The Best of the Holy Grails.

[crux]

I recently splurged and bought by far the rarest and most expensive game in my collection, the PC-FX game Kishin Doji Zenki: Vajura Fight. I then saw another topic here, featuring Daytona USA: CCE Netlink Edition. My curiosity for rare games was reignited and I started looking into "Holy Grails" and immediately reviewed my favorite system full of rare titles - Saturn. Treasure being one of my favorite developers, I started looking up auctions for Psychic Assassin Taromaru and had to stop myself; Is it worth it?

I started to wonder if much of any of the rare and elusive titles were really worth the effort needed to obtain them. Look up any series of Holy Grails and the theme is pretty consistent: The most expensive titles are rarer than they are great. With rarity comes high prices and excessive expectations; Are there many truly rare and expensive games that live up to those expectations?

Note, this isn't entirely a question of value. Clearly it's a better investment to purchase a dozen cheaper good games than one expensive one. Rather, even for the people that can afford them, is it often a wise option to acquire a rare and expensive game? World Championships 1990 may be both rare and expensive, but it's desired because of its rarity, not its gameplay. Which games justify their high price (to keep the list smaller, we'll say approximately $150 and up, assuming they're complete)?

[MrPopo]

I'd say games like Panzer Dragoon Saga come as close as can be to justifying their high price. These are games considered to be high on people's "best games" list, but for whatever reason they had a limited release and people aren't selling their copies, so the price goes up.

[Breetai]

I'd say games like Panzer Dragoon Saga come as close as can be to justifying their high price. These are games considered to be high on people's "best games" list, but for whatever reason they had a limited release and people aren't selling their copies, so the price goes up.

Dracula X: Rondo of Blood on the PC Engine is definitely worth it, IMO. It's not exactly "rare", but it is hard to come by for most people since it's an import only and does go for a higher than average price (I see it anywhere from $50-$200). For $100 or less, I'd say go for it.

Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga also come up frequently as rare games that really are awesome. I haven't played enough of either to give them an honest rating, but I'd say that the $200 that Radiant Silvergun seem to go for isn't worth it. $100 maybe. $75, most probably. $50, absolutely. From the bit I played it, it's good. Very good, but not $200 good.

I've heard that Guardian Heroes goes for quite a bit as well. I'm not sure if it's price for the English version, but I picked up the Japanese version for next to nothing and it's a great game. It'd say I would pay up to $50 or so for it. It's definitely one of the better Saturn games.

[Hobie-wan]

I've heard that Guardian Heroes goes for quite a bit as well. I'm not sure if it's price for the English version, but I picked up the Japanese version for next to nothing and it's a great game. It'd say I would pay up to $50 or so for it. It's definitely one of the better Saturn games.

Yeah, US copies of GH tend to go for $40+ for a loose disc and $70+ for complete.

[lost_within]

I think Silvergun is worth evey penny and regret ever selling my copy. But I also love shooters...big time....I think it depends on what your into if its really worth it.

[MrPopo]

I think Silvergun is worth evey penny and regret ever selling my copy. But I also love shooters...big time....I think it depends on what your into if its really worth it.

I think we can all agree, though, that the games that tend to sell for the highest generally are rare because they're awful games and thus had a very limited run (or had special circumstances, like the Nintendo WC carts). The only games I can think of that can sell for $1k+ and are good games are the AES ports of the Metal Slug games, and that was due to an absurdly low run.

[crux]

I think it depends on what your into if its really worth it.

This is why I mentioned that I'm not explicitly talking about value. I'm aware that some people think $150 or more for any game is crazy. I wanted to judge the value on a game based on hypothetical premise of a person who could afford anything, so the price isn't so important as is the reflection of the price. Whether someone thinks Radiant Silvergun is worth $200 or not, anyone devoted to shooters should know that it's one of the greatest shooters of all time. In terms of relative value it should only be worth as much as another of the greatest shooters, but that doesn't take away from the fact that a higher price can be justified just for the chance to access such greatness. (By contrast, there are many purest shooter fans who actually seek out PCBs for shooters, which are often $1000 plus.)

I also mentioned a $150 price point because there are just so many titles in the lower price ranges, many of which are priced that way because of extreme popularity (the SNES RPGs, for example) rather than from being rare. To be fair, a lot of games are completely comparable to something like Panzer Dragoon Saga, which is priced for both its rarity and its greatness, such as Snatcher for Sega CD. If going that route, though, there are a ton of RPGs for PlayStation to be mentioned, as well as some late release games for various systems, etc. $150 plus narrows down the list considerably.

Magical Chase is one that comes to mind for being both great and very rare. It's a great shooter for the Turbografx and is in part so heavily sought because the U.S. version looks so drastically different than the Japanese version. It's still hard to justify $1000 for a single game when the Japanese equivalent is so much cheaper, but I can see the appeal. Games like Taromaru for Saturn or Sapphire for PC-Engine don't quite live up to their expectations, on the other hand. They'd be fine games in their own right if they were priced similarly to their contemporaries, but instead their price garners unreasonable expectations for unexceptional games. As for AES, that again is rarity over quality, because anyone that can afford rare AES games can get a consolized MVS if gameplay was the greater concern.

[V3rtigo]

there isnt a single game i would ever spend $100+ on. ever. hopefully psn and xbl will continue to bring rare games like ikaruga down in price (which is now in the $20-25 range and still dropping).

[crux]

there isnt a single game i would ever spend $100+ on. ever. hopefully psn and xbl will continue to bring rare games like ikaruga down in price (which is now in the $20-25 range and still dropping).

This is more or less the type of response I was trying to avoid. We would all like to pay less for the games we enjoy and some of us can justify paying more than others, but the question is what games justify their price on greatness instead of (just) rarity, not whether you're personally willing to pay more for greatness.

[pepharytheworm]

I don't know what kinda answers you are looking for but really none are worth it for game play alone only as a collector is it worth it. If you have the money spend it, if not wait till you find a bargain, like I do. A lot of the rare games are pretty good, if you think of it as a investment that one day you will sell it to make a profit you can't lose.

If you are a gamer burn it or emulate. If you are a gamer/collector get it when it is the lowest you are willing to pay. Now if you are a collector you probably know what you should get anyway and the hell with gameplay.

I can't personally think of any games worth over $150 I would buy, but plenty between $50 and $100 like Magic Night Rayeth, Chip Chan Kick, Arc the Lad collection, Snatcher, Saturn Bomberman, DoReMi Fantasy, and many more. This is a question you really need to ask yourself. I hope you don't buy Panzer Dragoon Saga because everyone says it's great but make an informed decision by your personal preferences, and money to burn.