Gaming
Games
9 rare football games that'll make you some money
Got any of these footy gems? You could be in for a tidy sum.
Football games tend to sell quite well, so most of them aren’t too rare. However, there are still some out there that can make you a decent chunk of cash if you’re lucky enough to have a good condition boxed copy lying around.
While the prices of retro games go up and down quite a lot, all the games in this list have sold on eBay this year for the prices we’ve mentioned.
1. International Sensible Soccer (Jaguar)
International Sensible Soccer (Jaguar)
© Sensible Software
Sensible Soccer is one of the most well-loved football games ever made, so it should come as no surprise that almost every version of the game is pretty common and won’t sell for a lot of money. However, this particular version is rare for two reasons: it was a limited edition version that featured the World Cup tournament, and was released on the Atari Jaguar, one of the poorest selling systems ever. Combine these factors and you have an excellent game that's quite scarce – a copy sold for $76 this year.
2. Tecmo Cup Soccer Game (NES)
Tecmo Cup: Soccer Game
© Tecmo
In 1988 Japanese studio Tecmo made a NES game based on anime and manga football series Captain Tsubasa. Since nobody outside of Japan had heard of it, Tecmo repurposed it into a standard football title four years later and gave it the incredibly boring name Tecmo Cup Soccer Game (or Tecmo Cup Football Game in Europe). The European version sold reasonably well for the sole reason that it was a football game, but since this was before the 1994 USA World Cup, America still wasn’t exactly soccer crazy. As a result, the US version can go for up to $100.
3. ISS Pro Evolution (PlayStation)
ISS Pro Evolution
© Konami
Before there was Pro Evolution Soccer, there was ISS Pro. The critically-acclaimed PlayStation football game got a sequel, ISS Pro 98, and then came ISS Pro Evolution. Much like many of the other games in this list, the European version sold by the bucketload, partly because it was a football game and partly because the ISS (International Superstar Soccer) series was already considered a serious contender to FIFA. In the US though, once again it didn’t sell too great. A boxed US version sold this year for $100 this year, and a mint condition one went for $149.95.
4. World Soccer 94: Road To Glory (SNES)
World Soccer 94: Road To Glory
© Rage Software
British gamers will know this game better as Striker, the 1992 football game that launched first on the Amiga then made it over to the SNES. In France it was renamed Eric Cantona Football Challenge, but in the US, with the World Cup six months away, it was rebranded again in the hope of winning over curious American gamers. As you’d imagine, it didn’t really work out like that (especially since there was also an official World Cup USA 94 game) and so the US version ended up becoming pretty rare. If you’ve got a good quality boxed copy, expect to get up to $250 for it.
5. ISS 2000 (Nintendo 64)
ISS 2000
© Konami
Here’s another example of a game being rarer in North America than in Europe, but this one has an interesting little twist to the tale. When it came to the Nintendo 64, there was only one football series that really mattered: International Superstar Soccer. ISS 64 was fantastic, its sequel ISS 98 was even better and the third and final entry, ISS 2000, was arguably the best of the bunch. The thing is, the N64 was nearing the end of its life by the time the 2000 version was released, so it didn’t sell as well as the others. Add in the usual fact that it didn’t sell as well in America and that means the US version can go for up to $300.
6. Mega Man Soccer
Mega Man Soccer
© Konami
There have been a couple of times in gaming history where we’ve been treated to a football game starring licensed characters. Nintendo gave us two Mario Strikers games, Konami released Disney Sports Soccer (which used the ISS engine) and, perhaps strangest of all, Capcom made Mega Man Soccer on the SNES. Only released in Japan and North America, it’s a five-a-side football game starring Mega Man and a variety of boss characters. The combination of it being a football game in America and not actually being very good meant that it was mostly ignored, but these days Mega Man collectors are looking for it. We’ve seen it go for anything between $300 and $600 this year depending on condition.
7. International Superstar Soccer (SNES)
International Superstar Soccer
© Konami
Although Konami’s first football game was actually Konami Hyper Soccer on the NES, for most people it was the original International Superstar Soccer on SNES that kicked off a beautiful annual tradition that continues to this day in the Pro Evolution Soccer series. The first ISS was memorable for having players who actually had distinct looks that resembled real-life footballers of the time – Italy’s ponytailed supremo Galfano, for example, was essentially Roberto Baggio. Once again, the US version is much rarer – an 'acceptable condition' copy sold for $379 in 2017, while a better quality one went for $600 in 2016.
8. Hurricanes (SNES)
Hurricanes
© hurricanes
Hurricanes was a mid-90s cartoon series made by Scottish Television that aired in the UK for four years. It was a big deal among football-mad British kids, so naturally a video game version was made. Oddly though, rather than being a football game, it was a side-scrolling platformer in which you used a ball to attack enemies (similar to another game, Soccer Kid). For some reason, the game was also released in the US, where nobody had heard of the cartoon. While the US SNES version has sold in the past for around $600, a mint copy recently sold for $1,850 and there’s one currently being auctioned for $2,199.
9. Super Copa
Super Copa
© Electro Brain
Not only is Super Copa the rarest football game ever made, it’s one of the rarest SNES games in general, too (not counting unreleased and competition cartridges). In 1993, Electro Brain released a US-only football game called Tony Meola’s Sidekicks Soccer, named after the American goalie who played two games with Brighton & Hove Albion. It sold poorly enough as it was, but Electro Brain also made a Spanish language version called Super Copa and sold it in Latin America. A copy sold for $898 in 2017, but in 2016 a mint condition one sold for a jaw-dropping $3,500.
