10 Rarest Sega Genesis Games And How Much They're Worth

Summary

• Genesis games had actual cases, making complete-in-box titles more common and less expensive than SNES games to collect.
• The Genesis had hidden gems released near the end of its lifecycle, like Skeleton Krew, Sparkster, and The Punisher.
• Unique store exclusives like Outback Joey and competition carts like Blockbuster World Video Game Championship 2 are extremely rare and valuable.

One of the big advantages of the Sega Genesis compared to the SNES was the packaging. Instead of the usual packaging, you'd see that most would throw away, Genesis games had actual cases like you see today. Because of this, complete-in-box Genesis titles are far more common than complete-in-box SNES games, which makes them better to collect but less expensive.

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Still, there's plenty of valuable Genesis games, and this era had a lot of oddities you just don't see with newer systems. Games bundled in with odd items, competition carts, and even products from the Shopping Channel are just some of the oddities.

All values are based on PriceCharting's complete price at the time of writing. When no complete price is available, the loose price will be used instead.

10 Skeleton Krew - $316

This Game Learned Its Grammar Lessons From The School Of Mortal Kombat

A common occurrence you'll see among the rarest games on various systems is the hidden gem released near the end of the console's lifecycle when nobody's watching. The Genesis had a few of them; the first is Skeleton Krew. It's an isometric shooter and a pretty good one at that.

You have to love the extreme 90s art style here, but what you won't love is the over $300 price. As well, Skeleton Krew was never released in Asian territories, and Asian copies usually tend to be cheaper than their North American counterpart. That's a great budget option for many rare Sega games, but not so much here.

9 Sparkster - $325

Just Get It On Steam Instead

The second game in the Sparkster series following the original Rocket Knight Adventures is Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2. This game is not nearly as good as the original, but still enjoyable overall. Considering the Sparkster series has quite a cult following, and this game wasn't released near the end of the system's life, its rarity is a bit odd.

Usually, this means the game sold poorly compared to the first one, similar to how Parasite Eve 2 and Mega Man Legends 2 on PS1 are more expensive than the originals. Thankfully, you can buy the Sparkster games on Steam, which is what you should do.

8 The Punisher - $341

Not A Good Port

The Punisher is a phenomenal 90s Capcom beat-'em-up and, frankly, one of the best Marvel games of the 90s. Too bad, its Sega Genesis port was weak as hell. The console delivered plenty of stellar arcade conversions, but The Punisher wasn't in the same league.

Word of mouth got out there, resulting in very poor sales and the game's rarity. Some games are arguably worth the price if it's that good, but that's not the case here, especially with The Punisher being rereleased in the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection.

7 Spider-Man And Venom: Maximum Carnage Collector's Edition - $442

The Oddest Store Exclusive

Throughout the game collecting community, there have been plenty of oddball store exclusives, but none hit the weirstatic.aayyy.com/topic/dn/ess scale quite harder than the QVC Shopping Channel. A true relic of the time that most know just from viral clips, this channel was the only way to buy the Collector's Edition of Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage.

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The best 2D Spider-Man game ever made, it still holds up rather well, but what comes with the Collector's Edition? You get some pins, a hardcover Carnage comic book, and a certificate of authenticity. Frankly, not that great compared to what you get nowadays for something like the Collector's Edition for Spider-Man 2, but regardless, this product still has demand, and its pure rarity coming from the Shopping Channel cannot be denied.

6 Zero The Kamikaze Squirrel - $549

The Puzzling Rare Game

If there's one game you woulstatic.aayyy.com/topic/dn/'t think is rare, it's Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel. A mascot platformer and technically a spin-off of the Aero the Acro-Bat series, it's nothing special. Tons of games in a similar vein aren't very expensive at all, so this usually means Zero must have sold atrociously bad if it's costing over $500.

Like a lot of rare Genesis games, don't worry about it because the title is coming to all modern platforms, minus PC, in October 2024. That's one big benefit to the rarest Sega Genesis games, and a lot of other systems like the 3DS don't have that luxury.

5 Paprium Limited Edition - $666

Backers Get Screwed Again

One cool thing about Sega consoles is that they still get support with new Genesis and Dreamcast games. Obviously, on a smaller, but this factoid comes into play regarding Paprium. A Genesis game crowdfunded in 2012 but released in 2020, it has a pretty infamous reputation due to its nasty development and a terribly managed follow-up Kickstarter to port it to modern consoles.

However, the game itself is fantastic, and you can see why these initial Genesis printings would be worth so much. One sad fact, though, is that while there was a Limited Edition you could buy, initial backers were sent an exclusive product called Paprium Investor's Mega Pack. You'd think that version would be more expensive, but it's actually worth about $200 less.

4 Musha - $808

The Great Expensive Game

The most well-known expensive game on the Genesis is Musha, and for good reason. It's a phenomenal shmup and probably the best one on the console. Weirdly enough, it got mixed reviews at release due to there being an overabundance of shmups at the time, and Musha just got lost in the shuffle.

The cat's out of the bag now, however, and Musha's one of the biggest cult favorites on the system. It's worth over $800, but once again, there's another way to play it. The game's playable through Switch Online via the available Genesis games on the service, and Musha isn't the only rare title on there.

3 Crusader Of Centy - $1,302

The Atlus Burn

Atlus games are bound to cost a lot of money, whether it's the Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, or PS1. Games like Lunar 1 and 2 are wildly expensive, and it shoulstatic.aayyy.com/topic/dn/'t be surprising that one of the company's releases on the Genesis costs over a grand. Crusader of Centy is a true triple whammy in terms of rarity.

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It's an Atlus game; it was released near the end of the system's lifecycle in 1995, and it's one of those hidden gem titles, being a cult beloved Zelda-type game. Being available on Switch Online is a lifesaver here, as the game's one of those underappreciated Genesis titles more people need to check out.

2 Blockbuster World Video Game Championship 2 - $5,232

Competition Carts Really Take You Back To The Past

Only seen in this era were competition cartridges. They were rampant in the 90s, and all of them were ridiculously expensive, with the most famous being the 1990 Nintendo World Championship. The Genesis equivalent isn't on that level, but it's still pretty bad in terms of price.

The Blockbuster World Video Game Championship 2 took place in 1995, and these Genesis cartridges contained two games used for the competition: NBA Jam Tournament Edition and Judge Dredd. How these carts got out there is quite interesting. All the carts were kept by store owners after the competition, and they were supposed to destroy them afterward. Many good samaritans held onto them instead as they should, which is why these carts still exist today.

1 Outback Joey - $5,297

The Weirdest Pack-In Game

There have been weird store exclusives in the Genesis library, but the weirdest pack-in game eclipses even that. Outback Joey is a title that doesn't seem weird on the surface, seemingly being another mascot platformer. However, the game came bundled with a HeartBeat Personal Trainer or HeartBeat Catalyst device.

Your actual heart rate is tied to the game, and you're supposed to exercise along with it. It's a one-of-a-kind product. Even the SNES bike accessory, which is really expensive as well, doesn't read your heart rate. The Genesis cartridge alone is worth over $5,000, not even with the device in-box.

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