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TV Asahi Poll Reveals the 100 Most Popular Console Games in Japan

Asahi TV Poll.jpg

Japanese television network TV Asahi has released the results of a nationwide poll regarding videogames. Over 50,000 people from Japan voted for their favorite console/handheld games (mobile phone games such as Fate/Grand Order did not count). The results were then broadcast during a special television event earlier this week.

In the spoiler tag below, you will find the full results:

  • 100. Persona 3
  • 99. Pokémon Platinum Version
  • 98. Persona 4
  • 97. Super Mario World
  • 96. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
  • 95. MOTHER
  • 94. Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
  • 93. Persona 5 Royal
  • 92. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
  • 91. Street Fighter II
  • 90. Final Fantasy VIII
  • 89. Super Mario Galaxy 2
  • 88. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
  • 87. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
  • 86. Monster Hunter
  • 85. Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
  • 84. Final Fantasy XI
  • 83. Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
  • 82. Legend of Mana
  • 81. Dragon Quest Builders 2
  • 80. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
  • 79. Metal Gear Solid
  • 78. Nobunaga’s Ambition: Zenkokuban
  • 77. Mario Kart Wii
  • 76. Kirby Air Ride
  • 75. Animal Crossing: Wild World
  • 74. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
  • 73. Gran Turismo 4
  • 72. Kirby Super Star
  • 71. Dr. Mario
  • 70. Monster Hunter: World
  • 69. Super Mario RPG
  • 68. Pokémon X / Y
  • 67. Bloodborne
  • 66. Ghost of Tsushima
  • 65. Suikoden
  • 64. Pokémon Heart Gold / Soul Silver
  • 63. Final Fantasy III
  • 62. Xevious
  • 61. Super Smash Bros.
  • 60. Pokémon Black 2 / White 2
  • 59. Dead by Daylight
  • 58. Animal Crossing
  • 57. Super Donkey Kong
  • 56. Super Mario Galaxy
  • 55. Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits / Fleshy Souls / Psychic Specters
  • 54. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
  • 53. Tales of the Abyss
  • 52. The Legend of Zelda
  • 51. Final Fantasy IV
  • 50. Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire
  • 49. Kingdom Hearts
  • 48. NieR: Automata
  • 47. Final Fantasy XIV
  • 46. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line
  • 45. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
  • 44. Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Online
  • 43. Xenoblade Chronicles
  • 42. Persona 5
  • 41. Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa Heisei Reiwa mo Teiban!
  • 40. Xenogears
  • 39. Dark Souls III
  • 38. Puyo Puyo
  • 37. Final Fantasy IX
  • 36. Pokémon Gold / Silver
  • 35. Xenoblade 2
  • 34. Final Fantasy V
  • 33. Final Fantasy VI
  • 32. Biohazard
  • 31. Tactics Ogre
  • 30. Apex Legends
  • 29. Okami
  • 28. MOTHER 2
  • 27. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
  • 26. Pokémon Black / White
  • 25. Tetris
  • 24. Pokémon Red / Green / Blue
  • 23. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
  • 22. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
  • 21. Splatoon
  • 20. Minecraft
  • 19. Suikoden II
  • 18. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
  • 17. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  • 16. Kingdom Hearts II
  • 15. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
  • 14. Pokémon Sword / Shield
  • 13. UNDERTALE
  • 12. Super Mario Kart
  • 11. Pokémon Diamond / Pearl
  • 10. Super Mario Bros. 3
  • 9. Final Fantasy X
  • 8. Chrono Trigger
  • 7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  • 6. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation
  • 5. Splatoon 2
  • 4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • 3. Final Fantasy VII
  • 2. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
  • 1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

In 1st place we have TLoZ: Breath of the Wild. The reinvention of the Zelda series was met with widespread acclaim, so needless to say there is a lot of pressure for the sequel to be just as good if not better.

RPGs dominated the polls with entries such as Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and Pokémon appearing many times throughout the Top 100. Although less than 5 Western games made it into the Top 100, UNDERTALE was able to earn a very high 13th place.

Three Smash games made it into the top 100: Brawl (74th place), Smash 64 (61st place), and Ultimate (7th place). Sakurai tweeted in thanks of Ultimate's high placement and later tweeted about how roughly 80 of the 100 games have some connection to Smash. Additionally, other game developers such as Miyamoto tweeted out their thanks of everyone who voted.

Credits
Writing & Editing:
Sari Sari
Graphics: @Zerp
Social Media: @Zerp
Special Thanks: Gematsu


Author's Note: Did your favorite game make the cut? What games in this list surprised you? Let us know in the comments below!
 
