The Rarest and Most Valuable Gameboy & GBC Games
The original Gameboy and Gameboy Color brought portable gaming to the masses and now holds a nostalgic place in the hearts of collectors right there with the NES. And while the rarest Gameboy games don’t quite touch the those in the NES library in terms of value, there are some surprising treasures to be found.
In stark contrast to the Cheapest Games series, this Rare & Valuable series will round up the rarest and most valuable games for a given console or handheld so you’ll know what to look for whether you are buying or selling. Below you will see two prices beside each title. The first is the average daily selling price, which is typically the going rate for the game by itself. The second price is the highest price in the past three months which is usually the price for the new/sealed game. The list is ordered by the balance of the two prices. Note that some of these games are not rare in the sense that there are not many available, but rare relative to demand, which makes the games expensive.
The Expensive Gameboy Imports
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Magical Chase – $100 – $125 Rarity =  This Cotton-esqe 2D shooter is best known for being a gem in the TurboGrafx 16’s library, but it also made a Japan-only appearance on the Gameboy as well. It’s actually a quite impressive and colorful port that makes it one of the best shmups on the portable. Check for Magical Chase on eBay |
Treasured Standard USA Releases
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Mr Do! – $40 – $131 Rarity =  Mr Do! is typically regarded as the holy grail of licenced US releases in the Gameboy library and doesn’t show up on eBay too often. The cartridge alone and generally runs in the $30-50 range, but even an unsealed, complete copy can break $100 Check for Mr Do on eBay |
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Mega Man V: $47 – $100 Rarity = Even though one might think that the Gameboy games are just monochrome versions of the NES games, the portable versions are actually quite different than their console counterparts. So all those Mega Man fans have to give this one a try if they want to play through the massive series. As you can see from our recent Best Mega Man game poll, Mega Man V is the most popular of the portable installments and it’s also one of the hardest to find. |
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Space Station Silicon Valley: $39 – $90 Rarity =  This Gameboy rarity is the pocket-sized incarnation of the cult-classic N64 game from DMA Designs (now known as Rockstar North, creator of the Grand Theft Auto series). Much like Mr. Do, it hardly ever shows up on eBay. Sometimes, you may get lucky and score a bare cartridge for next to nothing, but if it attacts attention from more than one hardcore Gameboy collector, you can expect some high prices. Check for Space Station Silicon Valley on eBay |
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Snow Bros Jr: $38 – $90 Rarity = This Bubble Bobble clone was also listed on the Rarest and Most Valuable NES Games list, but in top condition, it can actually command a few more dollars than the console version and doens’t show up quite as much on eBay (despite having a lower rarity rating on Digitpress). Check for Snow Bros Jr. on eBay |
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Stop That Roach – $29 – $190 Rarity = According to Digitpress, this quirky puzzle game is one of the rarest Gameboy titles out there, but I’ve seen it show up on eBay a number of times over the last month or two. Bare cartridges won’t sell for too terribly much, but just recently a sealed copy nearly reached $200. Check for Stop That Roach on eBay |
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Castlevania Legends: $32 – $90 Rarity =  Dispite being one of the lowest ranking game on our Best Castlevania Games poll, Castlevania Legends is one of the most collectable installments on a portable platform. It’s quite different than most of the games in the series, and it still has a group of devoted fans. Check for Castlevania Legends on eBay |
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Shantae: $27 – $90 Rarity = This colorful platformer was released on the tail end of the Gameboy Color’s lifespan as the Gameboy Advance was well on its way to domniate the market. Luckly, Shantae looked so good that it could pass for an early GBA game. Because of the combination of a relatively low print run and demand for this cool little gem, the game’s value stays solid. Check for Shantae on eBay |
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Mega Man IV: $24 – $85 Rarity = While it isn’t quite as popular as Mega Man V, the fourth installment in the portable Mega Man series is still quite a hit and a challenge to find in the wild at a decent price. Check for Mega Man IV on eBay |
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Harvest Moon 3: $25 – $80 Rarity = It seems like the Harvest Moon series is always popping up on our Rare and Valuble lists (see SNES and N64), but you can’t beat a combination of small print runs and a cult following for a series. I guess there are a lot of fans of cutesy farm simulations that have money burning a hole in their pocket. The third portable installment is the most popular and valuable, but you’ll also see the other two installments listed in the honorable mentions list below. Check for Harvest Moon 3 on eBay |
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Metal Gear Solid: $22 – $135 Rarity =
Even thought the Metal Gear series was an established 2D franchise and Metal Gear Solid was burning up sales charts on the Playstation, the production run of the Gameboy Color version was quite small. In fact, this portable version is one of the rarest of all the regular-issue Metal Gear games, right up there with some of the old-school classics. |
Gameboy Games With Sealed Premiums
Much like the NES games, there is quite a market for popular Gameboy games that are still in the factory plastic wrap. Here’s a sampling of the biggest prices of the last couple of months. I’ve linked to the actual auctions for the prices listed. In most cases, an bare cart of the same games go for a small amount of cash.
