15 of the Most Expensive Physical PS1 Games

Despite being readily available at one point in time, physical copies of original PlayStation games have absolutely skyrocketed in value. They’ve taken a similar trajectory as physical Saturn and Nintendo 64 games in good condition and are fetching what could only be considered insane prices on the secondary market. The highest-value games are, of course, the classics in the PS1 library that demand collecting as a hallmark of the console, with some titles easily worth thousands if still sealed or professionally graded. The following titles are the most expensive and valuable physical PS1 games, with their estimated value and pricing based on recently sold listings from secondary market sites like eBay.

• Release Date — February 10, 2000
• Developer — Square Product Development Division 4
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — Action RPG, Dungeon-Crawler
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Value — $1,400 (Graded)

Partly because it was released in the waning days of the PS1’s life span just ahead of the PS2’s launch, and partly because it was a niche title to begin with, copies of Vagrant Story didn’t take long to become extremely hard to come by. As a result, getting your hands on a sealed copy these days can set you back a pretty penny. While unsealed, complete-in-box copies are fairly reasonable compared to other PS1 games, a sealed and graded copy of Vagrant Story is valued anywhere from $1,400 to $1,600.

• Release Date — February 11, 1998
• Developer — Square Product Development Division 3
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)
• Value — $1,550 (Graded)

Another Square PS1 classic that has exponentially increased in value in the years since its release is Xenogears. Xenogears was already a cult favorite among JRPG fans, especially because it arrived in an unfinished state and has since taken on this sort of mythic status as a one-of-a-kind game of its era. Original printing black label copies of Xenogears have been expensive and hard to come by in North America since roughly 2002, but today a sealed, graded copy of Xenogears will set you back almost $1,600.

• Release Date — December 22, 1999
• Developer — tri-Ace
• Publisher — Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)
• Value — $1,600 (Graded)

While Valkyrie Profile was originally released toward the end of 1999 in Japan, it took almost a year for the game to arrive in the West, which meant it suffered from a limited production run and was hard to come by even within the first few months of its launch. Those who were able to nab a copy back in 2000 and hang onto it hopefully kept at least one sealed and in pristine, near-mint condition, because they can get it professionally graded and sold for anywhere from $1,600 to $1,800. Thankfully, unlike both Vagrant Story and Xenogears, Valkyrie Profile is readily available to play on modern hardware, which potentially renders its physical PS1 copy a pure collector’s item.

• Release Date — October 11, 1996
• Developer — Avalanche Software
• Publisher — Midway Home Entertainment
• Genre — Fighting
• Review Aggregate Score — 67% (Mixed or Average)
• Value — $1,900 (Ungraded)

Back when it was initially released in 1996, Mortal Kombat Trilogy was an absolute essential for PS1-owning fighting game fans. It’s honestly still one of the best Mortal Kombat compilations out there. Physical copies of this game are far more expensive than just about any other release of Mortal Kombat on any other platform, partially due to the game’s exclusivity on the PS1, Nintendo 64, and Saturn. A relic of the 5th generation of consoles, Mortal Kombat Trilogy can easily fetch up to $1,900 for a sealed, ungraded copy, which means a professionally graded copy in pristine condition could be worth much, much more.

• Release Date — September 3, 1998
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action, Stealth
• Review Aggregate Score — 94% (Universal Acclaim)
• Value — $2,000 (Graded)

For how easily accessible and numerous copies of Metal Gear Solid were at the time of its release (it was a certified blockbuster almost as soon as it launched, thanks to hype from a playable demo), finding a first-printing black-label copy of the game became incredibly difficult the more successful Metal Gear Solid became. As such, tracking down a complete-in-box copy of Metal Gear Solid for PS1 will set you back a pretty penny, especially if it happens to still be factory-sealed. A professionally graded copy of MGS that’s in near-mint condition regularly sells for around $2,000.

• Release Date — December 13, 1996
• Developer — Human Entertainment
• Publisher — ASCII Entertainment
• Genre — Survival Horror, Adventure
• Review Aggregate Score — 72% (Mixed or Average)
• Value — $2,200 (Ungraded)

The story of Clock Tower is an interesting one. The original release of Clock Tower arrived on the Super Famicom in 1995, just in time for the upcoming survival horror craze to start to take hold thanks to games like Alone in the Dark and Capcom’s Resident Evil/Biohazard. Seeing an opportunity to capitalize on the newfound success of horror and adventure games, Human Entertainment quickly released a sequel and rushed its localization for Western markets (where Resident Evil was most popular) as Clock Tower. The game is a certified PS1 cult classic and incredibly hard to come by, with sealed, ungraded copies of the game worth more than $2,200.

• Release Date — February 23, 1999
• Developer — Team Silent
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Value — $2,250 (Ungraded)

Konami’s Silent Hill is yet another iconic and important title in the development of the survival horror genre, and also one of the most expensive PS1 games to try and track down a complete copy of. While a PS1 Greatest Hits copy with the green label is fairly common and not that expensive on the secondary market, a first-printing black label copy is, especially if it happens to be sealed and/or graded. Even an ungraded sealed copy of Silent Hill can go for around $2,250, owing to the game’s place as the start of an iconic series and an indisputable survival horror classic.

