Do you have a bunch of old game sitting in your closet that you’d like to trade in for a stack of cash? Or are you on the hunt for the most desirable games for your collection? In stark contrast to the Cheapest Games series, This new series of Rare and Valuable games 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 cartridge selling price and the second price is the peak selling price (typically complete, but un-sealed) of recent history.   If I have seen a recent Sealed copy sold, I will include that separately.

Updated: Prices current as of  January 2020

Treasured North American Releases

Rampage 2 Universal Tour Big Box Variant: $600 – $4000 ($6000 Sealed)

There are a handful of N64 games that had a special retail version that came with extra goodies such as a toy, shirt, or other goody. Instead of simply being bundled alongside a standard retail version (like a Rampage T-Shirt Pre-Order offer at Target, Sears and Toys-R-Us) all the items were actually packaged in a larger version of the cardboard retail box. This particular offering was a Wal-Mart exclusive that included one of three different “Rampage Babies” plushie keychains.

As of the last few years, there was only a little over 10 confirmed plush keychains of this package. Obviously, Wal-Mart actually sold many more units than that, but most people threw the boxes in the trash and the even the keychains probably often got tossed aside. (Keep an eye out at garage sales, I suppose!)

The box itself can self for a few hundred dollars, but the plushie adds at least $1500 to $2000. Of course having the manual and the inserts (which are the same as the standard retail release) and the condition of the other items can factor highly into the overall value of a complete package. The T-shirt bundle (instead of the keychain and big box) can sell for about $300 to $450.

Check for Rampage Big Box on eBay

Clay Fighter 63 1/3 Sculptors Cut : $600 – $2400

Released as a Blockbuster Video exclusive, Sculpter’s Cut this is one of the rarities that didn’t get appreciated until a decade or so later. It is now regarded as possibly the rarest USA N64 release you can have in your collection in complete condition. You might be able to find some cartridges of this rare release at a semi-reasonable price, but because of the Blockbuster deal, it is especially difficult to find a boxed copy and harder still to find one with the manual.

For the longest time, this item was considered the top grail of the N64 library, but once collectors started appreciating how hard those Rampage plushies are to find, those got the nod for the top spot.

That’s not to say this piece hasn’t appreciated greatly in that time. Back in 2010, when it was king of the mountain, it was only commanding $50 for a loose cart and $120 for a boxed copy.

Now, a Sculpter’s Cut box alone will command about $1100, while a manual will require about $500 to $600

Check for Clay Fighter 63 1/3 Sculptors Cut on eBay

Tarzan Big Box: $300 – $1400 ($2000 Sealed)

Here’s another one of the big-box retailed exclusive box variants. While it might have had just as few, if not fewer units produced as the Rampage World Tour 2 bundle mentioned above, Tarzan hasn’t had quite the demand as Rampage. Regardless, it is still one of the hottest collectables for die-hard N64 fans.

This particular Big Box game came with two character figures. From what I’ve seen, it’s typically one figure of Tarzan and then another figure of a different figure that varies randomly. The figures on their own can often sell for a couple hundred dollars for a pair.

I have seen sealed copies sell for $2000, but I have also seen people asking for as much as $5000 (but without somebody taking them up on the offer)

Check for Tarzan Big Box on eBay

Yoshi’s Story International Version: $1200 – $1300 (loose)

This cartridge is a rather interesting unit to be used in demo kiosks. The cartridge was designed to be used in North American kiosks, but all the game text is in Japanese.

The cartridge artwork is pretty similar to the standard release, but it features the printed captions, “Not For Resale” and “International Version” on the front.

Since they do look so similar, there’s always the possibility that some people may be selling it off without quite realizing what they have on their hands.

Check for Yoshi’s Story International Version on eBay

Stunt Racer 64: $130 – $800 ($1750 Sealed)

Unlike Clay Fighter 63 1/3, which just had a variant of the game as an exclusive to Blockbuster, Stunt Racer 64 agreed to have Blockbuster be the exclusive retailer for not only rental of the game, but full retail purchases as well. The game was not even released outside of North America.

