1986 in video games

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1986 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as Metroid, Out Run and Bubble Bobble.

Business

• New companies: Acclaim, Majesco Entertainment, Ubi Soft, Bethesda Softworks, Tradewest
• Defunct: Imagic.
• June 13 - Activision merges with Infocom.
• Activision acquires Gamestar Software.
• Sinclair Research Ltd. is acquired by Amstrad.

Events

Gauntlet takes Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.

Notable releases

Arcade

• February - Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, their first game to use a Yamaha YM2151 FM sound chip.
• February - SNK releases Ikari Warriors, which shares many elements with Taito's Front Line from 1982, but adds two-player simultaneous play and visuals closer to 1985's Commando. It's SNK's breakthrough game in the US.
• April - Sega releases Wonder Boy, the first in the Wonder Boy series.
• August - Taito releases Bubble Bobble.
• July 8 - Namco releases The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to The Tower of Druaga.
• July - Ten years after Atari's Breakout, Taito releases Arkanoid, which adds power-ups and unique levels and generally reinvigorates the concept.
• September 20 - Sega releases the Out Run racing game.
• October 1 - Namco releases Genpei Tōma Den.
• November 1 - Sega releases Alex Kidd in Miracle World, It is the first game in the Alex Kidd series created for this character, and the most popular of all Alex Kidd games.
• December - Namco releases Rolling Thunder, distributed outside Japan by Atari Games.

Home

• January 1 - Commodore releases Mind Walker for the Amiga. It keeps running, unmodified, on all versions of the Amiga hardware and OS.
• February 21 — Nintendo releases The Legend of Zelda (designed by Shigeru Miyamoto for the Family Computer Disk System), the first game in The Legend of Zelda series.
• May 27 - Enix releases Dragon Quest for the Famicom, which is usually considered the foremost Japanese role-playing video game, and is the first game in a series that has been phenomenally successful in Japan.
• June 3 - Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as the sequel to the Super Mario Bros. The game was not released in North America, partially because it was deemed too difficult.
• August 6 — Nintendo releases Metroid by Makoto Kano, the first in the Metroid series.
• August 15 – Electronic Arts releases open-ended space exploration adventure game Starflight, which goes on to sell a million copies.
• September 12 - Hudson Soft releases Adventure Island.
• September 26 — Konami releases Akumajō Dracula for the Famicom Disk System, the first game in the Castlevania series.
• October - Sierra On-Line expands their "Quest" line with King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human and Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter.
• December 19 - Nintendo releases Kid Icarus.
• Activision releases Labyrinth: The Computer Game. Developed by Lucasfilm Games, this is the first of the LucasArts adventure games.
• New World Computing releases Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum for the Apple II, the first installment in the Might and Magic series.

Hardware

• September, Apple releases the final computer in the Apple II line, the 16-bit Apple IIgs with professional synthesizer-quality audio.
• Namco releases the Namco System 86 arcade system board.
• Atari Corporation releases:

1. The 1040ST personal computer, the second in the ST line. With a megabyte of RAM and a price of USD$999, it's the first computer with a cost-per-kilobyte of under $1.
2. The Atari 7800 console two years after its original test market date.
3. A smaller model Atari 2600 for under US$50 and begins a TV campaign with the slogan "The fun is back!"

• Sega releases the Master System console in the US.
• Sharp releases the Twin Famicom home console only in Japan.
• Nintendo releases the Family Computer Disk System (an add-on for the Famicom) in Japan only.
• Texas Instruments releases the TMS34010, a CPU with graphics-oriented instructions. Eventually it powers arcade games such as Hard Drivin', Smash TV, Mortal Kombat, and NBA Jam.