Rarest GBA Games

[Richter Belmount]

Games I have a hard time finding
the less common titles to me
Doom 2
Lunar Legend
Jazz Jackrabbit
megaman and bass

anyone else have something to suggest to this list



but I have seen tatics orge plenty if anyone thinks its rare.

[Oobgarm]

Strike Force Hydra (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13020&highlight=strike+force+hydra)
IK+ (to a much lesser degree)

[maxlords]

Ninja Five-0

[atari_overlord]

I have had trouble finding Pocky & Rocky & Becky

[bluberry]

Doom 2 isn't that rare. Maybe IRL, but online it's dirt common. I bet the Shining games, Soul 1 and 2 and the Force port coming out, will be rare. Also, Atlus tend to not make enough of their games, such as Tactics Ogre, Double Dragon, the upcoming River City Ransom EX, and more, so they may be rare. Generally, Ecks vs Sever games aren't eaasy to come by. Also, I second Ninja Five-O, and when it is on ebay CIB it's for over 30 bucks. Maybe Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, unless they made plenty.

There are also a lot of uncommon ones, though, like Blackthorne, Lost Vikings, Chu Chu Rocket, and CT Special Forces. You'll find em without too much difficulty, but it'll require a search.

If I think of any more I'll post em.

[esquire]

Games I have a hard time finding
the less common titles to me
Doom 2
Lunar Legend
Jazz Jackrabbit
megaman and bass

anyone else have something to suggest to this list



but I have seen tatics orge plenty if anyone thinks its rare.

Megaman & Bass are very easy to find. Check any Gamestop or Circuit City. Gamestop just dropped it in price to $19.99.

Lunar Legend is also easily available at Gamestop, Circuit City and EB. Currently its at $19.99

Due to the fact that Nintendo limits the production and distribution of the GBA games, you'll find the earlier games are the hardest to find, once they are taken off the shelfs. Games like Warioland 4, Aero the Acrobat, Breath of Fire, and Lufia: Ruins of Lore are very hard to find.

Also, newer games with very limited production/distribution are HTF. Shining Soul for example, and I have yet to see Shining Soul 2 in the stores. I see Tactics Ogre all t he time, not sure if that is just a case of no one buying it. I've been holding out for it to drop in price to $19.99 before I buy it. Currently it is at $24.99

[calthaer]

I don't think the original Advance Wars is rare, but it is becoming difficult to find.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance - I'm also not sure that it's super-rare, but it is also somewhat difficult to find.

eBay auctions for some of these games: I'm not sure I would put these in the reckoning for whether games are "rare" or not, saying "this is available online all the time." I personally have won eBay auctions for some GBA carts that were very obviously frauds. A lot of the sellers auctioning off large quantities of different GBA games (especially if they're from Hong Kong) are probably proffering pirated products.

Tactics Ogre is common right now; it may be that when it goes out-of-print it'll become more rare.

[Geddon_jt]

I'm with Maxlords. It's gotta be Ninja Five-O. I was looking for that game when it was released and neither Gamestop nor EB even had it in their computers. I'm pretty sure neither stocked the game new... although it was available at Toys R Us, Amazon and I think Walmart. I never saw a new copy of it until I stumbled upon 4 of them at Sams club like 6 months later. They are all gone. You may be lucky and find a loose one for $15 at the occasional gamestop, but thats it.

Plus its a downright excellent game.

[Policenaut]

Cyma is basically new, but has been difficult for me to find one. I don't believe that any 'Vania for GBA will become difficult to track they always sell in larger quantities, I'd rather say that Harverst Moon, Cyma, Breath of Fire and Doom will be very hard to find.

[lym]

Manic Miner, thats almost impossible to find. I've only ever seen it in a shop once and I bought it while I had the chance.

[bluberry]

R-Type 3 is rare too. Mostly because it's a pile, but that's a different story.

[Oobgarm]

Cyma is basically new, but has been difficult for me to find one.

Would you happen to be referring to CIMA: The Enemy (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=45101&item=3809605743&rd=1)? (clicky clicky)

Anyone else posting in here seen either one of the two games I mentioned, particuarly Strike Force Hyrda?

[UndeadKing]

I'll have to third(fourth?) Ninja Five 0. That game was a pain in the ass to track down. I constantly got told I was making the name up when I'd call Gamestop and such. I finally broke down and ordered it online from KB or something. Came out to be like $40. Boy was it worth it though. Awesome game. Oh yeah, Space Invaders isn't too common. I've only seen it at one store(Toys R Us) and they charge $40 for it....

Oobgarm,
I've seen IK+ a few times. Never Strike Force Hydra.