Sari

Comments

Kinda interesting to see absolutely no Sonic here, I always knew his popularity is way bigger in the West than East but I didn't know it was to this huge an extent.
Sonic in Japan is like Ronald McDonald. People don’t know why they are popular but they know who they are and what company’s they are from. Aside from that, they are mere mascot.
 
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Sonic in Japan is like Ronald McDonald. People don’t know why they are popular but they know who they are and what company’s they are from. Aside from that, they are mere mascot.
I guess a comparison for over here in the West would be how we see Doraemon or Domo? I'd say Hello Kitty but last I checked she was created as a mascot first and most TV adaptations were made by Western studios.
 
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huh i would not have expected splatoon 2 to be number 5. id muse that maybe japan is more immune to nostalgia than we are but FF7 is number 3

kind of surprised diamond and pearl are the top pokemon games
 
Didn't expect to see Dead by Daylight here, that's neat. I didn't think it was unpopular, but I didn't see it being top 100 so it being #59 was a pleasant surprise.

Anyways, liked the list of games and it reminded me I need to play OKAMI soon.
 
I feel like the western games industry gets criticized a lot for being biased towards western games which is true, but I think the Japanese games industry is just as biased towards their own games and should be criticized for it as well. Really, in general, industries should take influence from media from other regions more often. Plenty of good media in the past have done it and it has resulted in a lot of amazing things.
 
Anyone else find it interesting that over half of the list is RPGs? Feels like they get dismissed around here weirdly often, but this shows just how highly regarded so many of them are. Definitely not just some niche thing.

Though the original Diamond & Pearl being so high is surprising. The games often considered some of the weakest in the series, with so many issues that Platinum had to make a ton of fixes and improvements compared to previous third versions.
 
Anyone else find it interesting that over half of the list is RPGs? Feels like they get dismissed around here weirdly often, but this shows just how highly regarded so many of them are. Definitely not just some niche thing.

Though the original Diamond & Pearl being so high is surprising. The games often considered some of the weakest in the series, with so many issues that Platinum had to make a ton of fixes and improvements compared to previous third versions.
I think it's mostly well-known that RPGs are popular in Japan.

People mostly dismiss them because they are not crazy popular in places that actually matter (aka the USA and maybe some of Europe).
 
People mostly dismiss them because they are not crazy popular in places that actually matter (aka the USA and maybe some of Europe).
And it becomes even shallower once you realize it involves ignoring how many Eastern RPGs are still popular in the West! Pokémon and Final Fantasy have been a big deal here for a long time, but in just the past decade we've seen Persona, Fire Emblem, and even Dragon Quest reach borderline mainstream status over here. Yet I've seen arguments that apparently it doesn't count when they do it.

Tribalism is a hell of a drug, ain't it?
 
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Japanese people really needs to go and try Rayman 3 that game is a masterpiece in my opinion
 
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If Dragon Quest V is the most popular Dragon Quest, then obviously it should get a remake in the same style as FF7R. That would rock.
 
Btw, what makes DQV so popular anyway? It is the number one Dragon Quest game in Japan after all.

I remember for a long while ago, I went to this electronic store and it had some DS Dragon Quest games on sale. (Costing 50SEK ($6) a piece.) I've never played a DQ game before so I just randomly picked Dragon Quest V. (I know, I should've grabbed them all with a pricing like that.)

When I finished it I thought it was an OK game, nothing special. It was a little too dark for me honestly. (I don't like "medieval" settings to be frank.) Otherwise an OK game.

So now I wonder what's so good/special about it? (Not criticizing it, just wondering.)
 
Btw, what makes DQV so popular anyway? It is the number one Dragon Quest game in Japan after all.

I remember for a long while ago, I went to this electronic store and it had some DS Dragon Quest games on sale. (Costing 50SEK ($6) a piece.) I've never played a DQ game before so I just randomly picked Dragon Quest V. (I know, I should've grabbed them all with a pricing like that.)

When I finished it I thought it was an OK game, nothing special. It was a little too dark for me honestly. (I don't like "medieval" settings to be frank.) Otherwise an OK game.

So now I wonder what's so good/special about it? (Not criticizing it, just wondering.)
It has what many consider to be the best story, it introduced monster recruitment, a colorful cast, and (for its time) engaging gameplay.
 
