With that in mind, ManySpins.com were interested in finding out which retro video games are most popular across the globe. To do this, we analysed monthly searches for the world’s most memorable video games by each country to reveal the following games to have had the greatest popularity in each nation…

Europe

Across Europe, Super Mario 64 ranked as a firm favourite among 15 countries on the continent, including but not limited to Norway and Sweden which both had an average monthly search volume of 1,600 for the game, followed by Austria (1,300), and Germany (9,900).

However, Super Mario 64 wasn’t the only popular classic game in Europe from the Mario Bros series as Super Mario World boasted high search volumes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Sweden, ranking as either the single most searched for retro video game in these countries or the joint most searched for (ranking alongside another game).

The average monthly search volumes for the game in these countries are as follows:

• Bosnia & Herzegovina (210)
• Israel (590)
• Croatia (390)
• Bulgaria (210)
• Sweden (1,600)

Duke Nukem was yet another popular choice among European countries, ranking as the most searched for retro video game in six, including Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Of those countries, the highest average monthly search volume came from Finland, with residents making 1,000 searches on average each month for the retro title. Bulgaria makes 210 searches per month on average, Slovakia makes 480, and Estonia, Lithuania, and Slovenia each make 140 each.

Sonic 3D Blast, Metal Slug and Devil May Cry also ranked as the favourite retro video games in numerous European countries, showing widespread popularity for the titles right across the region.

Asia and the Pacific

In Asia and the Pacific, retro games from the Mario Bros series proved popular once again with Super Mario 64 proving to be the most popular retro game in Azerbaijan, Brunei, and Mongolia, with each making an average of 70 searches per month.

Mario Kart 64 was Afghanistan’s most popular retro game with searches reaching an average of 50 per month, and Super Mario World was the most popular retro video game title in Cambodia with 4,400.

Metal Slug was also hugely popular, ranking as the most popular retro video game in six different countries within the region. In particular, Metal Slug had particularly high searches per month on average in Hong Kong (33,100), the Philippines (5,400), and Malaysia (3,600). The game is also the most popular retro video game in South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan with 880, 6,600 and 1,000 searches on average each month, respectively.

Road Rash was also popular, ranking as the most popular retro video game in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Vietnam. The number of monthly searches for the retro title in India was the highest at 33,100. Meanwhile, the average monthly search volumes in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Vietnam are 1,900, 480 and 3,600, respectively.

Africa

In Africa, Super Mario 64 was the most popular retro video title in most countries – seven to be exact – including Angola, Cape Verde, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Each of these countries boasts 70 searches for the retro title on average each month.

The second most popular across the continent was Sonic 3D Blast, which was the joint most popular retro video game in Angola, Cape Verde, Namibia, and Zimbabwe alongside Super Mario 64. In these countries, searches for Sonic 3D Blast reached 70 on average each month.

When it came to the countries in Africa making the highest number of searches on average each month for a single retro game, though, Pandemonium! came out on top. In Nigeria and South Africa, the retro video game amassed a staggering 1,900 monthly searches each – even higher than the number of searches made for Super Mario 64 across Africa overall.

Metal Slug also featured five times, ranking as the most popular retro video game title in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia with 1,300 monthly searches on average each. It was also the most popular retro title in Cameroon and Senegal, with respective average monthly search volumes of 170 and 110.

Middle East

In the Middle East, Super Mario 64 and Dragon Quest ranked as the most popular video game in two countries each. Alongside Sonic 3D Blast, Super Mario 64 was the most searched for retro video game in Oman, with 70 searches on average each month. It was also the most searched for in Libya and Bahrain, with 70 monthly searches in each country.

Meanwhile, Dragon Quest was the most popular retro video game in Kuwait with residents making 260 searches on average each month, and Saudi Arabia where it had an average of 1,300.

Throughout the rest of the Middle East, Egypt’s most popular retro video game, with monthly searches reaching an average of 880, was Road Rash. Jordan’s most searched for retro video game was Metal Slug with 170 searches, Lebanon’s was Pandemonium! with 110 searches, and the United Arab Emirates’ was Devil May Cry, with 1,600.