• Release Date — June 20, 1997
• Developer — Square
• Publisher — Square, Sony Computer Entertainment
• Genre — TRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)
• Value — $2,499 (Ungraded)

Final Fantasy Tactics was many Western players’ first foray into the world of Simulation or Tactical RPGs (SRPGs/TRPGs), which helped elevate the title to legendary status in the years following its release. And despite being a niche title, Final Fantasy Tactics managed to be a million-seller on the PS1, aided in no small part by the recent success and mainstream breakthrough of Final Fantasy VII. Tracking down a black-label first printing of Final Fantasy Tactics is both difficult and expensive, with its rarity contributing to an estimated value of $2,500 or more for a sealed, ungraded copy.

• Release Date — January 21, 1998
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Review Aggregate Score — 93% (Universal Acclaim)
• Value — $2,500 (Ungraded)

Despite being the superior game to its predecessor, Resident Evil 2‘s value on the secondary market pales in comparison to the original, though it’s still worth a pretty penny. Even an ungraded sealed copy of Resident Evil 2 will set you back $2,500 or more, which is insane when you see how readily available complete-in-box copies in reasonable condition are. But while a tested, working black label copy of Resident Evil 2 is only around $50-60, that value increasingly inflates the closer those copies get to being in near-mint condition. Even a green-label Greatest Hits version that’s near-mint can cost up to $120.

• Release Date — June 29, 2000
• Developer — Atlus
• Publisher — Atlus
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Value — $2,999 (Graded)

The haphazard localization of the Persona games during the PS1 era (missing out on Innocent Sin but getting Eternal Punishment, for one) resulted in the lone North American release of Persona 2 being incredibly hard to come by for years. That scarcity has further contributed to it being one of the most valuable PS1 games to track down on the secondary market, where a sealed and graded copy of this Atlus classic can be worth up to $3,000 depending on condition. Not bad for a series that remained incredibly niche in the West until the release of the 5th mainline game in 2017.

• Release Date — November 6, 2001
• Developer — Sony Bend
• Publisher — Sony Computer Entertainment
• Genre — Action, Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 73% (Mixed or Average)
• Value — $3,000+ (Graded)

You might be surprised to see a fairly mediocre game like Syphon Filter 3 on the list of the most expensive PS1 games, but the version in question is an exceedingly rare and very specific one. Syphon Filter 3 was originally set to release on September 18, 2001, but the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11 caused Sony to pull the game ahead of its release and rework the cover featuring an American flag. However, some copies of the game had already been distributed to retailers, meaning they ended up on store shelves and in the hands of players. A sealed and graded version of this ultra-rare original cover of Syphon Filter 3 regularly sells for $3,000 or more.

• Release Date — November 16, 1995
• Developer — id Software
• Publisher — Williams Entertainment
• Genre — FPS
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)
• Value — $3,000+ (Graded)

As someone who vividly remembers buying the PS1 edition of Doom for $40 when it was brand-new, it’s shocking to see how much this port of the iconic 1993 FPS nets on the secondary market. The version of Doom released for the PS1 is actually Doom and Doom II combined into a single game with some bonus levels, which makes it unique among all the other Doom ports of the era, and its original “long box” artwork also happens to be unique among all other releases of the game. As a result, a sealed and graded “long box” version of the PS1 Doom port is easily worth $3,000 or more.

• Release Date — March 20, 1997
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action RPG, Platformer
• Review Aggregate Score — 93% (Universal Acclaim)
• Value — $4,050 (Ungraded)

The value of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night has long been hyper-inflated, mostly due to the game’s limited print run in its original black-label version and its place as a cult classic (and the genesis of the “Metroidvania” style of Castlevania games). As early as 2001, complete-in-box copies of Symphony of the Night were regularly selling on eBay for $900 or more, which makes its current collector value not at all surprising. Even an ungraded copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night can easily be worth more than $4,000, which means a professionally graded copy in near-mint condition would likely win the top spot for being the most valuable PS1 game.

• Release Date — March 22, 1996
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)
• Value — $5,800 (Graded); $2,600 (Ungraded)

Similar to the PS1 port of Doom, the original run of Resident Evil copies in North America used the original PS1 “long box” packaging featuring that iconic Bill Seinkiewicz artwork, which have since become incredibly valuable collector’s items. Even an unsealed, complete-in-box copy of the original Resident Evil can be worth $200 or more, but that pales in comparison to the value of a sealed and graded copy. The most recent sold listing on eBay for a near-mint sealed and graded copy of Resident Evil sold for a whopping $5,800.

• Release Date — January 31, 1997
• Developer — Square
• Publisher — Square, Sony Computer Entertainment
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Value — $8,600 (Graded); $3,000 (Ungraded)

As one of the definitive games in the PS1 library, it should come as no surprise to see that Final Fantasy VII takes the top spot as the most expensive physical PS1 game. Original black label printings of the game have long since been collector’s items, which is primarily due to the overwhelming level of success it achieved, necessitating multiple printings of the Greatest Hits release. Should you be able to track down a sealed and graded copy of Final Fantasy VII from the game’s first print run in North America, it could easily set you back about $9,000. Ungraded sealed copies are less valuable, but still regularly sell for up to $3,000.