Game Boy Advance Games Value: Emerald, Fire Emblem and Fakes

Most Game Boy Advance games are worth about $5-30 each as loose cartridges as of November 2026; Madden 2005 sells for about $5. The exceptions are the Pokemon games and a short list of low-print titles. PriceCharting's sold-price guide puts Pokemon Emerald at about $212 loose and $797 complete in box, Ninja Five-O at about $293 loose and $795 complete, and Fire Emblem at about $66 loose and $275 complete.

The GBA launched in North America in June 2001 and sold in huge numbers, so most carts are common. Two facts shape every price. First, the cardboard box and manual multiply a game's value roughly two to nine times, most often three to four, because most boxes were thrown away. Second, the valuable games are flooded with reproductions: sellers of fakes target exactly the Pokemon, Zelda, Metroid and Fire Emblem titles in the table below, so a cheap Emerald is far more likely to be a fake than a bargain.

Quick answer

• Sports, licensed and common games: about $5-30 loose. Mario Kart: Super Circuit about $19.
• Pokemon: Emerald about $212 loose and $797 complete; LeafGreen about $116; FireRed about $92; Ruby and Sapphire about $85-89 loose.
• Other money games: Ninja Five-O about $293 loose and $795 complete, Drill Dozer about $110 loose, Zelda: The Minish Cap about $102 loose.
• Fire Emblem about $66 loose and $275 complete; The Sacred Stones about $55 and $160.
• A "dry battery" message on Ruby, Sapphire or Emerald is normal and does not erase saves. A reproduction is worth a few dollars.

How do I check what my GBA game is worth?

1. Read the front label. A genuine GBA label says GAME BOY ADVANCE across the top, with crisp print and even color. Most genuine labels also have a small number pressed into the label surface, though some genuine carts lack it, so treat a missing number as a reason to look closer rather than proof. Peeling corners and fading are normal wear; blurry text and oversaturated color are not.
2. Read the code on the back. North American carts carry an AGB code ending in -USA: Emerald is AGB-BPEE-USA, FireRed AGB-BPRE-USA, LeafGreen AGB-BPGE-USA, Ruby AGB-AXVE-USA and Sapphire AGB-AXPE-USA. A code ending in another region is a PAL or Japanese copy. The GBA is not region-locked, but US buyers pay less for those.
3. Check the shell. Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald are transparent red, blue and green, and through the plastic you should see the board and a round coin battery. FireRed and LeafGreen have a smoky, tinted shell in their colors. Most other games are gray.
4. Look at the screw. Genuine GBA carts close with a single tri-wing screw on the back. A Phillips screw, or no screw at all, is a reason to look closer.
5. Look at the board, if you can. With a small tri-wing driver you can open the cart and compare. Collector guides list board code AGB-E05-01 for Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald and AGB-E02-20 or AGB-E02-30 for FireRed and LeafGreen, with chips marked by Nintendo or its suppliers. If your board shows a different code, compare it with photos of known genuine boards before deciding. A black epoxy blob over the chip is a reproduction.
6. Count the pieces. A complete GBA game has the cardboard box, the plastic or cardboard tray, the manual and the paper inserts. On Pokemon, the box alone is worth more than many complete games.
7. Play and save. Start the game, save, turn the system off and load again.

Which GBA games are worth the most?

The valuable GBA games are the Pokemon generation three titles, Nintendo's own late releases, and a few third-party games that sold poorly. Figures are PriceCharting's guide values, built from completed sales and checked on November 2, 2026, for North American copies.

The guide figures match recent eBay sales. Loose Emerald carts sold for about $200-250 in the last days of October 2026, several of them listed as "dry battery," and complete copies for $675-1,000 over the same weeks. Loose Ninja Five-O carts sold for $170-325 between July and October 2026, and complete copies for $740-850 during 2026.

Mercari sold listings broadly agree with the rest of the table. Genuine loose Emerald carts sold there for about $180-200, LeafGreen for about $70-160, The Minish Cap for about $80-110, Metroid: Zero Mission for about $50-100 and Drill Dozer for about $100-160, with complete Drill Dozer copies at about $140-220. The many $15-30 Pokemon and Zelda carts on Mercari are reproductions. Ninja Five-O has no confirming second source: it sells on eBay only a few times a month, and the few Mercari sales, at about $107-120 and $275, could not be confirmed as genuine carts, so treat its figures as rough.

