The most rare games, that are actually awesome!

[Oldskool]

It seems that some of the rarest games out there are truly junk. If anyone wants to buy it, it's because it's rare, and not good. There are a few exceptions, for example Snatcher on the Sega CD is a very rare game, but it's actually good too! But then for another example, Cheetamen 2 on the NES is extremely rare, and it sucks too.

Then you have games that command a high price, but are not exactly rare, people just want them, like Dracula X Rondo of Blood and Final Fantasy VII.

What is the MOST rare game, that actually kicks ass!?

[zektor]

Well, I guess I'll start with the first one to come to mind:

Saturn Bomberman

This game is bar none the BEST Bomberman ever created. Screw the 3D renditions. This is the true Bomberman we know and love in glorious 2D. Talk about a bombing party too!

The game rarely ever shows up, and when it does it commands good coin....if complete of course. I have never personally found it, so I resort to my modded Saturn and a backup to play it. One hell of a great game and quite rare to boot.

AND:

Outrun 3D (Sega Master System)

A "different" version of Outrun. I have always been an Outrun fan. Of course the original is tops, but I kind of dig this game too. Pretty damn rare. As a matter of fact, I sold a copy on ebay a few years ago for $400! But then again, bid wars will do that!

[wingzrow]

Ile vouch for saturn bomberman. I only one ONE saturn game, and that, is it. Had to buy up a $100.00 saturn lot and auction off all the other games, but it was worth it.

My other vote goes to Harvest Moon 64. By far, the best harvest moon game ever made. I put SO many hours into that game.

[Rickstilwell1]

I would say many of the Neo Geo games would easily fit into this list. Neo Geo games are all generally a fun arcade experience with excellent replay value. But some titles are in such small quantities they cost hundreds of dollars. Especially the actual AES cartridges. Not all titles are rare and expensive but some are.

[portnoyd]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145110

Which is a clone of this:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18468

[Swamperon]

Saturn Bomberman isn't that rare however it is awesome and I agree that it is easily the definitive Bomberman.

Shining Force III and Dragon Force are much rarer and equally, if not more so, kick ass as much as Bomberman.

[Icarus Moonsight]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145110

Which is a clone of this:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18468

So this thread is a retarded fish frog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quWwPAoh7M4)?

[Astrocade]

I have to go with Radiant Silvergun. Awesome in every way, except in its availability.

[sylvestor]

Eliminate Down fits in this catagory.

[bartre]

i don't know how "rare" it is, but it always commands a good amount of money
Guardian Heroes
personally, it's my favorite Treasure game, and my favorite Saturn game
great to play with friends, we give it a playthrough every time a couple of my buddies come over

[kupomogli]

Brigandine Grand Edition. Remake of Brigandine Legend of Forsena but import only. Both Brigandine and Brigandine Grand Edition are my third favorite games.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:pV4s-ZlCSu9bCM:http://files.myopera.com/huynhminhloc/Pictures/brigadine.jpg

[buzz_n64]

Adventure Island IV (Famicom) LOVE this game!

[Gameguy]

I know I mentioned it earlier, but Bebe's Kids for the SNES is pretty good considering it's rarity. Also Magical Chase for the Turbografx is supposed to be good but I haven't played it myself.

[Kiddo]

Leave it to the Satellaview guy to mention Satellaview games. :P

Radical Dreamers; Although you'll probably prefer playing the fan-translation to this than the original in all it's Japaneseness, Radical Dreamers is considered by quite a few people to be the best Satellaview product. I put this first because it's the obvious "collectible" of the Satellaview, as generally that's what "rare" implies.

On the more easy-to play without Japanese part, Kaizo Choujin Shubibinman Zero is a fun little platformer/beat-em-up. Unfortunately this one's a case of "The more you play it, the more rare it'll get" due to the game's limited-bootup expiration on actual hardware.

I'd bring up Soundlink titles, but that kinda goes beyond "rare" into "You're not supposed to be able to play these" territory.

