Panic Bomber (VB)
A fairly standard block-stacking game with Bomberman slapped onto it. The background has decent 3D depth as it scrolls by, but frustratingly I actually found this sometimes disorientating when focusing on the puzzle itself. It’s fine but better elsewhere. Another one that would’ve really benefitted from that pesky link cable!
Red Alarm (VB)
Red Alarm felt like it was meant to be Virtual Boy’s Star Fox moment, and although it didn’t quite hit those heady heights, it’s certainly unique amongst its peers. A properly 3D game on this 3D system, its development story is fascinating. It is a technical marvel, no doubt, but it’s a hard game to love. Its pushing of the console’s capabilities make it a little clunky and I never really feel compelled to save the day. Had Nintendo actually slapped the Star Fox crew in here, it might’ve helped give the game a little bit of charm it’s missing.
Like many games from this era of rapid change in the games industry, you can explain why it’s so impressive, and you can objectively understand the points being made, but things have come so far it’s hard to actually be impressed when playing it now. I like Red Alarm, it’s weird and a wonderful technical play, but I just don’t love it.
Teleroboxer (VB)
Fun! And HARD. Certainly one of the Virtual Boy’s more visually impressive games, Teleroboxer is a strategically deep and immersive game. It's almost a blend of Nintendo’s very own Punch Out and ARMS, with gameplay like the former but taking the latter’s single-arm control approach. It’s a true first-person experience with just your floating fists in front of you and the gorgeously designed characters and solid black surroundings really drawing you in as enemy fists fly toward your face. A truly visceral bout and well worth playing.
Vertical Force (VB)
Vertical Force is one of the more curious ones in my collection. A vertical scrolling shmup that sees the player move between a higher and lower plane during intense gun fights. I want to like it more than I do, but it can be overtly frustrating and the game’s palette does make incoming enemy fire occasionally hard to spot.
As long as a shmup is fair, I don’t mind if it’s hard — my main gripe is that I sometimes felt like failing a mission wasn’t my fault, and that can kick the fun out of it.
Side note: For a tough but fair shmup with a similarly limited colour palette, 2023’s Gun Trails on the Playdate is an absolute blast. Definitely play that over this. You aren’t missing much here.
Virtual Boy Wario Land (VB)
It may be the jewel of a hollow crown but this game is a jewel nonetheless. Anybody with even a passing interest in the Virtual Boy will have heard about this title and what a massive shame it is that it’s locked to such an obscure system. The game continued the series’ push into more exploration-based platforming, but the platforming itself is tight and well executed. The 3D gimmick comes into play with Wario and enemies alike jumping between the foreground and background and though more could have been done with this to stretch the gameplay in interesting ways, it certainly adds that trademark Wario whimsy to proceedings and makes satisfying use of the console’s ability.
It is a little short, but different unlockable endings lend some longevity and, as you’d expect from a first-party venture, it’s just gorgeous, squeezing every pixel of detail it can out of the highly limited palette while rocking a great soundtrack, too. A must.
The drawbacks - Is it worth tracking down a Virtual Boy?
So the system’s got good games, but let’s talk about the drawbacks.
The controller is weird. It’s so close to what controllers have become as standard today – if those two D-pads had just been analogue sticks, it would be so much better, but D-pads are what we got and developers never really got the chance to get the best out of that setup.
There’s also the classic ‘eye strain’ and ‘headache’ accusations and although I never experienced those personally, it’s obviously an issue that’s come up enough to warrant merit. The fact that you’re leaning into a covered binocular-style viewer is also weird but in an era when VR headsets are becoming more frequent and popular, all of the above is perhaps moot now as we become accustomed to them. Bottom line – I can live with the Virtual Boy's drawbacks and it doesn’t tarnish my enjoyment all that much.
So, is this a system that every true Nintendo fan should experience? Honestly – it’s not for everyone. And I think it failed largely because it never really was.
But for people who love it when Nintendo gets weird, you must give it a go. Nintendo thrives on the weird – Labo, the DK bongos, even the DS and Wii had weird inputs — and this is such a weird blip in its illustrious history. Its rarity (less than a million units sold) and lack of software accessibility on later Nintendo systems ironically makes it one of the company's most valuable consoles on the secondhand market. This makes picking one up, experiencing it then selling it on a viable option – even if you just wanted to play Wario Land. Think of it as an extremely expensive blockbuster loan.
Researching the console for this article also introduced me to a teeny but thriving VB community, making homebrew games (including an insane Street Fighter port), bespoke link cables, and even a system-compatible flashcart – making software obtainable without splashing oceans of cash. The love for this little engine that couldn’t is wild.
Picking the Virtual Boy up again has reignited my passion for it and I hope this chonky retro antihero continues to thrive in the shadows for many years to come.
Do YOU think it's worth paying the going rate to buy and play a Virtual Boy in 2024? (604 votes)
- Absolutely, it's an important part of Nintendo history
- I'd love to get one one day - those prices, though
- It's notable, sure, but I won't feel incomplete if I never play one
- 300 quid or more? Nah, you're alright
- *laughs for 30 seconds* *continues laughing*