[Daria]

and I have yet to see Shining Soul 2 in the stores.

Probably because it isn't out yet.
________
Zx14 Vs Hayabusa (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_bike_is_quicker_kawasaki_zx_-14_or_suzuki_hayabusa)

[§ Gideon §]

How do you guys feel about Car Battler Joe? I don't come across that one too often.

[Daria]

How do you guys feel about Car Battler Joe? I don't come across that one too often.

I remember screenies of it from Nintendo Power but I don't think I've EVER seen it in a real store.
________
WELLBUTRIN ATTORNEY (http://www.classactionsettlements.org/lawsuit/wellbutrin/)

[Oobgarm]

Yeah, I think you can consider it rare, at least highly uncommon. I haven't seen it much either. Only one store around here even carries it, and they're not a major chain, just some small independednt store.

[Gamereviewgod]

The TRU I worked at had a ton of Car Battler Joe for $9.99 on clearance. I doubt there's any left, but there were at least 20 copies at the time. Hence why I was able to review on of my fave games on the console:

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/carbattlerjoe.htm

[§ Gideon §]

It's odd how that happens--some unlikely stores having a ton of a certain game. I think it makes the hunt more fun.

What about Urban Yeti? I don't see this one too often, either. Then again, I'm not really looking for it.

[Bratwurst]

I wonder if Gameboy Advance games in general will be as scarce and pricey in the vague sense that older Gameboy carts are currently.

[Big Shady]

Can any GBA games be considered rare yet :hmm:

Hard to find maybe, but not "TEH RARE!" :p

[Richter Belmount]

hmmmm never spotted double dragon in the wild

[Crush Crawfish]

Mech Platoon was a pain in the arse to find. I went nuts finding that one for my brother.

I also think Car Battler Joe, Klonoa: Empire of Dreams, Lunar legend, Ninja Five-O, Robopon 2, and Urban yeti are pains to find.

I also remember seeing a strange game called "Santa claus saves the Earth" once at my local TRU. I shoulda bought it!

[Daria]

There was this Canadian company making their own RPG awhile back. Last I heard they had finished the game and were looking for a publisher. If the game does come out I would imagine it to be rare if not uncommon. If it doesn't come out then there would still be a nice little proto-type floating around in the future.

Wish I could remember the name of the game... it looked damn spiffy too. Something like Black Sword or something.
________
THE APPRENTICE FORUMS (http://www.tv-gossip.com/apprentice/)

[davidleeroth]

Tiny Toon Adventure's: Buster's Bad Dream. (And pretty much Treasure's too)
Never seen one in stores and only few online retailers have this in stock.

Treasure + PAL exclusive + poor sales = get it while you can.

[Algol]

I also remember seeing a strange game called "Santa claus saves the Earth" once at my local TRU. I shoulda bought it!

I saw that at my TRU last week also. The GBA logo on the left side of the box looked slightly different, and when I turned the box over the game description on the back was written in several languages. It seems this game is a European release. How could a game like that find its way into an American TRU? :hmm:

[Charlie]

Not neccesarly rare, but there are three games that can only be bought at Wal Mart. Those three are well known web games.

Bejeweled
Super Collapse 2
Bookworm

19.99 each, get them while you can.

[calthaer]

Wish I could remember the name of the game... it looked damn spiffy too. Something like Black Sword or something.

I know what you're talking about...those guys were a small, 3-man team making an RPG-esque top-down game with good-looking graphics. The story seemed pretty trite, though.

It'll probably be rare, yeah.

[spooie]

If people are still looking for Ninja Five-0, I suggest trying your local Sam's Club. After snagging the last new copy from EBWorld over the summer last year, I thought I would never see the game again. But then about 2 months ago, my Sam's Club was flooded with about 40 of them for $13 a pop, along with Lady Sia. Of course, I haven't been there in over a month, so I don't know if they still have them. But if you've got a membership, I suggest stopping by and checking it out.

[dethink]

i second circuit city - they don't seem to completely turn their inventory over every couple weeks like best buy, and consequently, things are on the shelves a lot longer.

there are about 3 copies of megaman & bass at the one near me. and you can still find stuff like MDK2/F355 challenge for the PS2 on the shelves...

[ClubNinja]

Anyone seen the 2D weapons fighter similar, but not comparable, to Samurai Shodown? It's called Dual Blades. I saw it only once, failed to pick it up, wish I did now. It boasted being the only weapons fighter available for the GBA.

[16-bit]

Sega Arcade Gallery used to be quite rare. It was sold out everywhere and copies on eBay were going for 39.95-$44.95. Amazon shops were offering it in the same price range.