[TheClash603]

A few of my favorite "rare" games are:

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (Dreamcast, but PS2 is okay too)
Duck Tales 2 (NES)
Mega Man V (Gameboy)
Guardian Heroes (Saturn)
Traid Stone (Laseractive)

Not the rarest of games above, but some of the most fun.

[old_skoolin_jim]

I have to chime in and say I actually found Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur's Peak to be a very fun NES game when I was a kid, and while not AWESOME, it still pretty damn fun. It was nice to play a good, new NES game in 1993/94, because that was all I had until I got my sega genesis after Thanksgiving '94.
I only wish I was able to score one of the copies the local video stores had, but alas, I don't think I'll ever find one in the wild now.
Also, while not in high demand or exceeding rarity, Flintstones: Treasure of Sierra Madrock and Inspector Gadget on SNES I remember being pretty good too, and have yet to find any copies in the wild...

[Nonplus]

On the more easy-to play without Japanese part, Kaizo Choujin Shubibinman Zero is a fun little platformer/beat-em-up. Unfortunately this one's a case of "The more you play it, the more rare it'll get" due to the game's limited-bootup expiration on actual hardware.

Wait...what?

[CMA Death Adder]

Boomzoo for the Super A'can is pretty good overall - nice graphics, fun gameplay, great music, lots of variation, etc.; one of the only enjoyable and impressive games ever produced for the machine. Problem is you've got to fork out the dough to buy both the system AND the game, which are only available in Taiwan, and even then you're still just getting a Bomberman clone.

[DigitalSpace]

It's been done before, but I'll throw in a few:

Galaxy 5000 (NES)
Qix (NES)
Crusader of Centy (Genesis)
Aero Fighters (SNES)
Dino City (SNES)
E.V.O.: Search for Eden (SNES)
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang (SNES)
In the Hunt (PlayStation)


Bebe's Kids for the SNES is pretty good considering it's rarity.

Wait...what?

[Gameguy]

Wait...what?
Bebe's Kids isn't really that bad of a game, the worst part of it is the layout of the controls. You would really need to play it on an actual system with a controller, there's no way it can be played well using a keyboard though I'm sure this is how most people experienced the game. I actually found a copy of this and got through a good deal of the levels the first time I played it, while most reviews I've seen of it just end at the third level because they get stuck on it(I don't know how as that's a really easy level). I honestly thought the game would be terrible and planned to sell it after buying it, but after playing it I've decided to keep it.

And once again I'm reminded of how I passed on a loose copy of Aero Fighters for $4.99 plus tax. I didn't have a SNES at the time and I didn't think it was that rare, it was gone when I went back for it. :frustrated:

[DrKwack]

I have to 2nd Radiant Silvergun.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Bebe's Kids isn't really that bad of a game...

:help:

Then what is it really? Dog shit in cart form? It's not even a passable beat 'em up! If it's good for anything, that would certainly exclude playing the game.

[shopkins]

I've been looking for Crusader of Centy for quite a while, hoping to luck into it in the wild. I've heard good things about it.

Vay for Sega CD isn't super rare, I guess, but it is one of the lesser known Working Designs games and it's quite good. Dark Wizard is also a little bit hard to find and great if you like strategy games.

[Gameguy]

:help:

Then what is it really? Dog shit in cart form? It's not even a passable beat 'em up! If it's good for anything, that would certainly exclude playing the game.
It's not as bad as Action 52, or many other games I've played for various systems(Bad Street Brawler, Solstice, Legacy of the Wizard, Shaq Fu, Heavy Nova, Rise of the Robots, Total Recall, Sword of Sodomy/Sword of Sodan, etc). It's not really a good game but it's not the worst game on the system like many people are saying. Plus for a licensed game, it actually sticks closely to the source material which isn't that often. I've seen the movie and though I really don't like it, the game's levels do follow closely to it and there's variety between the various levels(it's not a beat 'em up for every level).