It would be interesting to hear the behind-the-scenes business conversations in which these deals were agreed-upon. In hindsight, it seems like a death sentence for a game’s success. But perhaps they didn’t have the most confidence in the game and Blockbuster offered them enough cash to soften the blow.

Anyway, as you might expect from a rental place, the survival rate of not only the outer boxes but the manuals and such were pretty slim. So while the bare cartridges are hard enough to find in the wild, the complete copies are especially a rare find.

From a collectability standpoint, this one really came out of the blue a little while back. Prior to 2010, you could find loose cartridges for $5 or less. We saw a modest increase between 2010 and 2015, for loose going for around $25 and completes for $250 to $500. But in late 2016, we really saw it kick into the gear with the overall N64 push. Loose copies started selling in excess of $100 and complete copies getting into their current levels.

Check for Stunt Racer 64 on eBay
Check for Stunt Racer 64 on Amazon

Bomberman 64 The Second Attack: $110 – $725 ($2000 Sealed)

Most of us retro gamers love Bomberman action, but the mainstream gaming crowd was getting a bit tired of the series in the N64 era. The first Bomberman 64 didn’t sell especially well, but for some reason, Hudsonsoft gave it another go on the Nintendo 64 at the very end of 1999, just as the console was in its final years (the Gamecube would only be a little over a year away).

Back in 2007, a boxed version of Second Attack could be scored for under $50 (and $87 sealed!) In our last guide revision in 2010, it gradually increased to $50 for a cart and $89 for a complete copy.
Check for Bomberman 64 The Second Attack on eBay
Check for Bomberman 64 The Second Attack on Amazon

Super Bowling: $350 – $455 ($1260 Sealed)

It’s not a huge secret that most third-party games (other than some sports and racing games) weren’t especially successful. However, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that a lot of people weren’t up for paying full retail price for a bowling game for the N64 — in 2001 especially! That’s right this rarity was released just a few months before the Gamecube arrived on North American shelves.

Much like Stunt Racer 64, this one came up from nowhere during the N64 rush of 2016. Up through 2012, you could usually find a bare cartridge in the $10 range. From 2013 to 2015, it increased to the $30 range while complete copies started hitting $200 to $300. Starting in 2016, loose copies started hitting over $100 and gradually climbing to today’s levels. With complete copies being in short supply, the selling prices have been pretty volatile, but have been hovering between $300 and $600 for the last few years.

Check for Super Bowling on eBay
Check for Super Bowling on Amazon

Snowboard Kids 2: $49 – $360

Games from publisher Atlus have consistently been climbing the charts on our Rare and Valuable guides — they usually are a solid combination of relatively low print runs and quality production. Sales were more lackluster than expected since the original Snowboard Kids was released just two years earlier and there wasn’t really a demand for more of the same on the N64.

Snowboard Kids 2 has climbed the rankings since our last guide revision, but it has been much more of a gradual increase (especially for loose carts) compared to the likes of Stunt Racer 64 and Super Bowling. Back in 2010, a loose cart was about $20 and a complete copy $80. Unsurprisingly, the complete copies have seen the greatest appreciation.

Check for Snowboard Kids 2 on eBay
Check for Snowboard Kids 2 on Amazon

Turok: Rage Wars (Gray Cartridge) – $180 to $275 for bare cart

Of course, Rage Wars is not hard to find in its original black cartridge form. However, this release was plagued with a bug that broke its co-op mode and Acclaim offered a trade-in program for a fixed version. This fixed variant was in a standard grey cartridge.

However, since a lot of owners of the game either didn’t really know about the trade-in or didn’t want to take the effort of mailing in their original cartridge, there wasn’t a lot of people that ended up getting these grey carts. A decade later, collectors increasingly realize that these patched carts are a special collectors item.

Check for Turok: Rage Wars (Gray Cartridge) on eBay

Worms Armageddon: $130 – $255 ($635 Sealed)

Even though the Worms franchise is quite popular on the PC, the N64 version didn’t get much attention when released. Years later, it is one of the hardest games to find and is still very fun.

Back in 2007, this port actually topped the N64 value list at a $55 to $120 range, it actually dropped to the $47 to $75 range in 2010, before rising again as the N64 library rose as a whole. But Worms Armageddon is still a bit lower in our rankings as collectors have discovered more of the above titles the are actually tricker to find — especially in complete form.

