Most Valuable NES Games: A $3 Million Super Mario Bros. Leads (2026)

The most valuable NES game ever sold at auction is a sealed Super Mario Bros. graded PSA 9.6 A++, which sold for $3 million at Heritage Auctions on June 12, 2026, Kotaku reported. It came inside an unopened NES Control Deck bundle and beat every earlier NES sale by a wide margin. Below is the top public sale for each NES game, the next tier of sealed Mario and Zelda results, what the grading labels mean, and the rare cartridge that sells for six figures without a box.

Current as of October 8, 2026. Prices are public sale results as reported by the auction house and outlets.

The Most Valuable NES Games Ever Sold

Ranked by each game's highest confirmed public sale, so every title appears once. More big Super Mario Bros. and Zelda results follow the list.

1. Super Mario Bros. (1985), PSA 9.6 A++ sealed, hangtab, gloss sticker, second production: $3,000,000

• Sale: Heritage Auctions, June 12, 2026, with the NES Control Deck it was found in, per Kotaku and Hypebeast
• Why it matters: Heritage called it "the earliest confirmed sealed copy of the most important game cartridge in history" in its June 16, 2026 results announcement. Heritage also said it is the finest of three known sealed copies from that production run

2. The Legend of Zelda (1987), Wata 9.0 A sealed, early production: $870,000

• Sale: Heritage Auctions, July 9, 2021, per The Verge and the Associated Press
• Why it matters: listed by Heritage as "No Rev-A, Round SOQ, Early Production," and sold in Heritage's first standalone video game auction, per VideoGameCanon

3. Mario Bros. (1986), PSA 9.2 A++ sealed, gloss sticker, first production: $450,000

• Sale: Heritage Auctions, August 28, 2026, per ComicBook and CollectiblesNews
• Why it matters: Heritage says it is the only certified sealed example of this variant known to exist, per CollectiblesNews. Our report on the $450,000 Mario Bros. covers that auction

4. Nintendo World Championships 1990, gold cartridge, CGC 4.0: $207,400

• Sale: Goldin, August 2024, per CGC
• Why it matters: a loose cartridge with no label and no box, worth six figures on rarity alone. CGC says 26 gold carts were made as prizes for a Nintendo Power contest and 16 are known to exist, and this was the first CGC-certified example offered at public auction

The Next Tier: More Sealed Mario and Zelda Results

Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda fill most of the next tier:

• Super Mario Bros., Wata 9.6 A sealed, hangtab, mid-production: $720,000 at Heritage in November 2022, including buyer's premium, per Antiques and the Arts Weekly
• The Legend of Zelda, Wata 8.0 A sealed, first production: $705,000 at Heritage in October 2021, per Antiques and the Arts Weekly and Overstreet Access
• Super Mario Bros., Wata 9.6 A+ sealed: $660,000 at Heritage on April 2, 2021, about 5.8 times the $114,000 a sealed copy brought in July 2020, per Antique Trader and Antiques and the Arts Weekly. The seller had bought it as a Christmas gift in 1986 and left it in a drawer
• The Legend of Zelda, CGC 9.2 A sealed: $375,000 at Heritage in August 2024, per CGC
• Super Mario Bros. 2, Wata 9.8 A+ sealed, first production: $324,000 at Heritage in October 2021, and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Wata 9.8 A++ sealed: $312,000 in the same sale, per Overstreet Access

Separately, a Wata 9.8 A+ Super Mario Bros. sold for $2 million in an August 2021 private sale by Rally, per 9to5Toys, so it is not an auction result.

The Zelda pair shows how much the print run matters. A first production copy graded 8.0 brought $705,000, while a later Rev-A copy graded 9.6 A+ brought $384,000 at Heritage in August 2022, per Antiques and the Arts Weekly.

What the Labels on a Sealed NES Game Mean

Sealed NES prices depend as much on the exact variant as on the grade. Heritage's lot titles and the grader's label spell out the details collectors pay for:

• Grade and seal rating: the number (9.6, 9.8) grades the condition of the sealed game, and the letter grades the factory seal itself. CGC's seal grading scale runs from C up to A++, and A++ means a near perfect original seal
• Production run: Heritage lot titles name the print run (first, second, mid or later production), and the earliest runs bring the biggest prices
• Hangtab: a perforated cardboard tab at the top of the box back that let stores hang the game on a peg. Wata's NES Black Box variant guide dates hangtabs from October 1985 to mid-September 1987 and warns that a hangtab alone does not mean a first print
• Sticker seal and gloss: Nintendo sealed its earliest NES games with a small round Nintendo sticker instead of shrink wrap, then moved to shrink wrap during 1986. Per Wata, the 1985 stickers were matte paper and the 1986 ones were a glossy metallic sticker, which is what "gloss sticker" on a label means
• Seal of Quality: Nintendo printed a round Seal of Quality on NES boxes until March 1989 and an oval one after that, per Wata, so "Round SOQ" marks an earlier box
• Rev-A: a marking Nintendo added to boxes in January 1988 when it changed the cartridge from the original 5 screw design to a 3 screw design, per Wata, so "No Rev-A" points to an earlier copy

You will see both Wata and PSA labels. PSA announced on September 19, 2025 that Wata was becoming PSA, and games received after October 15, 2025 go into PSA holders with PSA labels, which is why the 2026 records carry PSA labels.

