Remember being able to go to a garage sale and having your pick of just about any NES game on hand for like a quarter a piece? The Gamer remembers. Now, even one of the most common video games of all time— the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combo cart— one that almost every human being on earth who was born before 1995 has owned at least one copy of in their lifetime, can be found going for upwards of 20 or 30 bucks at retro shops.

Yes, we all have to accept the reality that retro game collecting has become a costly hobby, and anyone who doesn't just want to go the pirate route in reliving classic games should expect to pony up some serious cash to amass any sort of sizable retro collection.

What constitutes a game's "value" is a combination of various factors— how many copies exist, the demand for the game, if it's on a platform people want to collect for, and so on— and prices on old games can fluctuate on an almost-daily basis. It also matters what condition the game is in, if it does or doesn't include the packaging, and of course, whether or not it's still factory sealed. Ultimately, though, games are only "worth" what you can find someone to pay you for them, so it's all a bit subjective anyway.

For this list, we looked at the current market value as stated by online pricing guides, considered the mid-range of what each game is typically actually sold for, and went with the value of a complete-in-box (when applicable) but not brand new copy.

30 Metroid Prime And Wind Waker Combo — GameCube ($400)

via dkoldies.com

On their own, Metroid Prime and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for GameCube aren't especially valuable, and certainly aren't rare. But put them together into this extremely limited-edition combo pack, and it's a whole different story.

Combined for a special GameCube bundle for just one particular Christmas season, the Metroid Prime/Wind Waker combo disc is a tricky and expensive proposition for GameCube completionists, who are really the only ones who will even think this release is special in the first place.

29 Hyrule Warriors: Limited Edition — Wii U ($500)

via tlozeldaupdates.blogspot.com

Both Hyrule Warriors and Mario Kart 8 got special limited edition sets that were sold exclusively at the Nintendo World Store in New York City. And in both cases, they were sold out in no time thanks to long lines that formed for hours in advance.

The Hyrule Warriors set is the more valuable of the two, currently fetching around 500 bucks in the after market. Of course, with extremely limited numbered items like this, half the battle is finding someone who even wants to part with theirs in the first place.

28 Earthbound — SNES ($700)

Via Kotaku

The SNES used to have a number of games that could easily fetch hundreds on eBay, and in most cases, their resale value dropped significantly when the games— typically RPGs  like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III— eventually got ported to and re-released on other platforms.

Earthbound, however, has seemed to largely retain its value, despite now being available on both the Wii U and the SNES Classic. The cart-only version doesn't sell for as much as it used to, but complete with box and hint book, you can still expect to pay handsomely for the SNES original.

27 Panic Restaurant — NES ($900)

via SocksCap64

Many of the priciest NES games are titles that were released very late in the system's life, and therefore only saw a small print run before being discontinued as stores at the time were more eager to give that shelf space to SNES and Genesis games.

Panic Restaurant got strong reviews and is considered one of the best-looking games on the NES. But alas, it was a weird-looking game released in 1992 which meant most people didn't pay attention to it. As a result, few copies were made and the ones that do exist are fought over by retro collectors.

26 Batman Forever Woolworth's Box Set —  SNES/Mega Drive ($900)

via gaming-corners.co.uk

There are a lot of really rare, really valuable games that aren't very good, and only command top dollar due to their scarcity. However, some of history's most expensive games are downright terrible, as is the case with Batman Forever for SNES and Genesis.

But the game itself isn't rare— what collectors are looking for is this exclusive, limited-edition PAL set that was sold at now-defunct retail chain Woolworth's. Why such a terrible game got such a fancy gift set is a mystery worthy of The Riddler.

25 Star Fox "Super Weekend" Competition Cartridge — SNES ($1,000)

Via: nintendolife.com

One theme that will recur throughout this list is games that were part of competitions and were either given out to participants, or were never meant to enter public rotation at all. Among the cheaper of these competition cartridges is the version of Star Fox that was used for Nintendo's Super Weekend event in 1993 that was meant to promote the game's release.

One of the reasons this competition cart is cheaper than most is it was actually available for sale to the public for a limited time following the event via mail order catalog. Remember those?

24 Amazing Tater — Game Boy ($1,000)

via YouTube channel TAS

You might have never heard of Amazing Tater, but you're likely aware of the game it's a sequel to: Kwirk, whose character was part of the short-lived Video Arcade TV series. In fact, both games are in the franchise known as Puzzle Boy in Japan.

Amazing Tater is a reasonably fun little game, but it's not one that anyone would've thought about much after 1991 if it weren't for how rare and valuable it would become to Game Boy collectors a decade later. Another game in that series just might show up later in this list...

23 Bonk's Adventure — NES ($1,000)

via quiicks.com

Not to say that the TurboGrafx-16 didn't have some great games, but for the most part, NES owners didn't really have much reason to be jealous of its library beyond the added  graphical horsepower. Bonk's Adventure was one of the few games that made NES kids feel like they were missing something by not having a TG-16.

As the TG-16 faltered, Hudson decided to share Bonk with other platforms— but 1994 was a little late for an NES game. Again, this meant a low print run and a high resell value for future collectors of the technically-impressive port.

22 Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch, Special Edition ($1,000)

via pricecharting.com

Nintendo existed as a company for almost 90 years before it tried its hand at electronic gaming. And it first made a name for itself in the "video game" space with its series of Game & Watch devices that are exactly what they sound like.

Collectors are happy to get their hands on any of the old Game & Watch titles, but one in particular is definitely the most desired. Only given away to participants of a contest in Japan, this rare variant of Super Mario Bros. is only this valuable if it still has its special character case.

