Some games are now worth a small fortune: tiny print runs, complete editions in mint condition, regional rarities. This Top 100 lists the retro titles with the highest values in the RomWize catalogue. For each, its re-evaluated score, its versions, their rarity and their estimated collector price, from loose to sealed.
"North American run of Toaplan's action title, one of the most expensive licensed NES cartridges on the market owing to a very low production volume at the very end of the console's life. Its rarity is documented, not merely perceived, making it a leading target for collectors after the most contested NTSC-U titles. Desirability rests on this conjunction of a tiny run and a co-op gameplay that stayed popular."
"A very late European PAL NES edition of Sunsoft's 'Gimmick!', released in microscopic quantities on the Scandinavian market only. One of the most expensive NES PAL CIBs in the world, regularly clearing several thousand euros in clean shape. Physical scarcity is extreme, and the Sunsoft 5B chip aura combined with the Scandinavian print make it a mythic piece. Authenticated boxed CIB is an absolute grail of European NES collecting."
"Strictly European Sunsoft release with no American counterpart, which makes it one of the recognised grails of the Western Game Boy catalogue. Animation and art direction by the Mr. Gimmick team, whose pastel visual identity and movement fluidity stand out within the PAL catalogue. Sunsoft Europe run was extremely short, and the cartridge in a clean cardboard box regularly reaches headline numbers at specialised auctions."
"Germs Nerawareta Machi, an Athena Japanese horror/investigation game that stayed exclusive to the archipelago and was never translated. A confidential production with a tiny run, now one of the priciest Japanese PS1 titles: loose already very high, CIB and sealed reaching extreme peaks (several thousand euros). The value combines extreme rarity with cult status among fans of obscure survival horror."
"Kid Dracula, a humorous Konami action-platformer in which young Dracula Jr. fights his foes with magic, released in America and Europe. A good-natured parody of the Castlevania universe, this endearing title saw no broad success, which makes it sought today. Its desirability lies in its offbeat tone, its link to Konami's gothic saga and a Western distribution more measured than the classic Castlevania games."
"The PAL release of Mega Man 7 is one of the great grails of the European SNES. Arriving very late, when the Saturn and PlayStation already held the spotlight, its continental distribution was tiny, leaving a handful of copies against intense demand. The European cardboard box, multilingual manual and PAL-liveried logo make it a headline piece of any collection, markedly harder to find than its US and Japanese counterparts, with desirability that soars on flawless complete copies."
"A direct sequel released at the very tail of the NES cycle in the United States (1993), with a much smaller NTSC print than the first entry as the market shifted to 16-bit. That late arrival on the console's flagship market makes it one of the recognised rarities of the US Capcom Disney NES catalogue. CIB in an intact cardboard box reaches top public-auction marks, the pressure coming from the low-print, end-of-generation combination."
"European edition of this Activision air-combat simulator, kept exclusively PAL in 1993. By that point in the NES lifespan, European print runs were already very small, with attention turning to the Mega Drive and SNES, making this trilingual cartridge (English, French, German) harder to find complete than its American counterpart. A late-life title whose scarcity stems from timing rather than acclaim."
"A Game Boy port of Taito's brutal arcade hockey, released in the US in a small run very late in the monochrome Game Boy's active life. The game itself rates poorly, but the distribution scarcity of the US edition, now very hard to find complete, has pushed CIB values up out of all proportion to its merits. A textbook case of price driven by near-absent supply rather than demand for quality."
"The very first Madden entry on Genesis, this John Madden Football founds EA's most enduring sports series and carries genuine historical weight. Loose prices stay low because the NTSC run was massive, yet a sealed copy in its 1990 US cardboard box, nearly unobtainable, reaches striking heights. It is the origin piece of a franchise that sports-game collectors aim to complete from the start."
"A Game Boy port of Irem's arcade franchise about a mallet-wielding carpenter, whose handheld counterpart shipped in very small numbers in Europe and never reached the American market. This PAL exclusivity, paired with an Irem barely present on handhelds, explains the striking complete-copy values. The gem rests as much on distribution scarcity as on its tie to an arcade license cult in Japan but marginal in the West."
"A Capcom beat'em up with an extremely small PAL run, making it one of the value peaks of the European Mega Drive, with CIB prices reaching into the thousands of euros. Its scarcity stems from minimal European distribution in 1994 combined with the prestige of the Capcom beat'em up and the Marvel Punisher licence. The convergence of a tiny print run, Capcom craft and a cult character explains demand far above the run of Genesis titles."
"Published by Meldac in the United States in 1991, Zombie Nation stands out for its dark humor and oversized hero razing an invaded New York, an absurd concept turned cult. Its dizzying value, among the highest in the NES catalog, comes from an extremely small North American run for a minor third-party publisher, paired with demand sustained by its reputation as an oddity. Sealed copies reach heights that place this title in the upper grail tier for collectors."
"Crusader of Centy is the NTSC edition of Nextech/Sega's action-RPG. Collector value comes from this being one of the hardest Nextech games to find complete in box and from the US cartridge being the only official Western version (Soleil in Europe)."
"A 1992 Atlus US NES release based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, never released in PAL. The cart is one of the latest US Atlus NES releases, and its very short print makes it a difficult collectible in CIB form. Intact boxed CIB with manual climbs hard, sustained by real physical scarcity and by growing curiosity for Western Atlus NES releases before the SMT/Persona explosion."
"The PAL edition of Dracula X, sold in Europe as Vampire's Kiss, is one of the continent's most sought-after SNES Castlevania entries. A late European run far smaller than the US pressing concentrates strong demand on few copies, making it a genuine PAL rarity in the library. The multilingual manual and European cardboard box are hard to find intact, placing a complete copy among the marquee Konami pieces in PAL."
"The US SNES release of the Video System vertical shooter, the Western localisation of 'Sonic Wings'. The US print was very short and the cart has become a difficult collectible, especially in CIB form. US boxed CIB in an intact box with manual is one of the most expensive US SNES shooters on the market, comparable to late-cycle Konami/Capcom rarities. Graded sealed prices climb hard, sustained by extreme physical scarcity."
"In its Australian PAL form, this Taito Super Chase H.Q. stems from an especially confidential local run: the Australian market is among the narrowest on the format, and a complete copy, cardboard box and PAL manual included, is markedly harder to track down here than on the North American market. This arcade police pursuit becomes a genuine niche piece, its desirability resting above all on the scarcity of its Australian regional edition."
"Eliminate Down is the Japan-exclusive edition of Soft Vision's horizontal shoot in extremely limited print. Exceptional collector value: one of the rarest and most expensive Megadrive shmups on the secondary market."
"Late 1992 European PAL release from Capcom, arriving as attention had already shifted to the Super Nintendo. That late-release PAL status is exactly what explains the soaring price: a tiny run for a declining NES market, lasting demand from European completists, and the extreme scarcity of complete or sealed copies. The game itself matters less than its standing among the hardest PAL NES titles to secure."