Since then, it has been reprinted and I have seen it for sale in several shops for $19.95 and on ebay for the same price.

Regarding Japanese GBA releases, "Bubble Bobble: Old and New" is very tough to acquire at this point.

[jwl]

Since when did Backyard Baseball and Backyard Football become so rare?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8116166553&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8116018232&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8116168582&rd=1

Luckily the Circuit City in Bellingham had one of each left. :)

[GameBoy]

I dont think Wario 4 is that hard to find....

If it is i'll hit myself for losing it.

[Mr. Smashy]

The only GBA game that comes to mind that I would really like to have but have never seen for sale locally is Puyo Pop.

[swlovinist]

Shining Soul II is out and I have it on my shelf. It was released two weeks ago. I bought mine from a Game Crazy... Double Dragon is not rare. I see it everywhere up here. I know of two stores that have it in stock. Lunar Legend is uncommon, but not really rare. Much harder to find boxed. I have to say that I sense that it matters on where you live, becuase up here, Ninja Five o and Doom are a myth.....you dont find them. My vote would be for not only Ninja Five O but for the first Shining Soul.....evil to find.

[TRM]

I second Castlevania H o D

[tholly]

what about the Wal-Mart version of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3......this is the version that comes with 7 e-reader cards instead of the normal version found at all other stores which only had 2 e-reader cards

[Richter]

what about the Wal-Mart version of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3......this is the version that comes with 7 e-reader cards instead of the normal version found at all other stores which only had 2 e-reader cardsmust have been for reservations only then. i bought mine there and it only came with 2 cards ;_;

[maxlords]

I have no problem finding Shining Soul, it's just spendy here. I haven't looked now, but Shining Soul 2 is still on the shelves. River City Ransom EX is ALREADY getting hard to find and it's been out what...a month?

The ones I had the worst time finding are:

CIMA: The Enemy
Car Battler Joe (I'm looking for a spare sealed one cheap!)
NInja Five-O
ZOE: Fist of Mars

I've recently procured a CIMA for myself (FINALLY). I'm STILL looking for Shining Force....need one bad. As for the other stuff listed, I've NEVER seen the AIA games...those and Car Battler Joe were not released in Canada I think. Never seen Urban Yeti either. I wanted to get the Bookworm and the other games, but I can't find em either. Had no trouble with the Breath of Fires and Lufias and Lunars. All simple to find here.....just don't WANT em :D

I also had no trouble getting any Castlevanias. But they may becomes scarcer later. Still hunting for Klonoa: Empire of Dreams as well. *sigh*

[tholly]

what about the Wal-Mart version of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3......this is the version that comes with 7 e-reader cards instead of the normal version found at all other stores which only had 2 e-reader cardsmust have been for reservations only then. i bought mine there and it only came with 2 cards ;_;


nope...didnt reserve mine...i was away at school.....and i sent my mom to check for it for me about a day or two after the game came out and she picked it up for me....it was in the display case and everythig

[bargora]

R-Type 3 is rare too. Mostly because it's a pile, but that's a different story.
Well, I got mine because I pre-ordered. Never having played the original on SNES, I was wondering whether you thought it was worse than the original cart from which it was ported.

[captain nintendo]

CIMA: The Enemy was very hard for me to find.

I am sure there are more , but I havent been collecting GBA for to long.

[swlovinist]

R type III is a pile because they lost the original code and had to resort to emu to make the game....which turned out broken. As for other games that I consider rare, I second Tactics Ogre and River City Ransom.

[Pedro Lambrini]

When you're talking about rare (or HTF) games you should state where you come from or which version you're talking about! A few of the games mentioned (ie Mech Platoon or Klonoa) are really easy to get in the UK as European releases so I presume most of you are talking about US or Japanese releases!!

Anyway over here, in Scotland anyway, I've never seen a copy of Lady Sia, Urban Yeti or Car Battler Joe in the wild and I've never even heard of CIMA!! :)

[DigitalSpace]

I have yet to see R-Type III, River City Ransom EX, Urban Yeti, or Car Battler Joe in the wild.

Rock N Roll Racing would be a nice find too, if I don't find an SNES copy first.

[gamegirl79]

How about Snood? I've never seen that one in the wild.

