There are video games that are so rare that to even play them, fans have to fork over a hefty payload.

The PlayStation 1 had some of the best and most creative games of the late 90s. No matter the genre, every kind of gamer could find something they loved, whether it was now-forgotten fighting games or some of the best JRPGs. Considering how complex gaming is now, it's understandable that some people might want to go back to the PS1 era just for a short while.

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But those looking to buy PS1 games at a discount, or even at the $40 price they paid back in the day, might be disappointed with some games. Thanks to games running out of print and collectors not wanting to give up their copies, there are some PlayStation games players will never get a chance to play again.

Square released Einhänder for the PlayStation 1 in North America in 1998. As expected of Squaresoft even back then, the story was about a war between the Earth and the Moon. The protagonist was a member of the Moon army, making brief invasions for the sake of getting information and weapons from the enemy.

Interestingly, in Japan, Einhänder was made available for players on the PlayStation Network in 2008. However, that port never came stateside, so players who want to buy this game need to be ready to plunk down around $250 or more.

From Software spent a lot of years working on games that weren't mega hits before stumbling onto Dark Souls. Shadow Tower was one such game, where the game is a first-person dungeon crawler where the player has returned to his home only to learn it's been sucked into the underworld.

While the idea behind the game is interesting, it was pretty terrible. However, considering how popular From Software has become in the last decade, plenty of people would like to play a game like this just to see where the developer started. But with no digital copy available, even those fans are going to have to pay upwards of $270 if they want to get a hold of this.

The Mega Man Legends series was a beloved series of Mega Man titles for the PlayStation. The series relied on its story to add humor and personality to the characters that just couldn't be there in the mainline games due to their action-heavy nature. But if people want to play the second game in the series, they're out of luck.

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The title was available on PlayStation Network at one point, but since the PS3 store was closed down, anyone who doesn't already own it has no legal way of getting it other than a physical copy. At best, the game is going for around $300, which is a lot for a game that doesn't have a proper ending because the third iteration got canceled.

Capcom took gradual steps towards creating the masterpiece Marvel vs. Capcom and its sequels. To begin with, they had X-Men vs. Street Fighter; then they moved on to the next step of cutting down on the X-Men to add in other major heroes like Captain America and Hulk. Much like the previous game, this was another tag-team title, focusing on fast-paced two-on-two gameplay.

Unfortunately, there are a host of reasons why this game hasn't been made available on digital platforms. Working out agreements with Marvel isn't going to be easy, and if Capcom were to do it, they'd start with Marvel vs. Capcom proper before they went near the more forgotten games like this.

The Tales of franchise existed before Tales of Destiny, but this iteration in the franchise was, for a long time, the most successful. The game focused on Stahn Aileron and his friends, placed in charge of protecting the world after they each obtained the power of Swordians, talking swords.

The game was unlike anything on the market at the time, with its side-scrolling action RPG combat. However, despite its sales, Namco never took the game seriously in the States. Tales of Destiny never got the PlayStation 2 remake localized in America, and it was never released on PlayStation Network for the fans.

Two-Face and the Riddler is actually by no means a good game. It's not even somewhat fun like the NES Batman game. The only value the title has on it is that it's almost impossible to find these days. It's a beat 'em up that focuses on Batman and Robin traveling through Gotham beating up on the villains.

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There's a combo system, but it's all down to punches and kicks, with any gadgets in Batman's utility belt instead stored throughout the stages. In the end, anyone who wants to buy this will have to hunt through eBay, because no one would ever pay for the license to make it available on digital storefronts these days.

The developers at CyberConnect teamed up with Bandai to release Tail Concerto, a platformer filled with adorable talking animals. The protagonist is a police officer named Waffle Ryebread, which was hilarious enough to be worth the cost of admission when the game launched.

Aside from that, this was a good but not great game with some charming graphics. Unfortunately, the game isn't readily available as a digital copy these days. When people find them, physical releases tend to be well over $500.

Tron Bonne was one of the standout additions to the Mega Man Legends lore that couldn't be found in older Mega Man games. And between the releases of Mega Man Legends and Mega Man Legends 2, Capcom released a prequel title. The prequel focuses on Tron, the sister of the Bonne family that make up one of the main protagonists of the Legends games.

Tron Bonne's game focuses on puzzle solving and third-person shooter action, along with leveling up different Servbots who work for her. Though the game was brought over here, it was primarily meant to hype Mega Man Legends 2. Decades later, the title hasn't made it to a digital service, and the price of the title has climbed up to almost $700.

The Persona franchise is so beloved it seems like all of their games should be easily downloadable anywhere. But since the franchise wasn't huge until Persona 3, Atlus almost seems to forget about the games before that. The original game on PlayStation 1 will run collectors around $700 if they want a physical copy.

If they're willing to settle for the PlayStation Portable remaster, it's still around $200. The "easiest" way to obtain it is to buy a PlayStation Classic, but then that's asking someone to spend $80 for a bunch of other games they might not even want.

In the first place, good luck finding this game. Finding Syphon Filter 3 on its own won't be difficult or cheap. But a different version of the game is considerably more challenging to locate. This version is known by fans as the "911 Edition" because the game was meant to release in September.

That game version had a photo of the United States flag in the background with gas around Gabe and Lian. But in the aftermath of 9/11, this cover was deemed troublesome, and they changed it entirely. Copies with the original cover exists, but they're so hard to track down that people can basically charge whatever they want for it.

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Staff Writer for CBR, Sage Ashford has also written for Comicon as well as other sites such as The Gamer, and has been doing freelance work since 2014, and been working for CBR since 2017. His focus is primarily on spreading the word on obscure anime, comic books, and games whenever possible. Follow him on Twitter @ sageshinigami, or on Twitch @ sageshinigami.

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