Common games that seem to avoid your grasp

[DK1105]

Me and a friend of mine were recently talking about some common games we never seem to find. For example I have a decent sized N64 collection and I still don't have copy of Mario 64. Until recently I couldn't find a copy of Super Mario World and now I have 3 of them. Some how Sonic 1 and 3 have never shown up at a garage sale or thrift store. These are games you can that just about anyone with the console had but some how have managed to avoid you like the plague and as soon as you finally find one you seem 20 more that same week. Sure you could go onto just about any website and order a shipping pallet full of them but whats the fun in that?

What are some common games you just can't seem to find?

[MetalFRO]

I've never seen a boxed copy of Sonic 3 anywhere, or Sonic and Knuckles for that matter. Both titles I'd love to pick up CIB, but have been unsuccessful so far. I have seen Sonic & Knuckles maybe twice in cart-only form, but the store always wants way more for it than I'm willing to pay. Last time I saw that in the wild was 6 or 7 years ago, if memory serves.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

Certain games have a high sentimental value to their owners, and they'll be very reluctant to part with them even if they sell the system. So even though millions may have been manufactured, many of them are still in the original owner's possession.

[old_skoolin_jim]

I've never seen a boxed copy of Sonic 3 anywhere, or Sonic and Knuckles for that matter. Both titles I'd love to pick up CIB, but have been unsuccessful so far. I have seen Sonic & Knuckles maybe twice in cart-only form, but the store always wants way more for it than I'm willing to pay. Last time I saw that in the wild was 6 or 7 years ago, if memory serves.

Now that you mention that, I really haven't seen either of those CIB much (if at all) anytime in the past 10 years or so, aside from my owning both of them CIB (have owned them since release).
Sonic 3 AFAIK wasn't nearly as big a seller as Sonic 1 & 2 (at least it wasn't a pack-in for millions of systems), and S&K shipped in those flimsy cardboard boxes that came about in late '94, so many of them likely didn't survive too terribly long. Good luck in your search!

As for me, despite owning around 120 NES games, I have yet to acquire my own copy of SMB2. I've come close oh so many times, but for some reason, just can't seem to make the purchase.

[wiggyx]

On the flip side, I have about 20 copies of SMB2.

[bigbacon]

On the flip side, I have about 20 copies of SMB2.

I had a copy of SMB2 and I have NO idea where it went..

[CastlevaniaDude]

Me and a friend of mine were recently talking about some common games we never seem to find. For example I have a decent sized N64 collection and I still don't have copy of Mario 64. Until recently I couldn't find a copy of Super Mario World and now I have 3 of them. Some how Sonic 1 and 3 have never shown up at a garage sale or thrift store. These are games you can that just about anyone with the console had but some how have managed to avoid you like the plague and as soon as you finally find one you seem 20 more that same week. Sure you could go onto just about any website and order a shipping pallet full of them but whats the fun in that?

What are some common games you just can't seem to find?

It's not so much that common games avoid my grasp. I just don't wanna go into a store on ebay and pay 10+ dollars for Contra or Super Mario World.

At some point in the past I sold these games for relatively fair prices, and the values have shot up and I'm just too lazy to search for good deals to recollect them.

[SparTonberry]

On the flip side, I have about 20 copies of SMB2.

I have one copy of SMBUSA.

[bigbacon]

It's not so much that common games avoid my grasp. I just don't wanna go into a store on ebay and pay 10+ dollars for Contra or Super Mario World.

At some point in the past I sold these games for relatively fair prices, and the values have shot up and I'm just too lazy to search for good deals to recollect them.

i hear you on that. I would really like a copy of Contra and Megaman 1 but no way I am paying 30+ dollars. Specially Contra since it was a hugely popular game and sold tons of copies.

[PizzaKat]

I always get my stuff online since retro stores are far too expensive. A title that I don't have would probably be Ocarina of time, actually I never passed the tree at the beginning I got frustrated and quit. I had a million things to do maybe I might give it a whirl

[Rickstilwell1]

i hear you on that. I would really like a copy of Contra and Megaman 1 but no way I am paying 30+ dollars. Specially Contra since it was a hugely popular game and sold tons of copies.

Did you say Contra is going for $30? I better sell mine then because I don't really like platform shooters that much, except maybe Sunset Riders and Metal Slug. I got my copy of Contra in a lot with a NES model 2.

[kamakazi5]

It took me forever to find a copy of Ocarina of Time for less than $20 until a couple of weeks ago.

[Atarileaf]

I've never seen a boxed copy of Sonic 3 anywhere.

Ironically, I bought a genesis lot about 3 years ago that included the case and insert for Sonic 3 - no game or manual though. In all that time I never ran into a loose sonic 3 to put in the case. Doesn't matter now, I traded the case to another collector who wanted it.

[The 1 2 P]

For the longest time I also couldn't find a complete copy of Sonic 3 even though I had one when the system was originally out. I found the flimsy box one at Goodwill about a year ago and not long after that I found the clam shell case version at a flea market. Mario Kart for Snes and Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for N64 have long eluded me for years. Then one day I found a copy of Mario Kart for Snes(it should be pointed out that I regularly find copies of the N64 and Gamecube versions). I don't even know where I found it but I would go on to find two more copies within the next 4 months. As for Majora's Mask, I found a copy at Goodwill earlier this year. And about a month ago at the same Goodwill I found two more copies. It's funny how that works out sometimes.

[Daria]

About 10 years ago I had my copy of SMB2 converted into a Sweet Home repro under the assumption I'd just pick it up again the next time I saw it.

Never found another one since. :(

[wiggyx]

About 10 years ago I had my copy of SMB2 converted into a Sweet Home repro under the assumption I'd just pick it up again the next time I saw it.

Never found another one since. :(

Which is exactly why I have 20-ish copies of SMB2. I'll be back down to 1 copy before too long ;)

[Rickstilwell1]

This is exactly why I never limit myself to finding games in the wild. I know I'll never find everything I want. I usually find what I want cheaper online than locally and only find stuff I don't want that badly locally.

[Aussie2B]

I still don't have a single one of the NES Mega Man games. I've almost never come across any of them, and on the couple rare occasions that I have, they were overpriced so I passed.

[biggzy]

I still don't have a single one of the NES Mega Man games. I've almost never come across any of them, and on the couple rare occasions that I have, they were overpriced so I passed.

I know, right? You'd think we'd be tripping over Megaman 2 they sold so many. I'm always looking, but I've still only got Megaman 5 loose.

[SparTonberry]

Well, at least you have what seems to be the least common of them all. From what I recall, 5 was the only game I couldn't find locally after a few years of searching (well, it helped I was looking in the days GameStop still sold NES games). I knew 1 was a bit uncommon, but I was surprised to find 6 but not 5 after probably visiting a few GameStops at least once a week. (I would have thought 6 to be the hardest to find, being such a late release.)

[Casati]

The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past for the SNES. I've collected dozens of other SNES games, but not TLOZ:LTTP even though it was my favorite SNES game back in the 90s. A couple summers ago, my attention turned towards getting a complete copy of it on Ebay, and I watched auctions for weeks before bidding myself to establish a target bid. At the time complete copies were going for $10-20 although the average price was more $20-30. I wanted it at a good price, so I sniped multiple auctions for $20-23, but never won an auction, with the final price often being barely above my max snipe bid. Here we are a couple years later, and it's going for $50-$100 CIB on Ebay, and I still don't even have a loose copy.