The original PlayStation was one of the best consoles ever released, with a wide array of fantastic games that many players still remember fondly today. The PS5 may be a modern-day marvel but kids growing up in the 90s were floored by how "advanced" the original console was. Needless to say, it has a lot of fans, even today. So it's no surprise that some people are still trying to get their hands on the original games ported to the console. But some of these games can be hard to find and downright expensive.

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To keep things fair, the aforementioned titles will be priced "new." That means completely sealed and unused. There’s a big price difference for some of these depending on if the game is loose, used but complete in box with everything, and then actually new. This is according to PriceCharting, which seems to be the most recommended site for tracking these things down. That said, please understand that these prices may be different between sites. There's really no value in a game unless someone is willing to pay for it. That's why the range can be so vast sometimes.

Updated June 25, 2021 by Russ Boswell: With the PS5 hitting store shelves, some gamers are even more nostalgic for the PlayStation's roots. Some rare PS1 titles are becoming even scarcer as collectors grab up any copies they can find and supplies have never been lower for certain items on this list. As time goes on, it's safe to assume that some of these games may be nothing more than museum-quality relics of gaming past. They're the history of the industry itself, with many of them marking franchise beginnings and a massive leap in graphical quality.

To better reflect how prices have changed concerning the rarest PS1 releases, and to add a little more information on why they may be so pricey, this list has been updated. Here's a glimpse at some of the most expensive PS1 games available.

25 Thousand Arms ($185)

Thousand Arms isn't a groundbreaking release, or at least it wasn't for its time. It's a pretty standard RPG, except for the fact that you're a smithy, and in order to craft great gear, you need a high romance with one of several ladies. It's very much anime clichés (of the time) to the max.

24 Clock Tower ($222)

This one is a tad confusing. The first Clock Tower was a Super Famicom game in Japan. It’s a horror-themed point-and-click adventure game that focuses on a girl trying to escape a madman with a giant pair of scissors. It released in 1995 so by that point Capcom probably didn’t see a reason to localize the game since the PS1 was out. To make it less confusing outside of Japan, they released the sequel as Clock Tower in North America even though it’s the second.

23 Mega Man Legends 2 ($245)

Like Castlevania Chronicles, Mega Man Legends 2, was a late PS1 release. In fact, it launched just two days before the PS2 launched, which was on October 24, 2000. Talk about bad timing. It suffered from hitting the console too late, which is a shame considering it's such a fun and interesting entry in the franchise.

22 Tomba ($252)

Tomba attacking a pig enemy

Tomba is a quirky little action platformer with some Metroidvania elements. Players control a strange cave dude with pink hair who is tasked with saving the land from an invading army of pigs. It's possible to fight them with weapons, or, well, jump on their heads and bite them.

Players can snag it digitally for the PS Vita, or PS3 for $10. Even as a PlayStation Classic it’s on the "expensive" side, but it's nothing compared to its new price.

21 Shadow Tower ($274)

Before there was Dark Souls, there was Shadow Tower. If players thought the Souls series was though, they haven’t seen anything yet. Archaic doesn't even begin to describe this experience. It’s not fun in the least.

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Many may even question why it’s so valuable. $274 might not seem like a lot to some, but for such a rough game, it is kind of strange. If players see this in the wild in mint condition for a cheap price, it's definitely worth picking it up.

20 Einhänder ($275)

Squaresoft got pretty experimental in the PS1 era. It's possible they really wanted to tinker with the hardware and try new genres out. Einhänder was one of their greatest offshoots, which was a classic shoot ‘em up in the vein of Gradius. Sadly, it went underappreciated, as 2D games in this era didn’t sell as well. Unlike a lot of Squaresoft games from this era, this one did not make it to PSN in North America. That's why it still sells so high physically.

19 Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete Collector's Edition ($294)

Some players aren't aware of Lunar or Lunar 2, even though they featured fairly heavily in magazines and advertisements at the time. They were like special editions before that became a widespread thing. In the standard box for Lunar 2, players got an art book, CD, a locket, and these weird cardboard cutouts of characters that look like they belong in that old board game, Guess Who. Both games are pretty fun, but they're definitely on the lower end of PlayStation RPG classics.

18 Team Buddies ($300)

Team Buddies is definitely not worth the crazy high price tag. It’s generic-looking, like it’s for kids, and yet it has harsh language that was too rough for North America. That’s right, it was toned down outside of Europe. Gameplay-wise it’s kind of like a strategy game. As it was yet another 2000 PS1 title, this being a month out from the PS2, it got swept under the rug.

17 Diablo ($350)

It's not super clear why this version of Diablo is so rare, but here’s a possibility. It was published for the PS1 by EA. They possibly had Blizzard’s blessing for only a set number of years, perhaps a decade, or so.

