Part 2 - Ending off the Year
After the release of the Nintendo Ultra in Japan, the system finished quarter 3 with the release of two games:
- Tobal No. 1 - A fighting game by DreamFactory, it was released by Square and included a demo of Final Fantasy VII. The game showed promise and many believed it could become the Ultra’s Tekken or Virtua Fighter. Even Square was interested in it and DreamFactory.
- Wave Race Ultra
On November 25, 1996, over three months after its original release, the Ultra was brought to North America.
While many critics were concerned for the system for its low number of launch titles in Japan. When it was released in North America the number of launch titles was fairly healthy. Rather than 3 titles, it launched with 7, these include of:
- Ultra Mario World
- Pilotwings Ultra
- Wave Race Ultra
- Killer Instinct Gold - The first Rare game for the Ultra, and a port of Killer Instinct 2. The game is notably upgrade in terms of gameplay when compared to KI2 and thanks to the CD-ROM, the endings of each character change like they do on the arcade version.
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy
- Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey
- Total No. 1
Like in Japan, the system was pricy. In North America, it costed around $300. Though it was considered expensive by many, by others it was considered worth it. After a while, it received price drops like its fellow consoles. After its first month in North America it had sold 240,000 units.
During the rest of quarter 4, Konami continued to support the PlayStation, releasing titles like:
- Jikkyou J-League Perfect Striker
- Mahjong Master
- Vandal Hearts
The Ultra fought back receiving titles like:
- Cruis’n USA
- Mario Kart R - The second title in the Mario Kart series and the first 3D title. It had a selection of 10 playable characters in total, including Kamek and Daisy. It had 6 cups, and 24 courses all together. The Cape Feather, an item from the original Mario Kart returns in this game. It is one of the smaller games released for the Ultra.
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- Street Fighter Alpha - A multi-platform Street Fighter title by Capcom, it was ported to the Ultra around this time.
- Mega Man 8 - A multi-platform Mega Man title, it was released for the Ultra on the same day as the PSX version.
By the end of the year, the Ultra had sold 2.5 million units total. 2.25 million in Japan, and 0.25 million in North America.