibility to do your own thing, you’ll never get bored of playing D&D.
- Created by
-
E. Gary Gygax
, Dave Arneson - Latest Film
-
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
- First TV Show
-
Dungeons and Dragons