Check for Worms Armageddon on eBay
Check for Worms Armageddon on Amazon

Goemon’s Great Adventure: $50 – $380 ($700 Sealed)

This cult-classic franchise from Konami has grown in popularity quite a bit over the last decade, but in 1999, the series was pretty niche in North America.

The game also happens to be a fine example of a 2.5 platformer. The N64 library is obviously focused on 3D games (many of which didn’t exactly age well). A platformer that only scrolled horizontally wasn’t exactly the trendy thing in 1999, but no more gamers appreciate the setup — especially on a beloved platform that didn’t get many of these types of games.

Check for Goemon’s Great Adventure on eBay
Check for Goemon’s Great Adventure on Amazon

International Superstar Soccer 2000: $60 – $300

We’ve seen a few of these soccer titles show up on our Rare and Valuable guides. The games were understandably much more popular and printed in higher quantities in the PAL regions. Since they had the game pretty much good to go, they still released it in North America, but kept the print run pretty minimal.

We see a lot of loose cartridges surface on eBay, but boxed and complete copies are pretty hard to come by. And we all know by now that minty cardboard boxes of rare games keep rising in value.

Check for International Superstar Soccer 2000 on eBay

Starcraft 64: $52 – $300 ($400 Sealed)

Real-Time Strategy games weren’t exactly big sellers on the N64. Over time, however, the Starcraft name brought collectors back around in the aftermarket. Once Starcraft II arrived, more fans tried to track this one down.

From 2007 to 2012, I really hovered in the $30 range for loose copies (and boxes didn’t have much of a premium through most of the Aughts), but complete copies grew gradually over time (hitting around $170 in 2010) — really taking off around 2016 (similar to most of the popular games in the N64 library).

Check for Starcraft 64 on eBay
Check for Starcraft 64 on Amazon

Additional North American Games of Value

• Castlevania Legacy of Darkness: $47-$280 ($400 Sealed) (eBay)
• Transformers Beast Wars Transmetals: $45-$280 (eBay)
• Chameleon Twist 2: $24-$260 ($335 Sealed) (eBay)
• Conker’s Bad Fur Day: $55-$190 ($325 Sealed) (eBay)
• Paper Mario: $50-$200 (eBay)
• Harvest Moon: $64-$45 ($189 Sealed) (eBay)
• Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon: $50-$170 ($500 Sealed) (eBay)
• Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber: $52-$150 ($260 Sealed) (eBay)
• Indiana Jones Infernal Machine: $40-$200 ($250 Sealed) (eBay)
• Carmageddon: $47-$137 (eBay)
• Super Smash Bros.: $40-$205 (eBay)
• Daikatana: $45-$130 (eBay)
• Star Soldier: $25-$165 (eBay)
• Rat Attack: $25-$123 (eBay)
• PGA European Tour: $42-$84 (eBay)
• Starshot Space Circus Fever: $25-$100 (eBay)
• Mario Party 3: $40-$78 (eBay)

North American Big Box Games

• Pokemon Stadium included a transfer pak.
• Hey You Pikachu – Microphone
• Star Fox 64 rumble pak in a big box.
• Tarzan (came with a figurine)
• Rampage 2: Universal Tour

PAL Territory Treasures

• Snowboard Kids 2 (PAL/AUS): $160-$1000
• Starcraft 64 (PAL / AUS): $150-$900
• Resident Evil 2 (PAL): $120 – $185

Japanese Exclusives

Getter Love!! Cho Renai Party Game Tanjo: $100- $350

This party game from Hudson Soft can also be considered a bishōjo game (dating simulator). Its hard enough to see cartridges show up on eBay, let alone a complete copy.

Check for Getter Love!! Cho Renai Party Game Tanjo on eBay

Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaioh (Bangai-O): $127-$160

Yes, before this cult classic shooter from Treasure blasted its way to the Dreamcast, it was actually a Japanese-only release for the N64. In addition to being one of the best games on the system, it was also limited to a print run of only 10,000.

Check for Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaioh on eBay

The post The Rarest and Most Valuable N64 Games appeared first on RetroGaming with Racketboy.