Even after seeing SEGA take a big bite out of Nintendo in the 16-bit battle, teenaged Shaun was still under the impression that Nintendo could not fail. Thus, despite every warning klaxon in the gaming world blaring at full volume, I purchased a Virtual Boy the very day it released in North America. I made a special trip to a nearby city to do so, and I picked up a couple of games to go with that Mario’s Tennis pack-in. I did so with a great deal of optimism, and I genuinely had a good time with the thing for the short span of time it lived before Nintendo pulled the plug on it. For the record, that span was about half a year. Nintendo, as it turned out, could fail.
In those brief six-ish months, I ended up buying ten games. That ended up being more than 70% of the full North American library for the console, and nearly half of the total global releases. I was looking forward to the second wave of software, of which only Wario Land ended up seeing the light of day. Well, that’s how it goes sometimes in this hobby of ours. Nintendo would have other missteps in the future, though none quite so big or quick to detonate. Virtual Boy was scrubbed away with haste, and for a while, it seemed like Nintendo was embarrassed to even acknowledge it.
After some years passed, a few references started popping up here and there. Most of those came from the teams at Nintendo that had worked on the Virtual Boy and its games, but it was a start. When the Nintendo 3DS was unveiled, I thought this was surely the time to bring back the Virtual Boy’s games in a collection or on the Virtual Console. When that didn’t happen, I truly gave up. Like many, I was extremely surprised to see Nintendo announce it was bringing the Virtual Boy to the Switch via a Nintendo Classics app. My surprise was the happy sort, and I was even more elated to see Nintendo commit to the bit to the extent of bringing out a replica of the Virtual Boy to play the games with. Don’t even get me started on those previously unreleased games on the way! Don’t even!
After spending a day playing around with the Virtual Boy – Nintendo Classics app, I’m quite satisfied. We’ve only got seven games to start with, but while I am confused by the precise selection for the starting line-up (no Mario’s Tennis?), I think it’s a solid assortment of games. The accessories work as they should, which means if you’re going with the full-sized replica, you’d better have a desk or table to sit at to play. Either the cardboard accessory or the Labo VR goggles are probably a more comfortable way to enjoy these games, in my opinion. The emulation is fine, the controls map reasonably well to the Joy-Cons or any modern dual-stick controller, and being able to make save states and rewind is a godsend for many of these games. Some Virtual Boy games offered no way to pick up where you left off, but that’s not a problem anymore.
It’s a little weird that the game selection menu is too big to fit inside your field of view, but you can still see what you need to. Once you’re in-game, it’s not an issue. Indeed, it’s very much like playing the real thing. The 3D effect is a little less pronounced, and the audio doesn’t have quite the same punch as the original model, but it’s all very close. Most importantly, you get that “infinite black space” that several games make use of for greater immersion that simply can’t be replicated without sticking your face into a box of some kind. Yes, I’m being serious. It’s vital!
What’s so cool about the Virtual Boy, anyway? Well, it was certainly a novel piece of tech for its time. Lots of personality, for better or worse. I think some of us also just love the underdogs of gaming history. For me, though, a lot of it comes down to the library of games. Since the Virtual Boy was canned so quickly, just about all of the games are either experimental launch titles or games that feel unfinished because they had to be rushed out the door before the axe dropped. At the same time, there are several Nintendo games here, and that means it can’t all be bad. On top of that, most of the games are exclusive to the Virtual Boy. There’s a very specific flavor here that you won’t find elsewhere.
Simply put, this is a library full of rough edges. There’s a reason why Wario Land VB is the one game that gets mentioned a lot, and that’s because it’s the closest thing to a polished experience the Virtual Boy has to offer. Every other game has some obvious flaws that likely sprang from the odd circumstances developers found themselves in with this console. I contend that there is charm in those flaws. In a world where it feels like many games are focus-tested and updated post-release until all traces of the imperfect human touch have been sanded off, these rough games speak to my soul. Either that or it’s just indigestion.
We’ve got seven games to choose from in this launch line-up, and the relatively polished Wario Land VB is among them. I suspect most newcomers to the Virtual Boy will gravitate towards that one, and that’s fair. It’s a very good game! A glimpse at what the console might have offered more of had it lived a bit longer. If you enjoyed the other Wario Land games, it’s a must-play. Just make sure that it’s not the beginning and end of your Virtual Boy journey, because there are other treasures to enjoy here.
Three of the original launch titles are available in this initial selection. Galactic Pinball is a rather agreeable game that makes good use of the 3D effect. It’s pinball with a puck instead of a ball, and it has a Samus Aran cameo tucked away inside of it. There are four tables to play, which is a fairly substantial bite. Red Alarm is a game that tends to get dumped on because of how disorienting its wireframe visuals can be, but let the 3D effect do its thing and remember that it’s not StarFox, and you’ll find this to be one of the better Virtual Boy games. Being able to make save states in this game is a real revelation. Trust me, stick with it.
Then there’s Teleroboxer, which is kind of like if Punch-Out!! featured robots and had a much steeper difficulty curve. This is another game that shows off the 3D effect really well, and its easier-to-grasp gameplay might make it a more comfy game to get into than Red Alarm. Just be warned that it’s more technical than it might seem to be at first, and the kid gloves come off in a big way only a few fights in. If you get too frustrated with Teleroboxer, why not cool off with a few rounds of T&E Soft’s Golf? Other than the fact that it looks like you’re golfing in hell, it’s a rather robust and enjoyable golf game. The only real downside to it is that it only has one course to play. Still, mastering it will take some time.
Tetris is great, right? How about Tetris… in 3D? The Virtual Boy had two Tetris games, and this is the quirkier one. It’s similar to Block Out, which was another earlier attempt to render Tetris’ falling block gameplay in three dimensions. The blocks fall into a 3D well, and you need to fill up full layers to clear them. It’s a little distracting how the playfield keeps moving around a bit as you play, but once you get the hang of the game, it’s fine enough.
In an assortment of oddballs, The Mansion of Innsmouth is perhaps the oddest. This was originally only released in Japan, and it’s sort of a very clunky take on first-person survival horror. You’re moving around in first-person mazes trying to find the key and make your way to the exit on a fairly tight timer. Monsters will occasionally jump out at you, and you can either run away or take them down with your gun. There are branching paths based on how quickly you finish each floor, so there’s plenty of incentive to get better at the game if you want to see everything. This is exactly the kind of rough-edged game I love to see. It’s ambitious, and it doesn’t quite work, but it doesn’t quite not work either.
As time goes on, we will see more games added to Virtual Boy – Nintendo Classics, and while they are going to run the gamut in terms of quality, each one has its own flavor. That’s the magic of the Virtual Boy, and it’s why I’m glad these games are getting another shot for people to discover their unique charms. Now, someone get Kevin Costner on the horn so we can get that cool Waterworld game back out there!