What is the battery-save issue on Pokemon GBA games?

Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald contain a small coin cell that runs the in-game clock. After twenty years most of those batteries are dead, and the game shows a message that the internal battery has run dry. The game still plays and still saves, because the save itself is stored on a flash chip that does not need the battery. What stops are clock-based events such as berry growth and tides.

How do I spot a reproduction GBA game?

Experienced buyers check every expensive GBA cart. The checks, easiest first:

What fakes often get right: the label art, the shell color and the game itself, which usually plays to the end, so "tested and working" proves nothing. Ask for a photo of the board on any Pokemon cart priced over about $100; a seller with a genuine cart can usually provide one.

A worked example

Say you find a pencil case with six GBA carts: Madden 2005, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, two Disney games, Golden Sun and a green see-through cart labeled Pokemon Emerald. The Emerald label is crisp and has a small pressed number, the back reads AGB-BPEE-USA, there is one tri-wing screw, and through the green plastic you can see the board and a coin battery. When you start it, the game shows the dry battery message, then loads the old save.

The common carts are about $5 for Madden, about $19 for Mario Kart and roughly $5-15 for the Disney games. Golden Sun is about $32. The Emerald is genuine by every check you can make at home and worth about $200-220, the dry battery placing it near the guide figure rather than below it. The pencil case is worth roughly $270-300, three quarters of it in one cart. If the same Emerald had a Phillips screw and a label with soft text, it would be a reproduction worth a few dollars, and the case would be worth about $70.

Where should I sell GBA games?

Sell a valuable cart on its own, never buried in a lot, and show the back and the screw in the photos. For a complete boxed Pokemon game, photograph the box from all sides and every insert; complete copies sell on the condition of the cardboard.

Common mistakes

• Selling a genuine Emerald cheaply because of the dry battery message.
• Buying a cheap Emerald or FireRed to resell. Most underpriced ones are reproductions.
• Throwing away a Pokemon box. PriceCharting lists an empty Emerald box at about $345.
• Opening a cart with the wrong tool and stripping the tri-wing screw, which makes the cart look tampered with.
• Assuming every Kirby or Golden Sun cart is valuable. Loose, they sell for about $25-36; the box is where their money is.

How WorthPic reads GBA game photos

WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From photos of the front label, the back and the box it reads the title, the AGB code and region, the shell color and which pieces are present, then gives an honest value range from recent sales for that game and level of completeness, with a most likely figure. From sharp photos it can often see the label print quality, the screw type and, if you open the cart, the board code and the chips, and it will flag a coin battery in a game that should not have one. What it cannot know from a photo is whether the cart saves, how old the battery is, or whether a label was moved from another cart. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise. For an expensive Pokemon cart in doubt, a retro game shop that opens carts settles it in hand.

What to photograph

• The front label straight on, in good light.
• The back of the cart with the AGB code and the screw in focus.
• If you can open it, the board, with the board code readable.
• For complete games: every side of the box, the tray, the manual and the inserts.

When to get it looked at in person

A common GBA cart does not need an expert; a PriceCharting or eBay sold check is enough. Any Pokemon cart that fails one check, a complete boxed Pokemon game, a sealed game, or a lot you are paying more than about $200 for deserves a look from a retro game shop that will open the cart. Our vintage Game Boy guide covers the GBA, SP and Micro consoles themselves, the Nintendo DS games guide covers the next generation of Pokemon carts, and the old Nintendo games guide covers the home consoles. If the same drawer holds Pokemon cards, see old Pokemon cards. For the consoles, cameras and hi-fi on the same shelf, our guide to what vintage electronics are worth shows which makers hold value and how to price them.

Sources

• PriceCharting: Pokemon Emerald, GBA: loose, complete, sealed and box-only prices, and the October 2026 sales cited.
• PriceCharting: Ninja Five-O, GBA: loose and complete prices and the 2026 sales cited.
• PriceCharting: Fire Emblem, GBA: loose, complete and sealed prices.
• PriceCharting: Pokemon FireRed, GBA: loose and complete prices.
• Mercari sold listings: a second set of sold prices for the games in the value table, checked November 2, 2026.
• Johto Times: How to spot fake Pokemon games: board codes, shell colors and the tri-wing screw.
• Nintendo Life: How to spot fake Nintendo video games: the stamped number in the label, opening GBA carts and comparing the board.