Once that licensing contract expired, this version then became rare. That’s the case with a lot of games and why so many get delisted from online stores nowadays. This is perhaps why it's smart to buy hard copies while they're still floating around.

16 Castlevania Chronicles ($357)

Many players may be unaware but there were actually two Castlevania games on the PlayStation. Castlevania Chronicles is basically a remake of a port of the original NES Castlevania. This remake was originally made for the obscure Sharp X68000 computer.

RELATED: 10 Terrible-Looking PS1 Games With Amazing Gameplay

Compared to Symphony of the Night, Castlevania Chronicles is disappointing. It was also a crazy late release for the PS1, which was in 2001. This was a year after the PS2 launched, which is probably why this game had a low print run.

15 Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter ($367)

Before Marvel vs Capcom, the crossover premise started great, but the two companies couldn't decide on a name. The first crossover between the comic giant and Capcom was X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter is the sequel to that, and the game right before Marvel vs Capcom. Anyone who played this or any of these crossover fighters knows just how fantastic they are. Why is it so expensive now? Depleted licensing agreements are one possibility.

14 Batman Forever: The Arcade Game ($400)

Batman Forever Screenshot Of Batman Kicking Goons

Batman Forever: The Arcade Game was one of the last games that developers thought photographing actors and digitally inserting them into a game was a good idea. Was this technology impressive during the 16-Bit era?

Sure, but this game came out in 1997 for arcades first, so by that point, there were better-realized worlds in 3D on both consoles and in arcades. Criticism of the visuals aside, it's also why the game is so much fun to play. Fun in a "sometimes annoying and a bit broken" kind of way.

13 Spyro Collector's Edition ($416)

spyro in grassy castle area from the ps1 game

This box set collects the first three Spyro games together in one neat little package. The third game, Year of the Dragon, released two days before the PS2’s launch in 2000. This particular collection released a couple of years later in 2002. Because of its "package deal" style, it can fetch a pretty hefty sum in the modern-day.

12 Tales Of Destiny ($420)

Stahn gets healed in a Tales Of Destiny battle

Tales of Destiny and its sequel are both worth a lot. The reason? It was a niche RPG with a low print run. That's most likely why. It had nothing to do with the year, but maybe the graphics were a factor. It was in 2D, which in 1998, was kind of a no-go. Titles "had" to be modern like Final Fantasy VII if they wanted to cater to the cool crowd.

11 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure ($471)

jojo's bizarre adventure capcom fighting game

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a manga that started all the way back in 1987. Throughout the years, there were various anime adaptions, but they were always specials or short OVAs. In 2012, it finally got a full-fledged series, which is still running to this day.

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This is a fighting game based on the anime by Capcom. But because the manga was still fairly obscure outside of Japan at this time, it didn’t sell well. It's possible that Capcom knew this and didn't sell many copies, either.

10 Rakugaki Showtime ($487)

Rakugaki Showtime is the only Japanese import on this list. It released in 1999, a year before the PS2, so that’s probably why it never came over. That's kind of a weird thought though, considering players really don't need a translation to play this game. If the crayon aesthetic isn't awesome enough, the gameplay is something along the lines of a 3D Super Smash Bros, combined with Super Dodgeball. It's quirky as all heck and just a good time.

9 Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together ($500+?)

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is the best game in the series so it stands to reason why it would be re-released so many times. It started on the Super Famicom, moved to the Saturn and PS1, and then finally got a proper remake on PSP. That said, it’s one of those obscure Atlus published RPGs that was great, but didn’t receive a lot of copies. Unless it's for a collection, there’s no reason to seek this one out over the PSP remake. Unfortunately, there isn't much information regarding the "new" price for the PS1.

8 Klonoa: Door To Phantomile ($514)

The Klonoa series is a bit of a cult classic with a pretty niche fanbase. Some of the games in the franchise are actually pretty great but usually fly under the radar. Players can pretty much guess why this particular PS1 title didn't sell very well. After Super Mario 64 no one, at the time, wanted to play a 2D platformer. Oh, how wrong they all were.

7 Tail Concerto ($629)

Tail Concerto is CyberConnect2’s first game. Who is CyberConnect2? They're more known now for the .Hack RPGs and the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games along with some other random projects like Asura's Wrath. History aside, players are a dog police officer on the hunt for dastardly sky cat pirates. Oh yeah, and they'll control a mini-mech. It's definitely one of those games that's a little strange but pretty charming in its own right.

6 Starblade Alpha - Long Box Edition ($624)

In the first run of PS1 games, the boxes were long like Sega Saturn’s cases. They then decided, for whatever reason, to revise the cases to look more like music CDs. It probably cost Sony less.

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Anyway, Starblade Alpha is a nothing game, but because it got re-released widely in this standard case, the original long box version is worth a lot more. It's pretty much as simple as that.