Batman
How many of us have watched the new The Flash trailer more than necessary? With the return of Michael Keaton as Batman after 33 years, all eyes are on him. Batman for the Nintendo Entertainment System came out for the console in 1990, and has the distinction of being the first Batman game produced for home consoles! The game follows the titular hero as he goes after the Joker in Gotham City. The final fight scene is in the Gotham Cathedral bell tower, similar to the movie. Batman's cover art is also by Anton Furst, who was a part of the design team for the 1989 film.
This sealed 7.5 A WATA-graded copy is a beautiful game. Despite the mid-grade and creasing on the top and bottom lid, this game presents well without the price tag of a higher-graded copy. The one-year average on similarly graded games is $528 -- by comparison, a 9.6 has a one-year average of $6,800. As this is a key video game, there's a chance this game will continue to climb in value.
The Punisher
The Punisher seems alike a no-brainer for a video game adaptation. He's a gruff character poised for a good third-person shooter, which was utilized in this 2004 Xbox release. Partially based on the Thomas Jane live-action film and the comic series, The Punisher faced serious scrutiny due to the extreme gore in the torture scenes and had to be edited heavily in order to get a "Mature" rating instead of "Adults Only". The game was still received well and sold close to a million copies. The single-player game was released on the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows.
This sealed 9.6 A WATA-graded game is about as good as it gets. This game is particularly hard to find in any grade, with a one-year average of $323, making this surprisingly affordable. While there isn't enough data to say if this would be a good investment item, it would make an absolutely great collector's piece.
Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22
One of the world's most popular shonen action series, Dragon Ball Z, has seen its fair share of fighting games. As the show is primarily a fighting show (with some characters taking entire seasons to power up) fans should expect nothing less. Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22 features 22 characters from the series and also has a customizable button control. The game was well-received, but the American release did some a good eight years after its initial Japanese release. Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22 also has some of my favorite graphics from a Dragon Ball-inspired game!
This sealed 9.8 A++ WATA-graded copy is as good as it gets. A 9.8 is a perfect score -- or as close to perfect as most graded items get. Yet despite being such a high grade, the on-year average on other 9.8 graded copies is at $269. So if you like high-graded games and don't want to break the bank, look no further. If you're eyeing this as in investment piece, you may be sitting on this game for a while.
