The following Top 100 contains the most popular PC games in the world for 1997. The list includes commercial retail games and registered shareware games. Games released late in the year will have less votes.
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Most Popular PC Games - Year List 1997 Top 100 - 1997
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TY Title Developer/Publisher Cat HI NW ID
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1 Civilization 2/Fantastic Worlds MicroProse ST 1 96 [1879]
2 Heroes of Might & Magic 2/add-on New World/3DO ST 2 59 [2091]
3 Diablo/Hellfire Blizzard RP 1 52 [2154]
4 Dungeon Keeper Bullfrog/Electronic Arts ST 1 27 [2322]
5 Command & Conquer/Counterstrike (Red Alert) Westwood WG 1 58 [2101]
6 Total Annihilation Cavedog/GT WG 1 14 [2402]
7 X-Com 3 (Apocalypse) {!} Mythos/MicroProse ST 4 23 [2351]
8 Warcraft 2/add-on (Tides of Darkness) Blizzard WG 2 109 [1817]
9 Master of Orion 2 (Battle at Antares) MicroProse ST 3 58 [2095]
10 Quake/add-on Id/GT SH 1 75 [1999]
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11 Carmageddon Stainless/SCI/Interplay RA 6 28 [2310]
12 Age Of Empires {!} Ensemble/Microsoft ST 3 11 [2424]
13 Dark Reign (The Future of War) Auran/Activision WG 10 15 [2397]
14 Galactic Civilizations 2 {O} Stardock ST 3 106 [1828]
15 Magic (The Gathering) MicroProse ST 9 43 [2210]
16 Dark Forces 2 (Jedi Knight) {!} LucasArts SH 6 12 [2413]
17 Master of Magic SimTex/MicroProse ST 3 169 [1501]
18 Warlords 3 (Reign of Heroes) {!} SSG/Red Orb WG 12 21 [2359]
19 Tomb Raider/add-on Core Design/Eidos AC/AD 9 59 [2088]
20 Fallout Interplay RP 6 12 [2417]
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21 The Elder Scrolls (Daggerfall) Bethesda/Virgin RP 6 67 [2032]
22 Duke Nukem 3D/add-ons 3D Realms/GT SH 2 87 [1923]
23 Stars! 2 Star Crosses/Empire ST 11 110 [1786]
24 Hexen 2 {!} Raven/Activision SH 10 16 [2389]
25 X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter Totally/LucasArts AC/SI 7 35 [2258]
26 Heroes of Might & Magic New World/3DO ST 6 118 [1737]
27 Little Big Adv. 2/Twinsen's Odyssey {!} Activision AD 19 26 [2327]
28 Theme Hospital Bullfrog/Electronic Arts ST 12 39 [2226]
29 The Curse of Monkey Island {!} LucasArts AD 8 7 [2468]
30 Links OS/2 {O} Access/Stardock SP 25 26 [2324]
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31 U.F.O./X-Com (Enemy Unknown) Mythos/MicroProse ST 1 182 [1437]
32 The Pandora Directive Access AD 36 73 [2003]
33 Trials of Battle {O} Shadowsoft/Stardock SH 10 54 [2134]
34 Need for Speed 2/Special Edition Electronic Arts RA 16 37 [2245]
35 World Circuit Racing/F1 (Grand Prix 2) MicroProse RA 6 76 [1857]
36 Gettysburg Firaxis/Electronic Arts ST 15 11 [2430]
37 Tomb Raider 2 Eidos AC/AD 12 6 [2474]
38 Command & Conquer/Covert Ops. Westwood/Virgin WG 1 113 [1729]
39 The Settlers 2/Die Siedler 2 Blue Byte ST 15 81 [1953]
40 Incubation (Time Is Running Out) Blue Byte ST 20 12 [2415]
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41 Entrepreneur {!} Stardock ST 25 10 [2434]
42 Avarice (The Final Saga) {O} CSS/Stardock AD 10 64 [2061]
43 SimCity 2000 Maxis ST 2 195 [1399]
44 Imperialism Frog City/SSI/Mindscape ST 21 12 [2418]
45 The Dig LucasArts AD 21 109 [1798]
46 MechWarriors 2 (Mercenaries) Activision AC 15 63 [2065]
47 Transport Tycoon/deluxe MicroProse ST 14 152 [1521]
48 Moto Racer Delphine/BMG RA 21 30 [2290]
49 Riven (The Sequel To Myst) {!} Cyan/Red Orb AD 18 9 [2445]