- Super Mario Land 2 (Original): $395
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Players Choice): $210 – $232
- Contra: The Alien Wars: $216
- Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Players Choice): $160
- Metroid II: $150
- Metal Gear Solid: $135
- Final Fantasy Legend III: $108
- Final Fantasy Legend: $108
- Super Mario Land 2 (Players Choice): $105
- The Empire Strikes Back: $105
- Pokemon Red: $88
- Pokemon Yellow: $79
Additional Gameboy Games of Value
These games aren’t especially rare, but are quite collectable; resulting in a high resale value, especially for sealed copies.
- Resident Evil Gaiden – $20 – $88
- Metroid II – $10 – $150
- Jeep Jamboree – $20: $48
- Pokemon Crystal: $18 – $40
- Spud’s Adventure: $18 – $43
- Buster Bros: $16 – $20
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX – $15 – $40
- Zool Ninja of the Nth Dimension: $15 – $19
- Harvest Moon: $10 – $20
- Harvest Moon 2: $12 – $25
- Knight’s Quest: $16
Credits: Rarity scores are courtesy of my friends at DigitalPress.
29 Comments:
You listed Contra: The Alien Wars as Conta under the Sealed Premiums section. Otherwise its a very nice list, though I was suprised Castlevania Legends made the list. It makes me happy that I have an original copy with box and manual.
Fixed. Thanks!
I Brought Harvest Moon 3 for 7$ at a local game store XD funny that i actually own a game that went up in value.
Ever since I got a RetroDuo, I’ve actually been playing a whole lot of Mega Man V on the Super Game Boy. It really is the best Mega Man no one has ever played.
I also know of a flea market where a guy is selling Metal Gear Solid for GBC for $7. Going there this Sunday.
I might just have to find out if the Super Game Boy can play imports.
It should be able to play imports – nintendo’s handhelds are region free.
You forgot about Amazing Tater for the Gameboy, last time I saw it on ebay(a few months ago) it went for 40$ for the cart alone.
Should the US version of Kid Dracula be put up here? There was an NES version as well as a Gameboy version released in Japan, but only the Gameboy version made it stateside. There’s usually quite a fervent bidding war when it’s put up on eBay, and a lone cartridge is usually more expensive than Megaman V. Good game, too!
If you’re patient on ebay, you can get some of these games for cheap. I got Mega Man V for 5 bucks and IV for 8. MMV was a buy it now for that price shipping included. Looking for people who don’t know what they have isn’t too tough with the classic gameboy.
Welp now to go find Metal Gear Solid for GBC.
“Mr Do! is typically regarded as the holy grail of licenced US releases in the Gameboy library and doesn’t show up on eBay too often. ”
this must be a typo, because while mr. do is quite uncommon, the rarest and most treasured licenced us release on the gameboy is actually Amaz’n tater. last year alone, only 3 (loose) copies showed up on ebay. digital press agrees too. look again.
i forgot to mention that 1 of those 3 went for almost 60.00, loose!
Not sure how that’s a typo…. I said it was the rarest and it isn’t on eBay much. Unless I mis-read something, I’m agreeing with you…
i was implying that mr. do! is not the holy grail you claim it is. it might be #2 but, i’m confidant that amazing tater is considered the rarest. digitalpress’s rarity guide agrees with this. forgive my sarcasm, i appreciate and respect your guides. nothing personal against mr do, but he should be behind amaz’n tater.
Ah ok — I guess I mis-read your earlier comment. Makes sense now
Could you modify your report to include TATER? It really should be up there.
crud! when i was little, i remembered playing a roach game on the gameboy. then i lost it. argggg….
Can anyone here tell me what a factory sealed Original Gameboy Tetris is worth?
I once bought a copy of Resi Gaiden for $4.99 at GameStop. Great game. Traded it in for $2 (not $30) at PlaynTrade to finance what would become my introduction into 32bit gaming, the era where my mind still sits, the PS1 (only a $13 purchase).
I once bought a copy of Resi Gaiden for $4.99 at GameStop. Great game. Traded it in for $2 (not $30) at PlaynTrade to finance what would become my introduction into 32bit gaming, the era where my mind still sits, the PS1 (only a $13 purchase). I also once saw MGS gameboy on sale for $8 and amazing tater for $3.99… what a great world
Hey Racket, I think it would be worthwhile to host snapshots of the ebay pages, or like host the one particular page, so that when you link to an ebay completed listing (for the sealed games) that it won’t expire after x number of days. I hope that makes sense.
Yeah, that’s a good idea — might need to start creating an archive…
there are tons of super mario land 2 games on e-bay at the moment…
if i were to sell magaman 5 just the cartridge on ebay what would i expect to make?…
For cart only — probably around $30
Are the pokemon games like red and blue just the cart, worth any thing?
Any idea how much a factory sealed Kirby Tilt’n'tumble is worth?
yo tengo algunos de esos completos hay muchos raros en game boy pero muchos felix el gato o ninja taro son raros y no se ven casi nunca
Gremlins 2 on the Gameboy constitutes being a rare and valuable game.In fact,on Amazon.com there are’nt many video game sellers offering this great game.
Ive been told by people from digitpress and other online rarity guides that the “holy grails” of the original gameboy line are amazin tater, spuds adventure and f1 pole position.
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