For this topic I think of rare games being R7 or higher, there's not many games that are playable when they're that rare, but I do think Bebe's Kids is playable. I forgot about Ren and Stimpy's Fire Dogs but that's also a good game and is an R7.

[Kiddo]

Wait...what?

A bit of a longer explanation, but to summarize, it's sorta like DRM. (http://superfamicom.org/blog/2010/03/explaining-bs-x-lockout-why-your-zelda-pack-wont-play-anymore-sorry-dude/)

I checked the one known ROM dump of Shubibinman and it's value matches a game with only a single boot-up left until it locks. I'd assume when it was initially downloaded it's limit was closer to 5 boot-ups or so, but I can't verify that. Either way..

[Black_Tiger]

The game that best fits the description from the opening post is Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire. Unlike most of the games mentioned so far it truly is rare and is top quality in every aspect. The fact that people gladly knowingly pay the full price of a new game or more for a bootleg just to play it says it all.

[Geno Bomb]

EVO for SNES

[pseudonym]

I thought Sapphire was good enough but not "best game ever", certainly not worth the $300-400 is usually goes for. Just my opinion.

For me I would say,

Atari 2600: Survival Island
NES: Little Sampson, Gimmick, Panic Restaurant

[Nesmaster]

I thought Sapphire was good enough but not "best game ever", certainly not worth the $300-400 is usually goes for. Just my opinion.

For me I would say,

Atari 2600: Survival Island
NES: Little Samson, Gimmick, Panic Restaurant

Ducktales 2 and Snow Brothers as well. Not quite as HTF but still. Also Rescue Rangers 2.

[Oldskool]

The game that best fits the description from the opening post is Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire. Unlike most of the games mentioned so far it truly is rare and is top quality in every aspect. The fact that people gladly knowingly pay the full price of a new game or more for a bootleg just to play it says it all.

Yes Sapphire is truly an epic shooter. A damn fine game.

I think Magical Chase fits this bill as well. I mean it's not freaking KILLER AWESOME G, but it's pretty good.

[dreamcaster]

It's not as bad as Action 52, or many other games I've played for various systems(Bad Street Brawler, Solstice, Legacy of the Wizard, Shaq Fu, Heavy Nova, Rise of the Robots, Total Recall, Sword of Sodomy/Sword of Sodan, etc).
What the hell is wrong with Solstice?!?

[Gameguy]

What the hell is wrong with Solstice?!?
I just couldn't get into that, maybe it's just not my type of game rather than outright bad.

[dreamcaster]

I just couldn't get into that, maybe it's just not my type of game rather than outright bad.

Yeah, that's fair enough. I can understand not liking it, but it has a lot of good stuff in it (cool graphics, great sound, plenty of atmosphere, tight controls).

[The 1 2 P]

I have to go with Radiant Silvergun. Awesome in every way, except in its availability.

That game was so close to getting released on XBLA.

As for rare games, I'm going to go with the Asian versions of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1+2. Sure they are readily available in US and PAL copies but the Asian versions are nearly non-existant. And they are both awesome games.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

I'll go with Gimmick/ Mr.Gimmick for the NES. It'll run you at least 700 dollars, but it is the most visually beautiful game on the NES. Sunsoft had numerous additional chips placed on the game's circuit so that the visuals were just amazing for the system. I believe a few extra chips were also added to the sound channels for better music as well. It was no doubt a very expensive game to create, and deserves more respect than what it gets.

Although it's probably less than borderline rare, Alfred Chicken for the NES is also fun. It's only 5 levels long, but you'll need a lot of creative thinking to find all of the watering cans needed to obtain the "good" ending. It's probably worth about 20 dollars loose but you could expect to pay 60-70 dollars for a CIB product. It's most likely only rare because it was a very late NES release, circa 1993-1994.

[Ryaan1234]

How about Panic Restaurant for the NES? It'll run you $60-80 on eBay, and more if it has it's manual and etc. It's a well-made, colorful, and downright fun Taito platformer for the NES system. It's a shame it's so rare and expensive, because it's a great game.