21 Snowboard Kids 2 (PAL Version) — N64 ($1,100)

via GameCrate

Though it has settled a bit after its outrageous peak a few years ago, collectors are currently paying top-dollar for complete-in-box N64 games, making it perhaps the most overall expensive to collect for mass-market console at the moment.

Among the games that are hardest on the wallets of those looking for complete PAL N64 sets is Snowboard Kids 2, which can set you back over a thousand bucks. The North American version is much cheaper, but still typically sells for around $150 complete. All for a game that isn't half as good as 1080 Snowboarding.

20 Shantae — Game Boy Color ($1,100)

via ebay.com

While developer WayForward Technologies is most well-known for licensed games and retro-style revivals of classic franchises, they do have their own IP— most famously, a series of 16-bit-style action/adventure games called Shantae.

Nobody seemed to care much for Shantae until the Game Boy Color original began fetching four figures on eBay from retro collectors trying to complete their libraries. The renewed interest caused WayForward to revive the series and its purple-haired protagonist in 2010, and its now on its fourth installment and going strong.

19 Cheetahmen II — NES ($1,300)

via Kickstarter

It's always sketchy to include unreleased games on a list like this, but there are a few reasons why we felt Cheetahmen II should be an exception. For one, the copies that collectors cough up almost fifteen hundred bucks for were found in a warehouse for eventual sale and aren't just aftermarket cartridges built around downloaded ROMs.

The other is that it is a spin-off to the infamous Action 52, a mini-game collection for the NES (and Genesis) that was legendarily terrible and, at times, literally unplayable— but in and of itself, is a prize for hardcore collectors.

18 Hagane: The Final Conflict — SNES ($1,400)

via YouTube channel RangrisGaming

Hagane: The Final Conflict is a stylish action/platformer that has drawn comparisons to Strider and Shinobi— though it doesn't come close to either of those games quality-wise. Once again, this is the kind of game that would've just blurred into the background of a million other forgettable C-tier action titles of the era had it not shot up in price years later.

A lot of the people who have paid hundreds— if not thousands— for Hagane in recent years have felt the need to sell it as some underrated gem. We would too if we paid that much for it.

17 Virtual Bowling (Japan) — Virtual Boy ($1,400)

via YouTube channel RetroUprising

We mostly stuck with Western releases for this list as things get complicated when trying to determine the rarity and value of Asian titles, but Virtual Bowling is worth discussing for a few important reasons. The game is often mistaken for Nestor's Funky Bowling, also for Virtual Boy, but the two titles are completely separate.

Virtual Bowling's cost also makes it an especially expensive proposition to get a complete worldwide Virtual Boy collection, which many collectors attempt thinking it an easy pursuit given its small library. Small, yes...but including a least one game that'll set you back a grand.

16 The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Grey "Not For Resale" Version) — N64 ($1,500)

n64 cartridge

Zelda games have so many variations that some collectors go for a "complete set" of a single title. When you start getting into different colored cartridges, versions that are part of combo packs, "Not For Resale" versions, Player's Choice versions, and so on, it can prove surprisingly difficult.

The specific set of variables for this version of the N64's Majora's Mask— grey cartridge and marked "Not For Resale" as it was part of N64 store kiosk displays— makes it currently the most valuable version of any single Zelda game.

15 Peek-A-Boo Poker — NES ($1,700)

via Dailymotion

In the early-1990s, a company called Panesian released a trio of unlicensed NES games of a, let's say, salacious nature. Because they weren't approved by Nintendo and due to their content, the games weren't available through normal means.

Sold primarily through mail order and retail stores of ill repute, Peek A Boo Poker didn't have a huge print run and wasn't available for very long. The combination of a small number of copies plus the novelty of this type of game available for NES make Peek A Boo Poker one of the platform's most valuable games.

14 Donkey Kong County Competition Cartridge — SNES ($1,800)

via gotgame.com

Most famously associated with Blockbuster Video's second World Video Game Championship, this competition cart of Donkey Kong Country was also used in several other similar types of competitions over a period of a couple of years.

Despite printed warnings all over the packaging that the cart was not to be made available to the public, a number of DKC competition carts made it into the wild and they remain the most valuable competition cart that features a single game instead of multiple titles formed into a competition gauntlet.

13 Spud's Adventure — Game Boy ($1,800)

via YouTube channel Busterflex 80

Another renamed Puzzle Boy game release for Game Boy, Spud's Adventure is the most valuable title in that franchise as well as the most expensive on the original Game Boy as a whole.

Oddly, it was released the same year as Amazing Tater in the U.S., suggesting some kind of licensed deal that someone lost interest in after the fact and just shoved these two games out the door to complete a contract and be done with it. That would definitely explain how the games got so rare and valuable later on.

12 Bubble Bath Babes — NES ($2,000)

via YouTube channel Darkleon

At least a poker game featuring ladies in various states of undress makes a little contextual sense— a puzzle game that arbitrarily includes those elements, less so. Of course, the "attractive girl as reward for completing puzzles" genre has been popular in Japan for years and remains so to this day, so what do we know?

It's pretty obvious what we had to crop out of this screenshot of Bubble Bath Babes in order to keep this post within our content guidelines. For whatever reason, BBB is the rarest and most valuable of Panesian's risque NES releases.

11 The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons/Ages Limited Edition Box Set — Game Boy Color ($2,200)

via @nintencollect on Twitter

Nintendo decided to pull a Pokémon with The Legend of Zelda's first non-remake appearance on the Game Boy Color, simultaneously releasing an "Ages version" and a "Seasons version" of the overall Oracle series. But if any franchise can get players to buy two games at once, it's Zelda.

There was only one opportunity to buy both Oracle games together— this extremely limited-edition collectible set that includes both games and other bonus material. At over two grand, this one is only for Zelda fans with a lot of disposable income (if they can even find it for sale, that is.)