North and South America

In the United States, the most popular retro video game is Super Mario 64, as our research uncovered Americans make an average of 74,000 searches for the title on average each month. Meanwhile, in Canada, the most popular retro title was Dragon Quest, which had 8,800 searches on average each month.

In Latin America, Super Mario World was the most popular classic video game across 12 countries. The retro gaming title had the highest number of searches in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru, all of which made 60,500 searches on average each month, rendering it the most popular retro video game in these countries.

Other Mario Bros video games were also popular, with Super Mario 64 ranking as the most searched for classic video game in Panama with 390 searches on average each month, and Mario Kart 64 placing as Nicaragua and El Salvador’s most popular retro game, with 720 and 1,300 average monthly searches, respectively.

Tetris Attack was also among the most popular retro video games in Central and South America, ranking as the most popular retro video game in the Bahamas, Belize, and Guyana, with each country searching for this game 90 times per month on average.

Meanwhile, Metal Slug proved to be the most popular retro video game title in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay, with 12,100; 2,900; 5,400; and 590 monthly searches on average, respectively.

Methodology:

1. ManySpins.com trawled through game databases to find games that were celebrating key milestones in 2021. Key milestones were defined as games celebrating 20, 25, 30, or 35 years since their initial release.
2. Utilising SEMrush, ManySpins.com retrieved average monthly search volumes for all games celebrating key milestone anniversaries in order to determine the most popular retro game in each country that SEMrush had data for.*
3. Some games were due to their names being synonymous with characters or other popular terms; this decision was made as searches for these games could not be guaranteed to represent specifically the game.**
4. All data was collected on 18/05/2021 and is correct as of then but subject to change.
5. The countries were then divided into regional classifications in accordance with the International Telecommunications Union. Please note that the regional classifications are not strictly geographical.

*The following countries were excluded due to no search volume data available: Uzbekistan, Yemen, Côte d’Ivoire, North Korea, Niger, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Mali, Syria, Chad, China, Iran, Tanzania, Burma, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Iraq.

**Excluded games were Sonic the Hedgehog, Civilization, Yoshi, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, Crash Bandicoot, Residential Evil, Tomb Raider, Animal Crossing, Black & White, Burnout, Ico, Max Payne, Adventure Island.

Who is the most unfortunate when it comes to finding love? The team at ManySpins.com sought to find out by collating data on divorce rates, the number of single person households, and monthly search volumes for dating-related terms across each European country.

Based on these three factors we created the ‘Love Index’. We gave each country up to 25 points for each factor, before adding them together to give each country a score out of 75 to reveal who really is the best and worst at finding love in Europe.

Which countries are the unluckiest in love?

According to our analysis, residents in Sweden 🇸🇪 are the unluckiest in love, taking a clear five-point lead. Swedes have the fifth highest divorce rate (2.4 per 1,000 people) and over half of households in the country are deemed “single households” (51%), thus leading to an unluckiness score of 65 out of 75.

Following behind in second place is the United Kingdom 🇬🇧, with Brits recording a whopping 8.4 divorces per 1,000 people – the highest of all countries considered in our study – and 2 million searches per month, on average, for ‘ways to get a date’. As a result, our study can reveal that the UK has an unluckiness score of 60 out of 75.
Germany 🇩🇪 and Denmark 🇩🇰 are also cursed in their search for love, with both countries coming in joint third place and scoring 56 out of 75. Our analysis can reveal that 1.1 million Germans Google ‘how to find love’ every month, on average, and Denmark holds the fourth highest divorce rate in Europe (2.6 per 1,000 people).

In fourth place is Finland, with an unluckiness rating of 53 out of 75 overall. With the country having the fifth highest divorce rate (2.4 per 1,000 people) and 41% of properties being home to one person, it doesn’t bode well for young Finns looking for a romantic companion.

Lithuania 🇱🇹 takes fifth spot in our study, racking up an unluckiness score of 52 out of 75. It’s unsurprising that the country ranks so high on our Love Index, as almost half (43%) of properties in this European country are home to single person households and they have 3 divorces per 1,000 people – these figures are the third highest among all countries studied.