[pseudonym]

The Euro version of Gimmick doesn't run well in US consoles and tends to run $100+. The Jpn version is much cheaper and better if you can find it. You get 7 lives per continue on the Euro version, so it does have that advantage. It does become very difficult toward the end of the game.

[Einzelherz]

Yeah, that's fair enough. I can understand not liking it, but it has a lot of good stuff in it (cool graphics, great sound, plenty of atmosphere, tight controls).

don't forget some of the nicest bass the NES has ever produced.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

How about Panic Restaurant for the NES? It'll run you $60-80 on eBay, and more if it has it's manual and etc. It's a well-made, colorful, and downright fun Taito platformer for the NES system. It's a shame it's so rare and expensive, because it's a great game.

It's also got that "What the hell were they smoking" feel to it. Murderous food items?

And before I forget Kid Dracula for the GameBoy is also a nice one. Adorable visuals, MegaMan-esque action and an outrageous difficulty make it a good one. It runs you 30 dollars on Ebay just for the cart.

[csgx1]

Psychic Killer Taromaru for Saturn is an awesome game and fairly hard to find.

[physics223]

I just actually recently got a Super Micro and I thoroughly enjoy playing Outflank. All in all, however, it's just a clone of Othello but it being on a quaint and rare system and being great at that makes me happy. :)

[Ed Oscuro]

The game that best fits the description from the opening post is Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire.
Mediocre by standards of the shooter genre. Edit: It's also been completely ruined from a collector standpoint by pirates (and people asking $100 for even a pirate copy, come on!)

Also mediocre: Rendering Ranger, if only because you can break the bosses. Good ideas in that one otherwise.

I like all the Natsume Super NES / Super Famicom games, and most of them are relatively hard to find (at least in pristine condition) these days.


Psychic Killer Taromaru for Saturn is an awesome game and fairly hard to find.
Man, just when I was happily forgetful about lacking that one. It doesn't strike me as hard to find - there's usually a bundle up on eBay and elsewhere for sale - they're just expensive. People treat that game as an investment.

Speaking of rare (but not so expensive) Saturn games, Guardian Force (tank game) isn't bad at all, just a bit ugly and scoring means doing some odd things with the weapon system.

[gameofyou]

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru, Stellar Assault SS, & Crows: The Battle Action.

[Mr Fwibbles]

Is the PCE version of Parasol Stars considered rare? It's my favourite game on the system, but I never found it as expensive or difficult to track down as some people have suggested. Also, I keep seeing it mentioned but only the US versions of Saturn Bomberman are rare (especially the Netlink compatible one). The Japanese version tends to be pretty cheap and common.

[Black_Tiger]

Mediocre by standards of the shooter genre. Edit: It's also been completely ruined from a collector standpoint by pirates (and people asking $100 for even a pirate copy, come on!)

Without getting into misconceptions of Sapphire, a mediocre shooter is a good game. Even if it was only "good", the aesthetics alone are very entertaining and the peak of the 16-bit generation. There's no doubt that it is an "awesome" experience.

I don't know what you mean by "ruined from a collector standpoint", but the bootlegs were the best thing to happen to the game. Anyone who paid more for an original than they often sell for now either paid what it was worth to them or what they thought it was worth to others. The latter is more interested in playing a game that isn't console based and any fluctuation in price must be exhilarating for them.

As for the bootlegs, they're easy to spot and no one randomly drops hundreds of dollars on a game without having any clue about it. So anyone attempting to buy an original will know to look out for the fakes.

People may ask $100 for a pirate copy, but every day there are thousands of auctions on eBay alone for authentic games with asking prices from 10 - 30 times or more the going rate. It doesn't change what the value is.

[mattimeo310]

Shantae for the GBC? ive never had the opportunity to play it but apparently it pushes the gameboy to its max graphics-wise and has awesome gameplay and its extremely rare.