The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or the SNES, was an incredibly successful console for Nintendo that helped cement its dominance in the early years of the market. It was the home to some of the most famous and best-selling games and franchises of all time, like Super Mario World, F-Zero, and Super Metroid.
But as it had such a long lifespan and was home to such a wide variety of games, it means there are a few incredibly rare gems on the Super Nintendo. Tournament games and beloved classics alike are very rare, with high price tags to boot.
10 M.A.C.S. Multipurpose Arcade Combat Simulator - $3,500
M.A.C.S. is a rarity among Super Nintendo games. It was never sold at retail, nor did the public ever get to really see it. Instead, the United States Military contracted Nintendo to develop a simulator to train their soldiers on how to use the M16 rifle on the cheap.
The game featured a rifle, much like the Nintendo classic Duck Hunt, and the operator would point it at the screen to control the game. With only a small number of copies made, collectors will need to seriously empty their wallets to own this strange piece of Nintendo and American military history.
9 Star Fox Super Weekend Competition - $3,600
A forgotten aspect of Nintendo's history is that it used to host tournaments and competitions around the world, although, unfortunately, modern E-sports have caused this practice to die off. The Star Fox Super Weekend Competition is a relic of a bygone age in more ways than one, as the limited copies of this cartridge were sent out to Blockbuster Video stores, which hosted the local tournaments.
The cartridge only contained the secret levels of the original Star Fox game, and players competed to see who could earn the most points. With so few copies made, players are probably better off just buying a copy of the original Star Fox to get the full experience.
8 Nintendo Campus Challenge 1992 - $4,000
Yet another artifact from the days when Nintendo competitions were still widespread, the title of Nintendo Campus Challenge 1992 is a bit misleading. Although it might seem like this was an intellectual test, the name actually refers to the fact that this competition was hosted on college campuses across the United States and parts of Canada.
The game featured a small selection of levels from some of Nintendo's most popular titles at the time, including Super Mario World, F-Zero, and Pilotwings. Of the small number created for the competition, an even smaller number are still available today. For those collectors who want to get their hands on this cartridge, they'll need to act fast if they find it: there's a very real chance it could be the only one left.
7 Donkey Kong Country Competition - $4,500
Donkey Kong Country is an absolutely fantastic platformer, and its relatively short length made it perfect for competitions. Yet another competition hosted by Nintendo and Blockbuster Video, Donkey Kong Country Competition was sent out to Blockbuster stores to host the local level parts of the tournament; everyone had an opportunity to qualify for the Blockbuster World Video Game Championship.
The copies only had certain select levels from Donkey Kong Country, and only a few thousand copies were ever made. With complete, pristine copies of the game going for upward of $4,000, it's probably cheaper to just stick to Donkey Kong Country Returns.
6 Aero Fighter - $5,000
Originally an arcade game that was later ported to the Super Nintendo, Aero Fighters is a top-down, shoot-em-up game. A quasi-spiritual successor to the earlier game Turbo Force, Aero Fighters is rare not because it's beloved but rather because the game was kind of a commercial failure.
These kinds of top-down shoot-em-ups didn't fare well on consoles in the United States; they were more popular in arcades. Because of this, far fewer copies were made and shipped to retail in the U.S. than normal. The game is rare because the executives didn't expect it to sell well. But with the prices this game can go for if it's still sealed in its original box, maybe they can finally make a profit off of this forgotten shooter.
5 Hagane: The Final Conflict - $8,000
A side-scrolling beat-em-up about a cyborg ninja hunting down the holy grail, Hagane: The Final Conflict is a strange yet extremely fun game. Praised at the time of its release for its action and writing, the game remains rare today because of the complexities of mid-'90s marketing and retail strategies.
Hagane: The Final Conflict wasn't actually sold at retail; it was only available to rent from Blockbuster as part of one of Nintendo's many partnerships with them. Because of this, fewer copies were made, driving up the prices of the remaining units.
4 Earthbound - $8,000
Earthbound is one of the best-known franchises on the SNES and is regarded by fans as one of the best RPGs ever made. Also known as Mother in Japan, it saw an incredibly limited release. Very few games in the Mother series were ever released outside of Japan, so the original Earthbound is, as of the time of this writing, the only officially released game with an official translation available outside the Japanese market.
In addition to being such a beloved game and an excellent RPG, Earthbound has been driven to popularity by its inclusion in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. As more and more people discover the series, original copies have become highly sought after. Those few cartridges that still remain sealed in their boxes can cost collectors a fortune.
3 Mega Man X3 - $8,400
The early entries in the Mega Man franchise hold up exceedingly well, seeming to only get better with time. In a way, it's the fact that the game is so good, so beloved by its fans, that makes it so rare. Those who still have an original copy are unlikely to be willing to part with it, so it's become increasingly hard to find.
Another factor that drives up the price of this classic is that Mega Man X3 utilized the upgraded Cx4 chip that allowed the SNES to render 3D graphics. This made the cartridges themselves more expensive at the time, and that price has only increased in the decades since.
2 Exertainment Mountain Bike Rally/Speed Racer - $16,000
This extremely rare game is actually two games in one. Mountain Bike Rally was actually controlled using a real exercise bike, almost like a 16-bit predecessor to Wii Fit, and was also known as Cannondale Cup in U.S. markets.
The second game in the package, Speed Racer, is far less revolutionary. It was a run-of-the-mill racing game based on the Speed Racer anime and didn't really turn any heads. Few, if any, copies made it to store shelves; most of them were apparently direct-ordered from Nintendo, and that limited stock is what gives this double feature its high price tag.
1 Nintendo Powerfest 1994 - $23,100
Held just before the twilight years of the SNES, the Nintendo Powerfest of 1994 was a competition that gathered contestants from around the world. The games in this cartridge are a small collection of levels from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, some tracks from Super Mario Kart, and snippets of gameplay from Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball.
Only about 30 copies of this cartridge were ever made, with most being scrapped by Nintendo after the competition to reuse their parts. Only two original copies are confirmed to exist, and both sold at absolutely staggering prices, making this undoubtedly the rarest SNES game in the world.