Sealed 'Super Mario 64' game sells at auction for a record-breaking $1.56 million

Nintendo games have been commanding massive prices at auctions this year. Just days after a rare copy of the Legend of Zelda fetched a record $870,000, an N64 classic has almost doubled that amount. A completely sealed Super Mario 64 sold for a whopping $1.56 million over the weekend.

That may seem like an insane price for a best-selling game that millions of people owned, but the auctioneer says the copy's mint condition sets it apart from your dusty old one. According to Heritage Auctions, the boxed game had a 9.8 A++ Sealed rating on the Wata Scale. That means it's immaculately preserved in the same condition as when it left the factory. Such highly rated games are often described as “Case Fresh.” 

Add to that the cultural impact of Super Mario 64, the plumber's first true 3D escapade and a massively successful launch title for the beloved N64 console, and you can see why it broke the seven-figure mark. By comparison, a nearly perfect copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES nabbed a record $660,000 in April before the Legend of Zelda auction beat it. While a Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed copy of Final Fantasy III pulled in $96,000 a few days ago.