Affordable Games that should be priorities for Retro Collectors (Part 1 - Super Nintendo)

Retro Gaming is bigger than it's ever been in years.

And I'm not just saying that. As someone that's been doing some retro game collecting over the past two years, prices for classic games are at an all time high. The 10-15 year olds of yesteryear are now the twenty and thirty-somethings of today, with disposable income and a yearning to recapture their childhood. Games that might have sold for $60 or so three to four years ago are going for $80. Highly sought after games like Wild Guns and EarthBound have ballooned to ridiculous prices, even in spite of both games having Virtual Console releases. (Or in the latter's case, confirmed to be coming to Wii U Virtual Console, anyhow.) With the advent of Retron consoles, nifty little systems that play NES, Genesis and SNES games (and soon, many more), prices for SNES games are higher than they've ever been.

So are you looking for some great SNES games to play but don't want to drop $85 on that copy of Chrono Trigger? Well, that's where I come in.

Here, I'll go through some relatively affordable SNES games you might want to pick up, and outline reasons why they should be in your library. Without further ado, let's begin!

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Breath of Fire (Capcom/Squaresoft, 1994)

 

Breath of Fire is Capcom's first foray into the RPG genre, an obvious attempt to cash in on the RPG craze that Squaresoft set the world on fire with with their Final Fantasy series. It's not a bad RPG, but it's definitely one that pretty much plays it by the books. You play as a boy (Don't let that box art fool you; the covers for Breath of Fire I and II were hilariously Americanized) named Ryu who has the ability to transform into a Dragon. He goes on a quest to rescue his sister Sara, and to bring prosperity to what remains of his Dragon clan. It's a pretty basic RPG that can be easily broken balance-wise, but it does bring some neat ideas to the genre, and is worth a look, at the very least. Decent soundtrack, as well.

Why prioritize this? Despite saying Capcom developed this game, you may have noticed the big ol' Squaresoft logo on the box art. That's because at the time, Capcom didn't have the staff or experience to translate a full fledged RPG. All they've ever had to translate were platformers and fighters, neither of which have much text. So, desperate to get the game out in America to cash in on this newfangled "JRPG craze", Capcom went to the one company that had experience in that field: Squaresoft. Squaresoft ended up doing the localization of the game for the US, and as far as I'm aware, own the rights to the localization. However, the contractual issues behind that deal have prevented this game from being ported often, as it's mysteriously absent from Wii Virtual Console, despite it's sequel being on the service. It did get a Game Boy Advance port early in the handheld's lifespan, but it's a... decent port at best. The Super Nintendo release still reigns supreme, in my opinion.

How Much? If you're looking for a loose cartridge, expect to pay between $20 to 35 for a decent condition cartridge. If you're going for a copy complete in the box, you'll likely be paying $80-90. But if you were looking for complete in box games, you wouldn't be looking at a blog post about affordable games, now would you? ;)

Sample Gameplay:

 

Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose! (Konami, 1993)

Before they became a company that only knew how to put out Metal Gear games and middling Castlevania games, Konami developed a ton of licensed games during the 8 and 16 Bit console generations. And a lot of them were quite good! One particularly noteworthy game is Buster Busts Loose, a platformer starring the eponymous Tiny Toons character. It's an admittedly short, but fun platformer featuring cameos from a few Tiny Toons characters and some novel level design concepts (The football game level immediately comes to mind). It's no Mario World or anything, but it's still definitely worth having in one's SNES library.

Why prioritize this? A lot of licensed games from that particular era usually have pretty strict contracts. And more often than not, the owner of the IP being used in the game retains all rights to the game, and any subsequent re-releases, meaning that there are a treasure trove of great licensed titles that will likely never see the light of day on digital platforms unless a publisher actually goes through the effort needed to do so. (See: Capcom with DuckTales Remastered, Sega with Castle of Illusion, etc.) Buster Busts Loose is one of those games that will likely stay in limbo.

How much? Thankfully, Buster Busts Loose is a relatively inexpensive game to buy online. If you want the loose cartridge, expect to pay somewhere between $6 to 11 dollars. For complete in box copies (hereafter referred to as CIB), you'll be paying between $15 and $25.

Sample Gameplay:

 

Batman Returns (Konami, 1993)

Like I said, Konami created some fantastic licensed titles back in the day. Batman Returns is a side scrolling beat 'em up in the vein of Final Fight and Streets of Rage. The graphics are great, the soundtrack consists of a great, moody SNES adaptation of the score Danny Elfman composed for the film, and it's a reasonably paced game all around.

Why prioritize this? Like with Buster Busts Loose above, this is a licensed game that will likely never get re-released in any capacity ever again. It's also a solid beat 'em up.

How Much? Batman Returns isn't very expensive, thankfully. You'll most likelly be paying between $10 and 18 for the cartridge alone. Complete copies are rather hard to come by, though. You'll be paying anywhere between $28 to $49 for it.

Sample Gameplay:

 

Starfox (Nintendo, 1993)

Starfox is the first game in the Starfox series, and a showcase for Nintendo's Super FX chip, which allowed for faux 3D graphics on the 16-Bit powerhouse. Compared to it's more contemporary entries, Starfox hasn't aged terribly well, and you can tell that the game can barely stay within the constraints of the SNES specs, but it's still very playable, and if nothing else is a great example of a time where Nintendo was at the forefront of console technology.

Why prioritize this? There's actually two very good reasons to own a copy of this game. Like with Breath of Fire, the game has yet to see a release of any sort on the Wii Virtual Console, likely because of difficulties emulating the Super FX chip. More importantly, it makes for a good diagnostic test of sorts for your SNES. You see, in some (admittedly rare) cases, Super Nintendos will stop working as they should with games that used special chips, such as Star Fox and Stunt Race FX (which uses the Super FX chip), Yoshi's Island (Which uses the Super FX2 chip) and various other titles. If you're buying a used SNES from someone, there's no guarantee that the person has a Super FX game to verify that it'll play Super FX games the way they should. If you have a copy of Starfox, not only do you have a decent game, but you have the knowledge that your SNES is in great working order as well! (Provided it runs as it should.)

How Much? You'll likely be paying $10 or 15 for the cartridge only. CIB copies will run you about $20 to $30.

Sample Gameplay:

 

Disney's Magical Quest: Starring Mickey Mouse (Capcom, 1992)

Like Konami (and perhaps even more so), Capcom made some quite well received licensed titles on the Super Nintendo. One of the most notable examples were the Magical Quest games, which starred Mickey (and sometimes Minnie or Donald) and threw them into a magical platforming adventure, using different costumes to gain powerups. The first game in the series, The Magical Quest: Starring Mickey Mouse, is generally regarded as the most solid game in the series, and with good reason. It's not as difficult as some of Capcom's other platformers from that era, but still offers a great challenge, nonetheless. It's a great platformer that has that distinct Capcom touch.

Why prioritize this? Again, it's a licensed Capcom title, and the chances of seeing it remade are slim to none, even in the face of the recently announced DuckTales Remastered. The series did get ported to the Game Boy Advance however, even adding Minnie as a playable character in the first game, as well as adding minigames. (It was also the first time that the third game in the series saw a US release) The ports are actually pretty good, so you might want to check those out if SNES isn't an option for you.

How much? You'll likely be paying about $15 to 20 for a loose cartridge. A CIB copy will likely run somewhere between $25 and $35.

Sample Gameplay:

Well, that's all she wrote for now. I might do a follow up post consisting of even more great, inexpensive SNES titles, but as of now, my next blog post will likely focus on great, inexpensive titles for the other big 16-Bit platform from that era.