9 Rarest Video Games Of All Time

Video games can be expensive; the more popular a game is, the pricier it can be. But the rarer a video game is, it can also be just as expensive. Do you have any old video games collecting dust in your home? You never know... they could be worth THOUSANDS! Here's a list of the 9 rarest video games of all time.

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How popular is Super Mario World?

Let's begin with a video game that's classed as uncommon rather than rare, you may have even had it yourself! Super Mario World was released in 1990 and was considered one of the best-selling Super Mario games available. In the game, after Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool, Mario and Luigi must rescue her and 7 Yoshi eggs from Bowser and his Koopalings. In 2025, this game is considered rare because of the console it was released on. Coming out on the Nintendo SNES, this game is virtually impossible to get a hold of and play, because its console was discontinued in 2003!

 

How rare is Atlantis II:

Atlantis II has some mixed online information, various articles mention that the game was released in 1999, however, it was part of a gaming event in 1982, so clearly the game is so rare it's even confusing online! What we do know about Atlantis II though, is that it's based on a young man called Ten who finds a ship and meets a mysterious man, who explains that Ten is the Bearer of Light and has to restore balance to the universe by confronting the Bearer of Dark.

The game itself is considered rare purely due to its game packaging because it's extremely difficult to distinguish between original copies and fakes. The main difference is that the fake editions have the Atlantis title added with a label gun, whereas the originals have the title written on with a marker. 

Fun fact: Atlantis II was actually featured in an Atari contest called 'Defend Atlantis Competition', where contestants had to photograph their highest score on the game and send the results to developers. The winner would win $10,000 after competing against 4 other high scorers in Bermuda.

 

Is Nintendo Campus Challenge rare?

Nintendo Campus Challenge is seen as an extremely rare game because there's allegedly only 1 copy of it in the world. The game was released in 1991, and in it players have 6 minutes to collect 25 coins, and score 100,000 points across the games Super Mario Bros 3 and PIN-BOT.

As we mentioned, there's apparently only 1 copy of this game that exists. The game itself was created to be played once at a Nintendo gaming event. Named the Nintendo Campus Challenge, it was a Nintendo-sponsored competition where developers toured college campuses in the USA. After the event, the cart was alleged destroyed, well... expect one. 

 

Why are Stadium Events rare?

In 1986, Stadium Events was released by Bandai. In the game, players had to beat 6 computer players in a series of dash and hurdle events to win. Quite a basic premise, right? So why was it such a rare game? Well Nintendo saw this game from Bandai and decided they wanted it for themselves; they allegedly took the idea and rebranded it as World Class Track Meet, which was much more popular. It's the same game, just a lot more common. But if it's rare entries you're looking for, Stadium Events is the one.

 

How much is Red Sea Crossing worth?

Just missing out on our top 5, we have Red Sea Crossing, which was released in 1983. In the game, the player directs Moses between the parted waters. Moses must avoid obstacles like seaweed and giant clams by timing his movements and jumping. It's described as a Christian side-scrolling video game created for the Atari 2600. It was released for mail order in 1983, where it didn't make too many sales. The game was randomly discovered at a garage sale in 2007, and since then, the other copies have never been found.

 

Why is air raid so rare?

Air Raid was released in 1982 and centres around the player attempting to protect a city by shooting down saucers, aeroplanes and other enemies. It was the only game released by Men-A-Vision, which makes it very valuable. The game had very limited copies, and it's extremely sought after by gaming collectors.

 

What is the rarest Tetris game?

We all know Tetris, the most successful and popular video game of all time. The game where you have to place the mix-match blocks together to save space on the screen before it fills to the top. There's been thousands and thousands of copies of this game for the arcade, console and mobile device, so why are we counting it as a rare game? After releasing a version of the game on NES, Nintendo then forced Atari and Sega to recall their copies from the market, claiming sole ownership of Tetris for consoles. Any versions available on Atari are considered VERY valuable and extremely rare.

 

What is Birthday Mania?

Next up is Birthday Mania, which is so rare that it only had between 10 and 15 copies! It's a 1984 video game where candles fall downwards and the player must shoot gusts of wind upwards to blow them out. There's a limited amount of air available, and if any unextinguished candles hit the ground, the player loses. 

Tokar, the game developer, had a very poor advertising campaign, and amid the ongoing video game crash of 1983, the game performed very poorly. But also, we can't help but wonder if the game performed badly because it just wasn't a good concept? Meaning people just didn't buy the game.

 

How much is a Gamma Attack worth?

And finally, our choice for the rarest video game of all time, Gamma-Attack from 1983. In the game, players must fight the Vegans, who are in the Vegan War who have taken control of the CAMMA outpost planet, the only inhabitable planet in the solar system. The game was released by Inspirational Video Concepts. It was only released in small amounts initially, and as the number of games increased, so did the price. There's no guarantee how many consoles were released, but due to the game's lack of popularity, it's believed there are fewer than 100. Within the last 20 years, only 2 copies of the game have been brought to light!

 

What video games are worth collecting?

• Mystery House
• Dragon Quest II
• King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
• Wizard and the Princess PC Edition
• Laura Bow 2: The Dagger of Amon Ra
• Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel 
• The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak
• ActRaiser

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Conclusion:

It's unlikely we'll ever see some of these video games again, but we can always hope! What was your favourite game from the 80s/90s? Do you have one you'd love to revisit? Let us know in the comments!