[Policenaut]

Since when did Backyard Baseball and Backyard Football become so rare?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8116166553&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8116018232&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8116168582&rd=1

Luckily the Circuit City in Bellingham had one of each left. :)


My God!! @_@

[chaoticjelly]

Buster's Bad Dream was released in the US last halloween was it not? O_O

[MegaDrive20XX]

Finding these titles "New" is rare to me:

Lunar Legend
Ninja Five-O
Super Ghouls 'N' Ghosts (Been a while since I have seen this new)
CastleVania: Harmony of Disonnance
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Revival
Sonic Advance
DOOM 2 and even the original DOOM is getting hard to find
Double Dragon Advance (Haven't seen much of this in stores in three cities where I am)
Tactics Ogre
Phantasy Star Collection (It's getting there so far)
Breath of Fire (Sometimes I can find part 2 more then one)
Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros. 2
Tony Hawk 2
Chu Chu Rocket
Column's Crown
Mega Man Battle Network 1
R-Type III: The Third Lightning
Wario Land 4

[bluberry]

swlovinist hit the nail on the head. R-Type III is a really bad port due to those reasons. Clipping errors, scoring errors, massive hitbox, etc, etc.

[tholly]

How about Snood? I've never seen that one in the wild.


i saw it at a bunch of places....i didnt bother to pick it up...but ive seen it all over

[Policenaut]

Snood can be found at TRU, two GBA games for 24.95, some of the titles are Snood, Medal of Honor and others I cannot remember now. I also found Breath of Fire at KB for 15.95. And finally I have CIMA: The Enemy!!

[videogameking26]

I own alot of GBA games and really not sure which are rare or common...found them all at my local Babbages & EB Games.

Checkout my collection link in my sig and tell me if any of the 61 GBA games I own are rare?...thanks :)

[mikeetler]

I'm waiting for confirmation, but an insider at Majesco told me last night that the run for Bookworm was under 50,000 pieces. Odds are they're won't be a second run since the title came out over the summer and they're still out there. I'm waiting to see if he can get the actual number for me, but it might not be until after new years.

-Mike

[Wavelflack]

Sonic Pinball Party.
My wife wanted it last year, I waited to get it, and then when I went looking for it later on it was nowhere to be seen. Apparently it ended up as a Target exclusive, and I ended up searching the used game stores in Wichita AND Kansas City (yes, ALL of them) and never saw one.

I ended up buying a "new" copy on eBay for roughly retail price, only to find out that it was a pirated version (mailed directly from Taiwan) when it arrived.

Anyway..

[DigitalSpace]

R type III is a pile because they lost the original code and had to resort to emu to make the game....which turned out broken.

Thanks, I was wondering how they messed that up (and I'm wondering how I missed that post when I responded the first time around LOL ).


I have yet to see R-Type III, River City Ransom EX, Urban Yeti, or Car Battler Joe in the wild.

Rock N Roll Racing would be a nice find too, if I don't find an SNES copy first.

And I've since seen River City Ransom EX a few times, used and new. Same with R-Type III. Neither don't come up too often though, so I would say they are tough to find. I've never seen Rock N Roll Racing (but I've at least found a cheap copy of the SNES version since that post :) ).

Regarding Strike Force Hydra, I bought it at EB yesterday (the fact that it was a vertical shmup, complete, and priced at $3.99 used sealed the deal). I can't recall ever seeing another copy of the game in the wild, though, so I'm not going to be surprised if it's one of the hardest GBA games to find in the future.

I've seen Aero The Acrobat about three or four times in the wild over the past six months, including the copy I got at EB recently.

I can only recall seeing Sonic Pinball Party once or twice at the most.

As for Snood, Fry's had a deal on Black Friday where that and SimCity2000 were included with the purchase of a GBA SP.

And since the game wasn't released the last time this thread got a response, I see Riviera as a future hard to find title.

And I'm still looking for a copy of Car Battler Joe.

[SamuraiSmurfette]

Sonic Pinball Party was DAMN hard to get.
Being a Canadian, there was NO chance of finding it outside ebay.

My rarity list goes to include:
Bookworm
Super Collapse 2
Ultimate Brain games/Card Games
Mr. Pants (outside of Canada, common here)
Bubble Bobble (I've only seen 1 Microplay here carry it)
Space Invaders

[poe]

Might need to add Riviera, unless Atlus does a second printing. The EBGames and Gamestop near me only got in about a half-dozen copies between them, the last of which I bought, and both chains websites show it as backordered now.

[Muscelli]

what about karrnaj rally? Havent seen that one too many times

[pacmanhat]

what about karrnaj rally? Havent seen that one too many times

I was just about to say this as well. I've only seen it once, and I picked it up when I did...it's pretty good. If anyone ever played "Death Rally" on PC, it's a lot like that.

[dbiersdorf]

I've never seen a copy of Mr. Pants in the wild, and I've looked all over.

Recently I'd say Riveria and Magical Quest 3 are pretty rare, and I think this trend will continue as the GBA ends its lifespan.

