1987 in video games

1987 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as ', Dragon Quest II, Final Lap, and ', along with new titles such as After Burner, Contra, Double Dragon, Final Fantasy, Mega Man, Metal Gear, Operation Wolf, Phantasy Star, Shinobi, Street Fighter and The Last Ninja. The Legend of Zelda was also introduced outside of Japan.

The year's highest-grossing arcade game worldwide was Sega's Out Run. The year's bestselling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the fourth year in a row. The best-selling 1987 home video game release in Japan was ', while the year's best-selling home video games in Western markets were The Legend of Zelda in the United States and Out Run in the United Kingdom.

The following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1987 in Japan, according to the annual Gamest and ' charts.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Out Run was the most successful arcade game of the year. The following titles were the top-grossing games on the monthly arcade charts in 1987.

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1987.

The following titles were the top-grossing games on the monthly RePlay arcade charts in 1987.

Best-selling home systems

Best-selling home video games

Japan

In Japan, according to Famicom Tsūshin (Famitsu) magazine, the following titles were the top ten best-selling 1987 releases, including later sales up until mid-1989.

The following titles were the best-selling home video games on the Japan game charts published by Famicom Tsūshin (Famitsu) and ' (Famimaga) in 1987.

• January 14 – Nintendo releases ' for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.
• February 12 – Infocom releases Bureaucracy from author Douglas Adams.
• May 1 – Konami releases Castlevania in North America.
• June 21 – Nihon Falcom releases for the PC-8801 in Japan only. The game's director is Masaya Hashimoto, and it is the first game in the long running Ys series.
• June – Codemasters release Dizzy – The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure
• July 1 – Nintendo releases Kid Icarus in North America.
• July 5 – the Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards adventure is released by Sierra Entertainment.
• July 13 – Konami releases Metal Gear for the MSX2 home computer platform in Japan and Europe.
• August 15 – Nintendo releases Metroid in North America.
• August 22 – Nintendo releases The Legend of Zelda in America and Europe, a year after being available in Japan.
• August 28 – Konami releases ' in Japan, the second Castlevania title released for the NES/Famicom.
• October – Nintendo releases Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! for NES/Famicom.
• October – LucasArts releases Maniac Mansion, the first game to use the SCUMM engine, innovating the point-and-click interface for the adventure game genre.
• November 14 – Sierra On-Line releases ', the second game in the Space Quest series.
• December 17 – Capcom releases the first Mega Man game in the long-standing series for the NES/Famicom.
• December 18 – Square's Hironobu Sakaguchi releases Final Fantasy for the Famicom in Japan. Originally intended to be the company's last release, the game's success resulted in a prolific series. It was released in the US 3 years later.
• December 20 – Sega releases Phantasy Star on the Master System, featuring a female protagonist.
• FTL Games releases Dungeon Master for the Atari ST.
• Sierra On-Line releases ', the first game in the Police Quest series.
• MIDI Maze for the Atari ST is a first person shooter allowing up to 16 computers to be networked via the built-in MIDI ports for deathmatch-style fights.
• Incentive Software releases Driller, a first person game using 3D filled polygons.
• Ocean Software releases Head Over Heels, an isometric arcade adventure, for several 8-bit home computers.
• MicroProse releases Sid Meier's Pirates!, the first game from Meier with his name in the title.
• System 3 releases The Last Ninja.
• Accolade releases Test Drive.