Almost 100 rare Nintendo cartridges have been discovered in a Wisconsin retro games store, with a handful of them to go up for auction this week. The individually wrapped Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt NES cartridges appear to have come from a previously unknown run of the games, with collectors having been unaware of their existence until now.
The 97 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridges belong to Kevin Braun, owner of retro games store OneStopWonders in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and were identified with the help of Nintendo Wire editor Jason Ganos. Nintendo Wire reports that the cartridges were initially in the possession of a precious metal recovery service, which Nintendo appeared to have contracted to break them down. They were left untouched for decades, until Braun purchased the box of games from the owner's grandson. He had been intending to sell the games at OneStopWonders, but forgot them in a storage unit until they came up in conversation with Ganos.
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"After Kevin finished his story, I immediately could tell that the blood had drained from my face," Ganos wrote, recounting the discovery on Nintendo Wire.Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt themselves aren't rare games in and of themselves. Released in the U.S. alongside the NES' 1985 launch, Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt have left enduring legacies as two of the platform's most popular titles. In 1988, the games were put together in dual cartridges and sold with the NES in an Action Set bundle.