[sirhansirhan]

I had a shit-ass time trying to find Muppet Pinball Mayhem. I had been looking for it for over a year, and never found one in the wild until about a week ago ($18 cart only; I bought it). What's worse, that game never seems to show up on eBay, even. Sometimes sellers outside of the U.S. post one (which I don't trust), but during this year +/- I was looking for it, I saw two copies in eBay stores and maybe three on auction on eBay. And now that I have it, it's surprisingly fun. The only reason I tried so hard to track it down in the first place was for kitsch value (and because it became more and more clear that it was rare as hell).

[orrimarrko]

Can any GBA games be considered rare yet :hmm:

Hard to find maybe, but not "the RARE!" :p

Length of time since a game's release has nothing to do with it being rare or not.

If 2000 copies of a game were manufactured and distributed in the US, I'd say it was rare, regardless of when it was released.

Only difference is ability to locate one.

The distinction between "RARE" and "HARD TO FIND" is always blurred in these threads.

A game can be rare, and not difficult to find (if you know where to look.)

Likewise, a game can be hard to find in terms of availability for sale, but not be rare at all.

I'd be happy to post examples of each, but I think you get the point. ;)

Steve

[mikeetler]

I've never seen a copy of Mr. Pants in the wild, and I've looked all over.

Mr Pants was primarilly distributed in Canada. I did find a few locals strores selling it (independants, not chains) in addition to Wal Mart's website. A few places have the game listed as a pre-order with an October release date, so it's possible there's going to be a second run for the holidays.


Recently I'd say Riveria and Magical Quest 3 are pretty rare, and I think this trend will continue as the GBA ends its lifespan.

MQ3 I've seen fairly often in EB & Gamestop.

I got an update on Bookworm as well as info on Super Collapse II. Both had runs of 20,000 units, which was the smallest run Nintendo would manufacture at the time. At this time, neither game will have a second run for a number of reasons.

-Mike

[Sosage]

Speaking of R-Type III, the local Fry's has a mountain of them. I'm guessing they are still in the 20 bucks range (since I bought my copy at 19.99 almost a year ago...bleh). Same with Super Puzzle Fighter for some strange reason (I know...not super rare or anything...but every Gstop/EB I walked into acted like I was asking for something super hard to find).

Two GBA titles that have been a real pain in the ass for me are Contra Advance: The Alien Wars and Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival. I haven't seen either one of these titles IRL. I'm talking "gone day of release" level-of-scarce for my area. *shrug*

[smork]

Might need to add Riviera, unless Atlus does a second printing. The EBGames and Gamestop near me only got in about a half-dozen copies between them, the last of which I bought, and both chains websites show it as backordered now.

Here in Singapore, I've seen at least 10 stores carrying the US release of Riviera in the past week (yeah, I go to too many game stores). It's really common here. Then again, new, boxed Tactics Ogre is common here. All kinds of weird stuff are common here, while some really common US stuff is impossible to find. One can never tell.

[§ Gideon §]

Might need to add Riviera, unless Atlus does a second printing.
They did, earlier this month.

[§ Gideon §]

(link (http://atlus.com/))

[DigitalSpace]

I'm happy to say I finally found a copy of Car Battler Joe. :)

And regarding Karnaaj Rally, I think I've only seen two copies in the wild.

[snes_collector]

Someone mentioned the AIA games, I don't think I've never saw any of those. I thought BookWorm would be HTD from the start, I kich my self in the head for not buying a used copy at GameStop for $15(maybe they still have it.) As for RCR:Advance I would consider it HTD, I went in a TRU a few months back that had a bunch of copies on sale. And what Super Dodge Ball Advance? I remember getting the last copy at WalMart I few years back, and I don't think I've seen a copy since.

[Famidrive-16]

And what Super Dodge Ball Advance? I remember getting the last copy at WalMart I few years back, and I don't think I've seen a copy since.

Now that I think of it, I haven't seen that game anywhere since I bought it when it was released...

[DigitalSpace]

I've seen Super Dodge Ball Advance a few too many times for it to be rare. Could be a regional thing, though.

[Iron Draggon]

Got a legit new copy of Sonic Pinball Party on ebay for only $15. Only one person fought me for it, and not very hard.

Now Pinball of the Dead on the other hand...

I don't know if this one is a true rare or a false rare, but it's been selling for around $70 new on ebay and amazon. Had to pay $50 for mine, couldn't find it any cheaper new.

[DarkStraw]

just went to my gamestore and picked up a copy of ninja 5-o also had a mario party advance there, the box had "not for resale" would that be rare? also, isent the super mario brothers classic sort of rare?