How the NES Compares With Other Consoles

The $3 million Super Mario Bros. is the top of the whole game market. Our most expensive video games list ranks it against every console, and our most valuable SNES games and most valuable N64 games guides cover Nintendo's next two systems.

Our take: almost all of the money at the top of NES collecting is in sealed, high-grade copies of a few early titles, and small label details move prices by hundreds of thousands. A loose cartridge is a different market, and only true rarities like the gold Nintendo World Championships cart reach six figures without a box.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most expensive NES game ever sold?

A sealed Super Mario Bros. graded PSA 9.6 A++, which sold for $3 million at Heritage Auctions on June 12, 2026.

What is the most a sealed Legend of Zelda has sold for?

A sealed Legend of Zelda graded Wata 9.0 A sold for $870,000 at Heritage Auctions in July 2021, the highest public price for the game.

What is the rarest NES cartridge?

The gold Nintendo World Championships 1990 cartridge is one of the rarest. CGC says 26 were made as contest prizes, and a CGC 4.0 copy with no label sold for $207,400 at Goldin in August 2024.

Where to Go From Here

Most NES games cost far less than these records, and a sealed, graded early title is a very different item from a loose cartridge. If you want to collect real games and cards today, the Polkastarter marketplace gives you a free mystery pack when you sign up, and every Lootbox lists its contents, values, and chances before you open.

Details checked October 8, 2026. Prices are past sale results and change over time. Nothing here is financial advice. Polkastarter is not affiliated with Nintendo, Heritage Auctions, Goldin, PSA, Wata, CGC or the other companies named.

Sources

• Kotaku: Copy of Super Mario Bros. sells for $3 million in auction, published June 13, 2026, accessed October 8, 2026
• Hypebeast: Highest-Graded 'Super Mario Bros.' Sells for $3M USD, published June 15, 2026, accessed October 8, 2026
• Intelligent Collector: Sealed Copy of 'Super Mario Bros.' Sells for Record $3 Million at Heritage Auctions, published June 16, 2026, accessed October 8, 2026
• The Verge: Sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda sells for nearly a million dollars, published July 9, 2021, accessed October 8, 2026
• AP via WSVN: Unopened Legend of Zelda game from 1987 sells for $870,000, published July 11, 2021, accessed October 8, 2026
• VideoGameCanon: A sealed and graded copy of The Legend of Zelda sells for $870,000, published July 2021, accessed October 8, 2026
• ComicBook: A Unique Sealed First Production Original Mario Bros. Game Just Sold For a Massive Amount at Auction, published August 30, 2026, accessed October 8, 2026
• CollectiblesNews: Only known sealed first-production Mario Bros. sells for $450,000 at Heritage Auctions, published August 30, 2026, accessed October 8, 2026
• Goldin: 1990 NES Nintendo World Championships gold cartridge, missing label, CGC 4.0, sold August 2024, accessed October 8, 2026
• CGC: CGC-certified gold NWC cartridge realizes $207,400 in Goldin sale, published August 19, 2024, accessed October 8, 2026
• Antiques and the Arts Weekly: Sealed Super Mario Bros. game earns star points at Heritage, published November 8, 2022, accessed October 8, 2026
• Antiques and the Arts Weekly: Early Zelda video game achieves legendary price at Heritage, published November 2, 2021, accessed October 8, 2026
• Overstreet Access: Heritage video games auction results, published November 2, 2021, accessed October 8, 2026
• Antique Trader: Super Mario Bros. Video Game Sells for $660,000, published April 2, 2021, accessed October 8, 2026
• Antiques and the Arts Weekly: Super Mario Bros. video game races to new record at Heritage, published April 6, 2021, accessed October 8, 2026
• CGC: CGC-certified Legend of Zelda realizes a record $375,000 in Heritage sale, published August 2024, accessed October 8, 2026
• Antiques and the Arts Weekly: Heritage rounds up with Video Games Signature Auction, published August 9, 2022, accessed October 8, 2026
• 9to5Toys: Original Super Mario Bros. sells for $2 million, published August 6, 2021, accessed October 8, 2026
• CGC: CGC Video Games clarifies seal grading scale and types, published March 14, 2023, accessed October 8, 2026
• Wata Games: NES Black Box variant guide (archived), archived March 17, 2019, accessed October 8, 2026
• PSA: WATA Is Becoming PSA: Here's What to Know, published September 19, 2025, accessed October 8, 2026