Famicom World

If you ever doubted that pretty much every game officially released became pirated, think again. The makers of pirated games were busy back in the '80s and '90s (and even more recently, as is true of this 2001 pirate), trying to pirate games that would sell. And this, I imagine, is why the highly sought after Recca: Summer Carnival '92 became pirated. As expected, Recca actually is on the cartridge -- and what an awesome find this one is!

For those who don't know, Recca by Naxat Soft is one of the most rare games officially released for the Famicom. It was the competition software used during Japan's Summer Carnival '92, a multi-city video gaming tournament. Some have called Recca the most challenging shooter game ever made.

Expect to pay anywhere from almost $40 to $60 for a Recca pirate cart, because it's such a hard game to come by and the real thing sells in the hundreds. This one was a lucky find as part of a lot on eBay; it cost no more than $5.