50 11th Hour (Be Afraid of the Dark) Trilobyte/Virgin AD 15 97 [1809]
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51 Capitalism Plus Enlight/Interactive Magic ST 33 31 [2283]
52 Fifa Soccer '97 EA Sports/Electronic Arts SP 16 55 [2103]
53 M.A.X. Interplay WG 25 51 [2152]
54 Quake 2 {!} Id/Activision SH 5 3 [2529]
55 Championship Manager 2 Domark SP 27 116 [1746]
56 Vigilance on Talos V {O} PolyEx PL 36 36 [2252]
57 Descent 2 Parallax/Interplay SH 5 95 [1891]
58 NHL 98 EA Sports/Electronic Arts SP 17 14 [2400]
59 Ultima Online {!} Origin/Electronic Arts RP 19 13 [2399]
60 Fifa (Road To World Cup 98) {!}EA Sports/Electronic Arts SP 13 6 [2502]
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61 Myst Cyan/Broderbund/Electronic Arts AD 11 168 [1426]
62 Birthright (The Gorgon's Alliance) {!} Sierra RP/WG 20 18 [2358]
63 Civilization/CivNet MicroProse ST 1 234 [1002]
64 Steel Panthers 2 (Modern Battles) SSI/Mindscape WG 32 56 [2116]
65 MDK Shiny/Playmates/Interplay AC/SH 12 42 [2209]
66 Lords of the Realm 2/add-on Impressions/Sierra ST 21 56 [2107]
67 Creatures Cyberlife/Mindscape ST 32 37 [2114]
68 Blade Runner {!} Westwood/Virgin AD 18 6 [2479]
69 Lands of Lore (Guardians of Destiny) {!} Westwood RP 20 13 [2410]
70 Emperor of the Fading Suns Holistic/Segasoft ST 37 45 [2183]
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71 B.U.G.S. {O} Stardock AR 42 21 [2348]
72 Steel Panthers SSI/Mindscape WG 15 105 [1757]
73 Panzer General 2 SSI/Mindscape WG 28 10 [2426]
74 Betrayal in Antara {!} Sierra RP 31 25 [2325]
75 The Ardennes Offensive SSG/SSI/Mindscape WG 78 10 [2321]
76 Discworld 2 (Missing Presumed...!?) Psygnosis AD 39 53 [2139]
77 Privateer 2 (The Darkening) Origin/Electronic Arts AC/ST 14 54 [2131]
78 Wing Commander 4 Origin/Electronic Arts AC/SI 4 87 [1867]
79 X-Com 2 (Terror f.t. Deep) Mythos/MicroProse ST 8 133 [1600]
80 Ignition Unique/Virgin RA 23 12 [2371]
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81 Panzer General SSI/Mindscape WG 11 150 [1522]
82 Myth (The Fallen Lords) Bungie ST 14 6 [2476]
83 Interstate '76 Activision RA 20 40 [2225]
84 Imperium Galactica Digital Reality/GT ST 28 32 [2227]
85 NBA Live 97 EA Sports/Electronic Arts SP 16 50 [2149]
86 Links LS Access SP 24 62 [1997]
87 Uprising Cyclone/3DO AC/ST 24 11 [2425]
88 Atomic Bomberman Hudson/Interplay AC 26 18 [2352]
89 Gabriel Knight 2 (The Beast Within) Sierra AD 12 97 [1832]
90 Doom 2 (Hell on Earth) Id/GT/Virgin SH 1 157 [1502]
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91 Dark Forces LucasArts/Virgin SH 2 125 [1585]
92 Colonization MicroProse ST 5 148 [1496]
93 NBA Live 98 EA Sports/Electronic Arts SP 44 8 [2450]
94 Grand Theft Auto DMA/BMG RA 25 8 [2444]
95 Descent Parallax/Interplay SH 1 142 [1565]
96 MechWarrior 2/add-ons (The Clans) Activision AC 6 115 [1697]
97 Shadow Warrior {!} 3D Realms/GT SH 41 11 [2395]
98 Lose Your Marbles {!} SegaSoft AC/PU 80 9 [2374]
99 Pod Ubi RA 43 34 [2224]
100 Warcraft (Orcs and Humans) Blizzard/Interplay WG 4 149 [1528]
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Lengend
TW : This Week LW : Last Week NW : Number of Weeks HI : Highest Position
^ : Climbing * : Bullet AC : Action AD : Adventure
PU : Puzzle RP : Role-Playing SI : Simulation SP : Sports
ST : Strategy {free} Freeware {demo} Demo Version {share} Shareware
{reg} Registered {W} Windows Only {O} OS/2 Only
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Reprinted with permission by World Charts