When I finished it I thought it was an OK game, nothing special. It was a little too dark for me honestly. (I don't like "medieval" settings to be frank.) Otherwise an OK game. So now I wonder what's so good/special about it? (Not criticizing it, just wondering.)
When you played it you judged the game on a personal level for your time of experience. In that situation it probably was just an okay-ish RPG which was too dark for your tastes. What you missed out on was playing it at it's launch, which in Japan was extremely crazy (when DQ6 launched a fight broke out when someone declared DQ6 to be better than DQ5). The game also went on to being a huge influence to gaming -- not just RPGs, but all gaming at the time... it's still a huge influence on many games being made even up to this very day.

So, if you're just playing it and looking at the surface, then yeah, just an OK game, I guess.
 
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When you played it you judged the game on a personal level for your time of experience. In that situation it probably was just an okay-ish RPG which was too dark for your tastes. What you missed out on was playing it at it's launch, which in Japan was extremely crazy (when DQ6 launched a fight broke out when someone declared DQ6 to be better than DQ5). The game also went on to being a huge influence to gaming -- not just RPGs, but all gaming at the time... it's still a huge influence on many games being made even up to this very day.

So, if you're just playing it and looking at the surface, then yeah, just an OK game, I guess.
Wow, crazy. The fight I mean. But yeah, I judged the game on my own personal experience without any "outside bias", so what I think about the game is very honest. It was an OK game for me, plain and simple. (Not saying it was bad btw. Just not the type of game for me.)

I beat FFVII last year and I have only good things to say about it. Objectively the best game I have ever played. Everything about that game was amazing, and I finished it in a time period of half a year. It was so good and impactful on me that I felt very "depressed" for 3 weeks after I finished it - no other game has ever had that impact on me. It was that good.

I'm not crapping on DQ5 btw, but I don't see how it can be as good as/better than FFVII. (From my perspective and in my opinion.) But it's cool that it has such a strong fanbase at least!
 
Dragon Quest 5 deserves its spot above just about every Pokemon game as wwll as Yo-Kai Watch 2 above most of them.

If Dragon Quest V is the most popular Dragon Quest, then obviously it should get a remake in the same style as FF7R. That would rock.
If it's so popular, fans may not look so kindly to a remake that completely changes the gameplay.

And Snake, not every RPG needs to be FF7R
If people want to play a Dragon Quest 5 game in real time, they can just play Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.

People mostly dismiss them because they are not crazy popular in places that actually matter (aka the USA and maybe some of Europe).
No offense, but this sounds an awful lot like projection and tribalism on its own.

The homeland country is always what matters first and foremost to any country and video games are no different in that regard. It's just a simple fact of the history and business side.

Spyro was never reliant on JP sales to remain relevant and successful and Yo-Kai Watch was never reliant on USA sales to remain relevant and successful.

I'd argue Japan is less a victim of tribalism as far as games cuz they don't throw hissy fits over the idea of playing other monster collectors among other things. If they did, Pokemon would have died off as a shallow wannabe of Dragon Quest 5 in their eyes.

Meanwhile, it's not too hard to find plenty of dumb tribalism among western games, foreign or otherwise with players at each other's necks over Overwatch, Fortnite, Team Fortress 2 and the like.

Even things like Mario vs Sonic are long time remnants of that western tribalism even with platformer games.

Stuff like that is why I make an effort to be the change I wanna see.
From my own experience, western Pokemon fans say things along the lines of "I feel like I'm betraying Pokemon!" or "I don't want to replace Pokemon!" if you try to entertain the idea of playing other monster collectors despite there being no rule saying you can't play other games of a genre. They take a similar attitude to FPS games. I didn't "replace" Spyro, Mario, Sonic, Wario Land, Donkey Kong or any other platformer game I love with another. I played multiple cuz I love them. Same applies to monster collectors for me. Funny how Japan not only gave us Pokemon to begin with and seems to love it more than any other country with the possible exception of loving Dragon Quest 5 even more, yet has zero issue playing and supporting others of its genre unlike westerners.
 
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I am surprised that Zelda does not take first place in this top. It seems that the main fans of Nintendo are Japanese, and the most popular game on this platform is Zelda. However, there are many more successful and interesting games. Although I like PC gaming more when you can download and play absolutely any game both on the keyboard and with the joystick. Recently on cdkeysforgames.com, I found out that a new part of Fifa will be released soon. I plan to purchase keys and new players not in my collection. By the way, if you still play on the console, which one would you choose?
 
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I am surprised that Zelda does not take first place in this top. It seems that the main fans of Nintendo are Japanese, and the most popular game on this platform is Zelda. However, there are many more successful and interesting games.
IIRC Zelda isn't really popular, or at least not a Nintendo A-list IP, in Japan.
 
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