Collector Chronicles: Super Rare Games #1

People are always asking me questions about rare games on here, so I thought it would be fun to talk about some of those games that I'll probably never get to own. For this one I'm sticking to older systems that only had one or two extra expensive games. I'm going to leave Atari 2600 for its own post because it has as many games over 100 dollars as all other systems combined. Or at least if you leave out Neo Geo it does. This one is going to cover the other Atari and pre-NES systems. I'll come back in a day or two and do Sega and other consoles.

Atari 5200: Meteorites, Bounty Bob Strikes Back

It's a toss up on 5200, so I'm including both of the famously rare games. Meteorites is probably a little bit more interesting because it comes from a tiny company that is symbolic of the industry at the time. There were a whole bunch of these little known start up companies making games in the early 80s. Most of them, however, made games for the 2600. This is one of the few that is for 5200. It's also one of the dozen or so games on the system that wasn't just a remake of a 2600 game. No wonder it goes for 100 bucks or more. Also, word on the internet is that it was originally going to be called Disasteroids. I sure hope this is true.

Bounty Bob Strikes Back is the sequel to Miner 2049er. Of course that probably means nothing to you. It was a fairly big success back in the day though. I believe that is is a Donkey Kong clone, but I could be wrong. I've heard that this is the rarest game for the 5200. I was actually going to find a copy on line to check on the price, but I couldn't find it anywhere. There aren't that many 5200 collectors out there, but the ones that exist are very dedicated, so I doubt that this game gets sold that often. It's a shame too because I've heard it's very good.


Atari 7800: Tank Command

I have no idea why Tank Command is so expensive. It's really not that rare. You can find a copy of it on Ebay just about any day, and it seems like it was fairly cheap a few years ago. Somewhere along the line line the prices went through the roof. I guess I should've bought it way back when. I'm thinking that the people who ran out of 2600 games to buy started collecting 7800 and that increased demand. I certainly cant think of a better explanation. This is a game from the company Froggo who are significant for being the last new company to make games for 2600. All their 2600 games were remakes of older games though. It is only the two on 7800 that are original. This might be one of the reasons that it is so expensive. As I said I really don't know. All I know is that someday I'm going to be looking at the gaping hole in my collection and wondering why.

Atari Jaguar: Air Cars

There are quite a few expensive games for the Jag, but this one is probably the most expensive of all the games that got a regular release. There are a few home-brews and other special cases that cost more, but Air Cars wins by the sheer fact that it was a real game in real stores. It was also the last Jaguar game to be released which always seems to help in the rarity department. It is such a late obscure release that it doesn't even have a box. I've always heard that this game is a stinker, but I'll probably never get to play it. That's probably for the best, but it does drive me crazy when there's a really awful game out there that I'm not able to play. I have an old issue of Game Players where the review this game. I think they gave it a 30. They said that it was nice having a new Jaguar game to play, but they sure wished it was actually worth playing.

Intellivision: Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball

Spiker is the very las game released for the Intellivison years after the system had lost its relevance. This game came out in 1989 which was 11 years after Intellivison was first released. It's very strange to think that it came out around the same time we got Blazing Lazers and Super Mario Brothers 3. Intellivision was actually kept alive for a number of years thanks to its mail order service, so I'm not sure if this game was ever in actual stores. After the video game crash somebody at the company decided to keep the thing going, and there were a few games released every year. This helped Intellivison pass the decade mark which is quite an achievement for a game console. I can only think of the 2600, Neo Geo, and Playstation 2 reaching that milestone. Anyeay, this was the last of them, and I doubt that there are too many copies floating around. Seriously, who was still playing Intellivsion in 1990? I once heard that it was the only Intellivison game to sell for over 1000 dollars. I don't know if that's still true or not, but it certainly cemented its legacy. I don't know if I'll ever play this one, but I certainly respect it.

Odyssey 2: Power Lords

This is the game on this list that I know almost nothing about. I've never even played an Odyssey 2 before. I do know, however, that almost every game can be bought for 3 dollars or less. In fact, Power Lords seems to be one of the only games that costs anything at all. There are a couple more, such as Quest for the Rings, but this one tops them all. I've searched for it many times on line, and I've never seen a copy of it. If not for Power Lords than Odyssey 2 would be a super easy collection to complete. At least it makes the system a little more interesting.


So this is part one. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to split this one up, but there will probably be two or three more parts. Next time I'll talk about Sega and maybe Nintendo. The games on this list are frustrating, but they do make for exciting trips for the used game stores. You never know when you're going to stumble upon a holy grail. Its the kind of thing that keeps lonely 40 year olds scouring garage sales across the country. It truly is a worthwhile experience.