The 5 rarest Game Boy games you'll never own

If you were someone who grew up in the 90s, then you know all about the Game Boy from Nintendo. In the world of portable video games, there was nothing bigger than the Game Boy, especially when it came to quality games that could go with you anywhere. The name of it may have been cheeky to grown-ups back in the day, but the Game Boy went on to be one of the best pieces of video game hardware ever created. Many have tried to duplicate its success, but none have reached the same level of popularity it had in the 90s. And while there were some iconic video games released on the handheld console, some of the Game Boy's library became very rare and hard to obtain.

So what are the rarest video games for the Game Boy that one can obtain? Outside the popular titles that people remember very well, a select few have become elusive gems that Nintendo collectors strive to obtain for years. But these Game Boy games are so rare that the ordinary fan may never get to add them to their collection. Here are the 5 rarest Game Boy games that you may never get to own, no matter how big of a fan you are of the console.

5 Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Not For Resale version)

A rare puffball

Some of the best games on the Game Boy are from the Kirby's Dream Land series. Arguably, many have said that the best entry in the series is Kirby's Dream Land 2, a sequel to the original game released in 1995. The plot of the game takes place after the events of the first, as well as the Kirby's Adventure on the NES, where an evil force called Dark Matter tries to take over Dream Land. Dark Matter possess King Dedede, the local ruler of Dream Land, and steals the rainbow bridges that connect every part of Dream Land together. Kirby works together with his animal friends to save Dream Land and put an end to Dark Matter's reign of terror. Along with Kirby's suction power-ups, his animal friends also grant Kirby a variety of abilities to help him traverse every stage.

While the standard version of Kirby's Dream Land 2 can be found easily for reasonable prices, the variant of the game with a "not for resale" label is much more valuable. These types of cartridges for Game Boy games were sent over to retail stores as demo cartridges for people to try out on a Game Boy system. Multiple Nintendo games for the Game Boy had this same thing done, including hits like Wario Land: Super Mario Bros. 3, Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball, and even Donkey Kong Land. Originally, they were supposed to be returned after a set timeframe, but some were held onto instead of being sent back to Nintendo. The loose cartridge of this version of Kirby's Dream Land 2 is often priced at more than $250. There were only a set number of cartridges ever produced with the label, but it was enough to distinguish it from the full retail release.

4 Toxic Crusaders

Rare toxic warriors

There were a lot of movies and television shows that ended up having video game adaptations released in the 80s and 90s. The 1984 movie The Toxic Avenger had a cartoon spin off called Toxic Crusaders in 1991, which also led to a video game tie-in in 1992 called Toxic Crusaders for the NES, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy. The portable version of the game is similar to the consoles, being a side-scrolling brawler where the main character Toxie teams up with other heroes to battle enemies in his town. While the games did have fighting in them, the cartoon and the games were nowhere near as violent or mature as the original 1984 film they were based on. A version of the game was planned to release on the Super Nintendo as well, but it never made it to the market.

The version of Toxic Crusaders on the Game Boy is very rare. The game never shipped to other regions overseas, making it a very limited release in North America. A loose copy of Toxic Crusaders is valued around $300, for just the cartridge alone. But a complete-on-box copy of the game skyrockets in price, often being valued at around $2,000. Some auctions for a complete copy of Toxic Crusaders have been known to go even higher, with one unit of the Game Boy game being sold for nearly $4,500. For a movie that had a very low budget and not a lot of support behind it when adapted into games, that is very impressive.

3 Amazing Tater

It's amazingly expensive

Atlus Games developed a puzzle game titled Amazing Tater for the Game Boy in 1992. This is a sequel to another game called Kwirk, and was originally released in Japan a year earlier under the title of Puzzle Boy II. The main objective is to help guide a potato to a goal within a number of mazes, pushing objects around to make a clear path to the goal. Amazing Tater is a fairly simple game that was received well upon release, getting a lot of praise for its presentation and fair difficulty. Over the years, Amazing Tater has become one of the rarest games within the Game Boy library.

Don't let the silliness of this game fool you. Game Boy collectors have paid top dollar to add this gem into their collection. A loose copy of Amazing Tater is often priced at $500, but things get insanely expensive beyond that. A complete copy of the game with all of its contents is valued at more than $4,000 in most places. But that's if you manage to find the game at a location willing to sell it at that price. Auctions that have put the game on sale have been known to get as high as $10,000 for a complete-on-box copy. Who would've known a simple game about a potato would be one of the most sought-after Game Boy games around.

2 Spud's Adventure

A spud that's worth a lot

Although its sequel is much more coveted, Spud's Adventure is also a valuable Game Boy game. Released in 1991 for the Game Boy by Atlus, the game is a top-down adventure game with some RPG elements to it. Spud needs to climb a tower that is filled with tons of hostile vegetables trying to get in his way, rescuing a princess and saving a kingdom in the process. Spud can rescue a variety of allies on his journey, which opens them up to be controlled, all of whom have different abilities to help get around obstacles. It's most definitely a quirky game that seems innocent, but it has a few darker elements to the story that make it feel unique.

This is another very expensive Game Boy game that collectors jump at the chance to obtain, due to its limited printing. Loose copies of Spud's Adventure are a hefty $600 alone, which is enough to impact anyone's wallet. But complete copies of the game are much more valuable, almost prohibitively so in most cases. A complete-in-box copy of the game can be valued at over $2,500, with a few known auctions that have sold the game for much more. Why some of the most innocent-looking Game Boy games also happen to be among the most expensive ones within the handheld's library is anyone's guess.

1 Killer Instinct (Not For Resale version)

Demanding killer prices

The Killer Instinct games are legendary among Nintendo fans, offering some of the most brutal and unique fighting game experiences around. Multiple versions of Killer Instinct have made their way to Nintendo consoles like the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64, despite being a big hit in arcades. One port of the game wasn't received so well in comparison, and that was the Game Boy version. While the fighting is very similar, the portable version of Killer Instinct needed to cut a lot of things down in order to fit onto a Game Boy cartridge. This meant leaving out characters like Cinder and Riptor, missing stages, and changing some moves and inputs to compensate for the Game Boy's limited controls. Connecting Killer Instinct to a Super Game Boy's attachment on the SNES does add a few extra changes, but it's still viewed as the worst version of Killer Instinct that was released.

Despite the Game Boy port of Killer Instinct being highly criticized by everyone, a "not for resale" variant of the game demands high prices from collectors. A loose cartridge of Killer Instinct on Game Boy is easily valued at over $1,500 in most places. Fighting game fans still have some nostalgic value for this version of the game, even though nobody would recommend playing it over the Super Nintendo and N64 versions. It's still among the most expensive Game Boy games that have the "not for resale" tag on them from before they were officially released.

Gems on the Game Boy

People have very fond memories of playing games on the Nintendo Game Boy. Growing up, we were all playing with power and loving every minute of it. It was one of the biggest releases in video games during the 90s, and went on to have a legendary library of great titles. Although many of the rare games for the Game Boy aren't among the most popular games people play on it, they still hold a historical and sentimental value to many people. But like any other rare and valuable games, most people will never get to own them because of how restrictively expensive and tough they are to find.