(thing) by amib Tue Nov 05 2002 at 20:13:40

There's a lot of misinformation about what SNES games are and are not rare. Some games, like the Final Fantasies or the two sequels to Mega Man X are thought by many to be rare, while many unspeakably bad games are actually quite rare. So, originally very loosely based on a similar list in Tips and Tricks magazine, along with help from the Retrogaming Roundtable (www.digitpress.com/forum) and a review of old copies of Nintendo Power for game info, I give you an As-Comprehensive-As-Possible list of rare, non-prototype SNES games. (All of these refer to the American NTSC versions. A PAL rare list would be much longer, as many games were released in limited quantities in Europe.)

(The format is "Name - Publisher - Reason for rarity/interesting facts)

While the above list isn't exclusive, as there may very well be rare SNES games unlisted, here's a few games that, contrary to popular belief and confused eBay bidders, are not rare. Rather, these games are simply scarce. There are plenty of working copies, with and without accompanying manuals and packaging; these copies are mostly in collections, and out of distribution. As SNES consoles inevitably fail, these games should eventually become less and less valuable, as their value is inherant, rather than becase of their rarity. That said, before paying $50 or more for one of these games, bear in mind that you can always find another copy somewhere else.

  • Breath of Fire 2 - Capcom - Fan interest has driven up the value of this game, even though Capcom tended to release games in large numbers.
  • Chrono Trigger - Square - As this is one of the best-selling RPGs in the US ever (pre-PSX, anyway), it's by no means scarce.
  • Earthbound - Nintendo - Nintendo's hope for good sales on this game lead to a large number of copies being dumped in clearance. The game is valuable, however, with packaging intact.
  • Final Fantasy II - Square - The Playstation rerelease has driven down demand on this title somewhat.
  • Final Fantasy III - Square - This was the best-selling RPG in the US before the PSX and Final Fantasy VII.
  • Lufia and the Fortress of Doom - Taito
  • Mega Man 7 - Capcom - Between an active Mega Man fan community and actually rare Game Boy games, this is due to high demand and confusion.
  • Mega Man X2 and Mega Man X3 - Capcom - These games were expensive initially because of the C-4 chip, and this chip makes them both difficult to emulate. That said, it's high demand, not low supply.
  • Secret of Mana - Square
  • Super Mario RPG - Nintendo - Massive demand, not low supply. A convergence of three different fanbases all find this game desireable.
  • Super Metroid - Nintendo - This game was produced in massive quantities, and even got a rerelease as an SNES bestseller. That said, the PAL version of this game is geniunely rare, so European gamers are out of luck.

Standard disclaimer - This info is all dated as of November 5, 2002, although I doubt that any of this info will change in the near future.

Thanks to yerricde, Domin, disillusioned, and Servo5678 for updates and info.

Due to the number of totally unplayable games on this list, this is part of the node the worst games ever project.

I like it! 1 C!