Lost rarities -- the hard to find gems of console gaming

by Kevin Kelly { Oct 9th 2006 at 12:45PM }

Developers spend a lot of time and money trying to sell as many copies of their games as possible, but sometimes different reasons cause a game to be produced in extremely limited quantities. A developer may have gone out of business, the publisher pulled the plug early, or the game might have featured topless women on the NES. Whatever the reason, when a game squeaks out the door in low numbers it means one thing to people: highly collectible.

Racketboy has compiled a list of the 20 most noteworthy "Holy Grails" of console gaming. These are the most sought games for systems ranging from the Nintendo Virtual Boy, to the Turbo Grafx, to the Atari 5200. The list topper is a Nintendo World Championships: Gold Edition cartridge; only 26 units were produced, and it is valued at over $10,000.

Time to start searching those bargain bins, checking eBay, and chewing out mom for throwing away your old games.

Tags: Atari 5200, Dreamcast, Holy Grail, NES, Nintendo Virtual Boy, Rare

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lorben @ Oct 9th 2006 12:51PM

The Virtual Boy is worth something? Maybe I shouldn't have chucked it in the trash after I lost the black face visor.

John @ Oct 9th 2006 1:01PM

I have a Pal version of sonic for the master system but no box or manual. Guess that dont count lmao!

Andrew @ Oct 9th 2006 1:17PM

I doubt this is rare but I have a Super Mario Bros cart that doesn't have the official Nintendo Seal of Quality.

moofree @ Oct 9th 2006 1:19PM

Special edition Bangai-O... hmmm...

I'll restate my desire for a Bangai-O DS port.

MED @ Oct 9th 2006 1:44PM

i have the legend of zelda majoras mask that says property of nintendo not for resale.

shirizaki @ Oct 9th 2006 2:41PM

Super Mario Brothers 2. That's a rare one. Actualyl, I have all SMB's from the NES (1,2,3, and the arcade SMB).

The only real thing of value I think I have is my Gold cart of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That, and maybe my controller pak.

crono141 @ Oct 9th 2006 3:05PM

I've got a "Tengen" version of Afterburner for the NES. I think that one is rare.

Desiderius @ Oct 9th 2006 3:45PM

It's a fine list of rarity, but it's still more of a collectors list in my mind. These aren't necessarily games that I, just as a "gamer", want for the actual purpose of enjoying.

How about hard-to-find games that people want to play? I've got Rez for the PS2, for example, and am very-much glad to have found it.

Gerwurztraminer @ Oct 9th 2006 4:31PM

I have Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3, and Super Mario RPG. I bought them from a Blockbuster about 10 years ago.
Oh, and Super Puzzle Fighter II: Turbo (on PS1).

They've flucuated over the years but I've seen them on eBay for up to 100 bucks (especially X3).

Gerwurztraminer @ Oct 9th 2006 4:35PM

to #8

I agree. I was thinking of a way to formulate that point earlier and eventually gave up. Now if I can just find Mario Mix..

Dirk Dorkelson @ Oct 9th 2006 4:37PM

This clown doesn't know the difference between it's and its, so why should I believe anything he says?

Judd @ Oct 9th 2006 4:42PM

I'm currently playing Phoenix Wright, and I heard that they're pretty rare. How much do you think I can get for it?

Deth @ Oct 9th 2006 4:44PM

wow.... yet another article lifted straight from Kotaku. Why do I come here again?
Cheers!

therealkid @ Oct 9th 2006 5:49PM

I have been vigorously collecting NES games for 6 years now. I have shifted my obsessive focus from punk rock records to NES games and back several times, but I have never met another NES collector in person. I believe I have an absolute corner on the market in my populous state. Also, we have certain chain of used merchandise stores which carry NES titles in massive quantities and at dirt cheap prices, which has allowed me to support myself via eBay for some time. Out of all of these games on this list, I have found the Caltron 6 in 1 for NES once ($5), and a runner up (Color a Dinosaur ($3-$5)--my girlfriend's personal party favorite) three times. The rarest game I have found is "The Buddha" (found on the Mexican border) a North American prototype of Demon Sword with a different menu system and half Japanese text. It is the only copy I know of. Also fun to find rarities I have only seen once are Bubble Bobble Part 2, Bee 52 (silver bootleg cart, Codemasters), Rescue Rangers 2, Contra Force, Bomberman 2, Bonk (wtf???), and Short Order/Eggsplode. I collect on three terms: rarity, quality and comedy. With NES, the latter qualification results in the best elements of my collection (see: Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom, Chubby Cherub). Tengen carts are not rare except for Tetris, and I've found that twice. In general: if you've heard of it, its not rare. After that, don't consult the internet, its a disaster, price guide-wise. EBay is the key.

Lixie @ Oct 9th 2006 6:00PM

I was almost certain I would have a few games on the list. Be I'll be damned my Tactics Ogre only landed an honorable mention.

My 'rare game' collection is almost exclusive to the PS1 and PS2.

Anybody else notice all of these 'Top Rare' lists focus almost exclusively on systems from the mid-nineties back. I would argue that there are plenty of quality rare games on current-gen and last-gen.

NoHitHair @ Oct 9th 2006 6:42PM

Panzer Dragoon Saga is on the list? The Saturn release? There's nothing else special to it - that's it? If that's all it takes, I actually do own a copy. In fact, I pulled it from a box in my attic after reading this article just to make sure I own it - I'm looking at it right now on my computer desk.

I sold a factory sealed Final Fantasy III (VI) for the SNES for $350 on eBay - why isn't that on the list?

redjack @ Oct 9th 2006 6:58PM

My brother has Panzer Dragoon, Guardian Heroes and Dragon Force(both the Japanese and the American versions). Gotta tell him to hold onto those.

Reeve @ Oct 9th 2006 8:30PM

Judd: Phoenix Wright was reprinted, so not that much :/

NoHitHair: At the bottom of the article, it says why. It's not so much that the carts for FFII, FFIII, Chrono Trigger et al. are rare (they aren't), it's just that they're in such high demand.

I doubt I have any really rare games, but I do have the US versions of the official Dreamcast maracas-- only 10,000 sets were released.

Mark Sumner @ Oct 9th 2006 9:40PM

I was one of the winners on the Atlantis contest. I still have the Atlantis II cart along with some souvenirs that came with it, including a T-shirt, swim fins, snorkle, etc.

Never realized it was so rare.

strider_mt2k @ Oct 9th 2006 9:53PM

None of my old Game Boy stuff will ever be worth anything.
-except to me.

FSK405K @ Oct 10th 2006 1:22AM

EARTHBOUND ZERO! There was like one copy total, and it was ... stolen (?)... from Nintendo of America.

Rootbeer @ Oct 10th 2006 11:37AM

"Super Mario Brothers 2. That's a rare one."

The Japanese game, also known as "The Lost Levels"? Was originally only released on Famicom Disk System. There MAY have been an "anniversary edition" cart released in Japan at some point, I don't know, but if you have the game on a cartridge, chances are it's the same bootleg I own.

"Actualyl, I have all SMB's from the NES (1,2,3, and the arcade SMB)."

WHICH arcade SMB? It was released both as a Vs. title and as a PlayChoice-10 selection.