Nintendo Virtual Boy
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

It’s Christmas morning, and amidst the thick haze of food already cooking for lunch and the soothing laughter of our children enjoying their new toys, my wife approaches me with a small, square package. I hadn’t seen this under the tree. “That’s your last one,” she says. I instinctively go to shake it – she knows me well enough to catch my wrist. “Don’t do that!” she interjects. Clearly this is an item of some delicacy.

I unwrap it carefully, and as I slip the box free of its decorative coat, I am filled with both giddy elation and a crushing sense of shame: Shame at the sheer averageness of the gifts I have offered her this year compared to the magnificence I hold in my hands; elated, because said magnificence is a boxed, Japanese copy of Mario’s Tennis for the Virtual Boy with manual inside. It’s a Christmas miracle. Eat your heart out, Dickens.

I have long been an enthusiast of Nintendo’s forgotten child, having snapped one up for an absolute bargain from a charity shop in my teens. After spending the day periodically thumbing through pages of artwork I’d never laid eyes on, I finally had the opportunity to fire up the little red curio once the children were tucked up for the night. I already own the US version of Mario’s Tennis (the console, which was never released in Europe, is not region-locked), but must admit I hadn’t indulged in a game-set-match of it for a long time.

Nintendo Virtual Boy
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

Considering it is 30 years old, it holds up incredibly well – it’s solidly built, as you’d expect from a Nintendo title, and the 3D effect is beautifully realised. You can really feel where the ball is on the court and although I was never so immersed in the illusion that I would try and duck my head away from the incoming shots (I remember practically giving myself whiplash trying to ‘dodge’ incoming enemy fire playing Star Fox 64 3D with the slider cranked up) I still felt that ripple of excitement you get when you feel like you’re actually in the playing space.

I’ve always thought it was criminal that Nintendo never released a Virtual Boy collection for 3DS, or at least a ‘best of’ collection of titles they developed and/or published. Not remakes, just porting the existing titles with the stereoscopic 3D effect intact. I suppose the company is at least acknowledging it these days – allowing it to pop up in various games as a reference point, but it isn’t keen to let the system's software live a life unshackled from the console. There have been community efforts to realise this and though there are ways to play the catalogue of games with the 3D present, it is an ethically grey area and doesn’t always translate as it should. It’s never the same as playing natively on original hardware.

So as I sprinted across the tennis court with Toad on this weirdest of Nintendo machines I began to ponder, 'Are you truly a Nintendo fan if you haven’t experienced this console and its unique games the way Nintendo envisaged?'

Do self-respecting Nintendo fans owe it to themselves to play the Virtual Boy?

Firstly, it wouldn’t be fair to pose the question if the Virtual Boy were basically impossible to obtain, and they're certainly a rare and expensive item these days. A cursory search shows that they are around – you could be firing one up by Valentine’s Day if you really wanted. Unboxed units will set you back somewhere close to £300 and boxed examples start in the mid-400s. A large whack, but not totally obscene.

Have you ever played a Virtual Boy? (1,624 votes)

  1. Yep, I own one!19%
  2. Yes, I used to have one, but not anymore7%
  3. Yes, but I've never owned one22%
  4. Nope53%

But its 22 official games – that’s where things get messy. The prices for these vary wildly, from pocket change to listings in the thousands, and of course this is generally reflective of the quality or rarity of the titles. As with any console, the games are where the fun is — if they aren’t worth experiencing, then neither is the console.

So let’s take a look at the games, or at least the ones I have and can offer a personal take on. I by no means have a complete collection but it’s certainly a varied one and I’m just going to touch on the experience they offer. If you want a more in-depth look, check out our excellent ranked list of Virtual Boy games.

Mario's Tennis (VB)

Mario’s Tennis was the pack-in title for all North American units and, as is the case with all good pack-in titles, it does a fantastic job of showcasing what’s special about the system. The intro video alone accomplishes this, with Mario serving an ace right into your face. It’s impactful and genuinely quite a thrill when you see it for the first time. The depth mechanic and 3D illusion is flawless and it’s just a joy to play, with simple controls that anyone can quickly pick up.

It’s such a shame that the system didn’t live long enough for a link cable to emerge as this would’ve been dynamite in two-player. Certainly worth a pop.

V-Tetris (VB)

Hated Tetris on the Gameboy because it was green? YOU’RE IN LUCK! This is Tetris in red. Sexy, sexy red. Music B is a pretty chill track, too.

Other than that, it’s Tetris and you’ve already played it in better ways, so you aren’t missing much by skipping V-Tetris. I’m not quite good enough to unlock the kill screen, so let’s move on.

3D Tetris (VB)

Remember when everybody was talking about Tetrimino’s being in Smash Bros. Ultimate? Well, it turns out 3D Tetris actually anthropomorphised some of its blocks! And look at these little guys – they’re adorable! Who wouldn’t want to lay the smack down with them?

Unlike the previous entry, though, this really is not Tetris. Well – it is and it isn’t. It’s totally mad, with a few game modes built around a central ‘well’ five layers tall. The well floats in front of you in 3D with the layers displayed in 2D off to your right. Puzzle mode is the star of this game, engaging your brain in an entirely different way from the core games the series is associated with. Sadly the controls are overall a little clunky, the pacing isn’t quite right, and the music is murder, but there’s a good game in there if you can get used to it.

3D Tetris also proved to be the system’s swansong – out with a whimper, not a bang. But a fun whimper and one worth playing.

Jack Bros. (VB)

What if I told you that there’s a kindred game to the much-vaunted Persona series on the humble Virtual Boy? Well, you could reply, “That’s an enormous stretch and a borderline lie,” and you’d be absolutely right. But Jack Bros., like Persona, is a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off game from Atlus. That’s pretty much where the similarities end.

Staggeringly it’s also the first Megami Tensei game that made it Stateside. And it’s decent, too. You pick one of three ‘Jacks’ — ‘Frost’, ‘Lantern’, or ‘Skelton’ — who have varying skillsets to aid you as you navigate dungeons, collecting keys throughout and dropping down through the floor to progress. The scrolling effect of the floors beneath you is echoed in A Link Between Worlds on 3DS and looks fantastic here, as does the spritework. Honestly, it’s a shame it wasn’t on the SNES or even Game Boy as I think this could’ve blossomed into a full-blown series. Check out the difference between the Japanese and American box art if you can, too – it’s hilarious.

Prohibitively expensive to buy these days, sadly, but a worthwhile experience if you can get it.

Mario Clash (VB)

Mario Clash is a 3D reimagining of Mario Bros. When I first heard this, I was very excited. “The original Mario game in 3D?!” I failed to realise it was the original Mario game in 3D – not Super Mario Bros.

Although significantly less thrilling than what I had envisaged, Mario Clash does a decent job of reimaging the arcade classic in three dimensions and makes alterations to the core gameplay to better suit the system and take advantage of its capabilities – which is a smart move. For all you Mario lore nerds, I’m pretty sure there are also enemies who originated in and never made the jump from this game – a weird, spiky snake thing you need to hit twice springs to mind. The soundtrack is forgettable and the omission of a save file or persistent leaderboard is heinous – but it’s certainly worth a blast through on a rainy afternoon.


Join us on page two for five more games, our closing thoughts, and a final poll — do YOU think it's worth paying the going rate to buy and play a Virtual Boy in 2024?...