Rounding off the top 10 unluckiest countries are:
6. Netherlands 🇳🇱 – 49 out of 75
7. Spain 🇪🇸 – 47 out of 75
8. Belgium 🇧🇪 – 46 out of 75
9. Estonia 🇪🇪 – 45 out of 75
10. Austria 🇦🇹, Italy 🇮🇹, Latvia 🇱🇻 – 42 out of 75

Which countries are the luckiest in love?

We can reveal that Slovakians 🇸🇰 are in with the best chance of finding a lover, scoring just 12 out of 75 in our Love Index. With a divorce rate of just 1.8 per 1,000 people, just 22% of all households being “single person”, and 21,000 searches for dating-related terms per month, it suggests that singletons and married couples in this country must be doing something right!

The second luckiest country in their quest for love is Croatia 🇭🇷, scoring just 14 out of 75 in our Love Index. In this country, just under a quarter (23%) of properties are home to a single person household, and just 1.5 people (per 1,000) end up getting divorced.

Your chances of getting (and staying!) hitched in Slovenia 🇸🇮 are also impressive. It boasts the second lowest divorce rate of 1.2 and only 31,500 people are Googling ‘how to get a date’ every month, resulting in a score of 20 out of 75 and placing it as the third luckiest European country when it comes to love.

Irish 🇮🇪 residents also have successful love lives, according to our Love Index, and place as the fourth luckiest country when it comes to love, scoring just 22 out of 75. Our research found that only a quarter of properties in Ireland (25%) are home to singletons, and whilst the country only introduced it into law in 2011, they hold the lowest divorce rate of all European countries – 0.7 per 1,000 people.

The fifth luckiest European country when it comes to love is Romania 🇷🇴, with our Love Index giving the country a score of 24 out of 75. Romanians have one of the lowest divorce rates in Europe as data shows that there are only 1.6 divorces per 1,000 people, and 28% of all homes are single person households, which means that Romanians are definitely doing something right when it comes to finding a life-long partner.

Rounding off the top 10 luckiest countries are:
6. Greece 🇬🇷, Luxembourg 🇱🇺 – 30 out of 75
7. Bulgaria 🇧🇬 – 31 out of 75
8. Poland 🇵🇱, Portugal 🇵🇹 – 32 out of 75
9. Czech Republic 🇨🇿 – 34 out of 75
10. Hungary 🇭🇺 – 39 out of 75

Top 10 European countries with the highest divorce rates:

(per 1,000 people)

1. United Kingdom – 8.4
2. Latvia – 3.1
3. Lithuania – 3.0
4. Denmark – 2.6
5. Estonia – 2.5
6. Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden – 2.4
7. Portugal, Spain – 2.1
8. Belgium, Luxembourg – 2.0
9. Germany, Hungary, Netherlands – 1.9
10. Austria, Greece, Slovakia – 1.8

Top 10 European countries with the most single person households:

1. Sweden – 51%
2. Denmark – 45%
3. Lithuania – 43%
4. Finland, Germany – 41%
5. Estonia – 40%
6. Bulgaria, Netherlands – 38%
7. Austria – 37%
8. Latvia, Luxembourg – 36%
9. Italy, Slovenia – 33%
10. Belgium, Hungary – 32%

Top 10 European countries with the highest number of dating-related searches on Google:

(on average per month)

1. United Kingdom – 2,103,650
2. Spain – 1,410,710
3. Italy – 1,291,620
4. Germany – 1,142,590
5. Poland – 503,480
6. Sweden – 290,190
7. Belgium – 289,240
8. Netherlands – 225,810
9. Hungary – 193,740
10. Ireland – 171,960

Methodology:
Divorce rates for each European country in 2017 were obtained via Eurostat. This excludes the UK as no data was available here, so UK data was obtained via Gov.uk (Divorces in England and Wales). In this instance, the ‘UK’ includes England and Wales only.

Percentages of single person households for each European country in 2017 were obtained again via Eurostat.
The most up-to-date data for both of the above criteria was found to be 2017, which is why these years were used.
Collective online monthly search volumes for each European country were obtained via SEMrush on 19/10/20 and are accurate as of then.

Once all data was collated: for each factor, all 25 European countries were ranked from highest to lowest and given a score (from 1-25). The scores for each factor were then totalled for each country to create their final ‘unluckiness scores’.