NTSC Rarity Guide Version 1

[Stan]

Okay, are you all ready for this, because I don't think you are. Here is the first version of the rarity guide for all NTSC releases. Please keep in mind one thing, this list, currently, is based ONLY on numbers, nothing else. In addition, it should be stated that these appearances included LOOSE games, not just complete or with box and such. I was surprised by some of them. You'll see. Check it.

***revised list ***

3 Action Fighter
6 Aerial Assault
2 After Burner
3 Alex Kidd in Miracle World
6 Alex Kidd in Shinobi World
5 Alex Kidd: High-Tech World
4 Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars
6 Alf
3 Alien Syndrome
2 Altered Beast
5 Astro Warrior
4 Aztec Adventure
2 Black Belt
5 Blade Eagle 3D
5 Bomber Raid
3 California Games
5 Captain Silver
5 Casino Games
7 Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
2 Choplifter
3 Cloud Master
4 Columns
4 Cyborg Hunter
5 Dead Angle
8 thingy Tracy
2 Double Dragon
4 Enduro Racer
5 E-Swat
3 F-16 Fighting Falcon
3 Fantasy Zone
5 Fantasy Zone II
5 Fantasy Zone: The Maze
6 Galaxy Force
2 Gangster Town
3 Ghost House
2 Ghostbusters
6 Ghouls n' Ghosts
2 Global Defense
5 Golden Axe
6 Golden Axe Warrior
3 Golvellius
2 Great Baseball
2 Great Basketball
2 Great Football
2 Great Golf
4 Great Ice Hockey
5 Great Soccer
5 Great Volleyball
4 Hang On/Astro Warrior
2 Hang On/Safari Hunt
8 James Buster Douglas Knockout Boxing
5 Joe Montana Football
3 Kenseiden
6 King's Quest
4 Kung Fu Kid
3 Lord of the Sword
4 Marksman/Trap Shooting
3 Maze Hunter 3D
6 Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
3 Miracle Warriors
4 Missle Defense 3D
5 Monopoly
6 Montezuma's Revenge
4 My Hero
4 Out Run
5 Paperboy
4 Parlour Games
4 Penguin Land
3 Phantasy Star
5 Poseiden Wars 3D
6 Power Strike
2 Pro Wrestling
5 Psycho Fox
4 Quartet
5 R.C. Grand Prix
2 Rambo First Blood Part II
4 Rambo III
3 Rampage
3 Rastan
4 Reggie Jackson Baseball
3 Rescue Mission
3 Rocky
4 R-Type
2 Shanghai
2 Shinobi
3 Shooting Gallery
7 Slap Shot
8 Sonic the Hedgehog
2 Space Harrier
5 Space Harrier 3D
5 SpellCaster
6 Spider-Man
6 Sports Pad Football
4 Spy vs. Spy
7 Strider
7 Super Monaco GP
3 Super Tennis
4 Teddy Boy
3 The Ninja
2 Thunder Blade
3 Time Soldiers
2 Transbot
3 Vigilante
4 Walter Payton Football
5 Wanted
4 Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
2 Wonder Boy
4 Wonder Boy III
3 Wonder Boy in Monster Land
2 World Grand Prix
4 Y's The Vanished Omens
4 Zaxxon 3D
3 Zillion
3 Zillion II

[Tonto]

Forgive my ignorance, but what differences did the re-released versions of certain games have from the originals? Was it just blue lables?

[onyx]

think so yeah

doe's anyone have a pic of the u.s sonic 1 ? ive never seen it

[anagrama]

Hmm, I think the numbers could do with a little fine-tuning there - the spread seems pretty good, but I really don't think there's any US games that warrant a 10 (Smurfs 2-esque rarity), and 9's should be very few & far between.

As it stands, it's a good guide to US rarity, but we need to make sure it's on a par with the Euro stuff (eg. a '7' on one should be equal to a '7' on the other).
I'd say US games would generally rate between 2 and 8. (Even the most common are harder to find than the dirt common Euro games, and only Smurfs 2, the Donald Duck Box Set and Mah-Jong are rated higher than 8 so far).

[anagrama]

onyx - US versions of Sonic are basically the European version with a US-specific barcode sticker on the back.

oh, and that 'Canadian' Ultima 4 will have been a Euro import, Stan - it's one of the dozen or so Euro games that were also distributed in Canada.

[Tonto]

I've seen two of the Psyco fox mis-spells in the past few months on ebay USA. One of them was only at about $3.00 when I checked. One was being sold by someone called letmycamerongo, anyone see how that finished?

[Stan]

Certainly, again, these ratings are all based in numbers. Here's how I did it. First, I cataloged all games for about 7 months, keeping track of each appearance, even those within lots and bigger auctions. After counting up all the appearances, I organized the games in terms of how many times they appeared. Thus, Double Dragon, which appeared some 41 times, was the most common game to pop up. After that would be the game that appeared 40 times, and so on. Then I grouped them based on this in groups of about 12-15 games. 10 sections in all, each with a rating number. The three or four games with a 10 absolutely never appeared, not even loose. About blue labels, they have several differencs. 1) obviously the labels are blue, 2) the boxes have different inserts (larger lettering on the front and sides, different pictures, no mention of Tonka, etc.) and 3) the instruction manuals are different (cheaper paper, different release date, etc.). It's not just a color thing. The Fantasy Zone blue is essentially the same as the rereleased red version, just blue. Anyway, well James, just let me know what we need to do! I think it's definitely a great start, of course needs work, so let's hit it!

[anagrama]

Yeah, it's looking good, they just need squeezing into a smaller spread of numbers. I'll have a proper look at it in a bit, I've been staring at various screens for far too long right now

[anagrama]

The numbers have now been tweaked, and I've edited Stans original post to show the current state of play.
We'll get these in the database shortly.

[dezanuebe]

also cool!!!