Overview
- Known As
- Virtual Boy • VB
- Company
- Nintendo
- Launched
- 14th Aug 1995
- Type
- Handheld
- Wikipedia
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Boy
Latest Reviews of Virtual Boy Games
Mini Review Dragon Hopper (Virtual Boy) - A Zelda-Like With Height, Heart, And A Spring In Its Step
Worth hopping into
Editor's note: Due to the low resolution and peculiarities of how screengrabs display for Virtual Boy games on NSO, all the screens here are Nintendo press shots. When Nintendo pulled the plug on 1995’s Virtual Boy after roughly a year on the market, Dragon Hopper was one of its immediate casualties. Developed by Intelligent...
Mini Review Zero Racers (Virtual Boy) – Is This F-Zero Spin-Off The VB's Long-Lost Killer App?
From zero to hero
Editor's note: Due to the low resolution and peculiarities of how screengrabs display for Virtual Boy games on NSO, all the screens here are Nintendo press shots. I can honestly say that Zero Racers is the most fun I have ever had in a Virtual Boy headset. In fact, the more I play it, the more it feels like it could have been a...
Review Virtual Lab (Virtual Boy)
Where to begin?
One of the last Virtual Boy games to be released in Japan, Virtual Lab is a strange falling block puzzler that, rumour has it, was still being developed when developer J-Wing got wind of Nintendo’s plan to discontinue support of the Virtual Boy. They then hurriedly finished it off, so as they could get it in to shops whilst there...
Review SD Gundam Dimension War (Virtual Boy)
Mobile Cute Gundam
Based on the popular mecha anime franchise, SD Gundam Dimension War is a turn-based strategy game where you are place in command of a small task force as you travel across the galaxy aiming to wipe out the opposing units you encounter. Gameplay is split in to two parts - a map screen where you manoeuvre your troops and a close up...
Review Virtual Bowling (Virtual Boy)
More Virtual Boy bowling action!
Just like Tetris, there were two Bowling games released for the Virtual Boy and just like Tetris, each region only got one of these games. While North American gamers were treated to Nester's Funky Bowling, the Japanese exclusive was Virtual Bowling which features various weights of ball, different lane conditions...
Review Space Invaders: Virtual Collection (Virtual Boy)
They’ll port it to anything.
It’s highly likely that you will have encountered the simple fun addictiveness that is Space Invaders at some point, even if you missed it in the arcades. Ports, slight updates and compilations have appeared on a wide variety of systems over the years - Atari 2600, Spectrum, NES, Master System, Game Boy, Playstation,...
Popular Virtual Boy Games
Latest Virtual Boy News
Guide Every Nintendo Switch Online Virtual Boy Game Ranked
All the VB games on NSO
Following the addition of D-Hopper and Zero Racers — unreleased Virtual Boy games released for the sirst time via NSO — we're updating and republishing this article. Enjoy! Of all of Nintendo's consoles, the Virtual Boy is one of the most fascinating as a rare hardware flop in the company's storied history. It might be...
Mini Review Dragon Hopper (Virtual Boy) - A Zelda-Like With Height, Heart, And A Spring In Its Step
Worth hopping into
Editor's note: Due to the low resolution and peculiarities of how screengrabs display for Virtual Boy games on NSO, all the screens here are Nintendo press shots. When Nintendo pulled the plug on 1995’s Virtual Boy after roughly a year on the market, Dragon Hopper was one of its immediate casualties. Developed by Intelligent...
Mini Review Zero Racers (Virtual Boy) – Is This F-Zero Spin-Off The VB's Long-Lost Killer App?
From zero to hero
Editor's note: Due to the low resolution and peculiarities of how screengrabs display for Virtual Boy games on NSO, all the screens here are Nintendo press shots. I can honestly say that Zero Racers is the most fun I have ever had in a Virtual Boy headset. In fact, the more I play it, the more it feels like it could have been a...
News Two Cancelled Virtual Boy Games Join 'Nintendo Classics' Today
Retro revival
[Fri 31st Jul, 2026 02:30 BST]: Since joining the Nintendo Classics service earlier this year, the Virtual Boy library has been receiving regular game updates. Now, in an announcement this week, Nintendo has revealed it's bringing the cancelled Virtual Boy titles Zero Racers and D-Hopper (Dragon Hopper) to the subscription service on...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel - Galactic Pinball
Seeing red
It's time for yet another edition of Box Art Brawl, and we're going virtual. Before we strap a plastic peripheral to our faces, however, let's take a look at last week's showdown, where a trio of covers for Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind went head-to-head. Despite some close competition from Japan, it was the North American...
News Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Virtual Boy Library With Five More Games
Available for Expansion Pack subscribers
Nintendo has today added five Virtual Boy titles to its Switch Online + Expansion Pack 'Nintendo Classics' service. This includes the maze game Jack Bros. from Atlus, a Space Invaders release from Taito Corporation, Bullet-Proof's title V-Tetris, Hudson Soft's shoot 'em up Vertical Force and Athena's Virtual...
News Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Virtual Boy And GBA Library With Three More Titles
Update: MAR10 Day is here!
Ahead of the 10th March 2026 (aka Mario Day), Nintendo has announced it will be expanding the Switch Online + Expansion Pack service for the Switch and Switch 2. These three titles arriving on Mario Day include two Virtual Boy games and one Game Boy Advance title, with all of these titles requiring users to have access to...
Review Virtual Boy For Switch 1 & 2 - Is It Really Worth Revisting Nintendo's Greatest Folly?
Virtual insanity?
Only Nintendo could get its fans excited about a re-release of one of its most dramatic commercial flops, and, as somebody who is old and grey enough to recall the disaster that was the Virtual Boy the first time around, I find it endlessly amusing that its resurrection as a Switch accessory has caused such interest. But then...
Poll How Would You Rate The Nintendo Classics Virtual Boy Launch Games?
I see red, I see red, I see red
The Virtual Boy app for Nintendo Switch Online's Expansion Pack launched this week, giving many Nintendo fans the very first chance to play these games in an official capacity. Some older die-hards may have an original VB knocking around or might have sampled its monochrome delights sometime over the last 30 years,...
(Yes, you can, with a Switch 1)
Virtual Boy has finally arrived on Nintendo Switch Online, if you're a subscriber to the Expansion Pack tier - and if you've got the $100 accessory from My Nintendo Store or the still-pretty-pricey cardboard alternative. If $25 for the cardboard viewer required to see the 3D visuals as intended still feels like an...
Preview Five Takeaways From My Time With Virtual Boy On Nintendo Switch Online
Oh boy
Given that fans were expecting (or perhaps hoping, to be more accurate) to see DS games added to Switch Online, the upcoming inclusion of Virtual Boy on 17th February 2026 is quite possibly the biggest surprise from Nintendo in recent years. Did anyone really ask for this? Probably not. Is it pretty neat regardless? Definitely. Although the...
Talking Point Where's Your Nintendo Labo Now?
Make, Play, & Bin?
No, we didn't find ours here, not at all... 2018 is a long time ago. It feels like it happened in another dimension, in an alternate (and much nicer) timeline, or some other Marvel universe-typed nonsense. And it's a timeline we can never get back to. It was also the year that Nintendo dropped its Labo sets, which is infinitely...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel - Red Alarm (Virtual Boy)
Took something perfect and painted it red
Howdy, Virtual Boy fans! Welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we matched up a pair of covers for Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island, and it was a pretty close-run contest. The classic SMW2 art came out on top in the end, though, with North America taking 59% of the vote, leaving the...
News Switch Online's Virtual Boy Adding New Feature To Change Screen Colour "Later This Year"
Just remove the red lens cover
Yesterday, Nintendo shared an update about its Virtual Boy library coming to the Switch Online + Expansion Pack next month. Although it seemingly doubles down on the requirement to purchase new headsets, on a more welcoming note, there will be some quality-of-life enhancements. Apart from the usual options, including...
News Two Cancelled Virtual Boy Games Coming To NSO In 2026, Including F-Zero Spin-Off
An Intelligent Systems top-down adventure also on the way
We now know the launch line-up for the Virtual Boy - Nintendo Classics service, coming to Nintendo Switch Online on 17th February 2026. And while it's all worth getting excited over, there are two never-before-released games coming out later in the year that Nintendo enthusiasts should be...
News Nintendo Announces Launch Line-Up For Switch Online Virtual Boy
Two previously unreleased games are also coming in 2026
Those of you excited to relive the glory days of the Virtual Boy only have a few more weeks to wait until you can play them on Nintendo Switch Online on Switch 1 and Switch 2. 17th February is approaching fast! Today, Nintendo has dropped a brand new trailer confirming the launch line-up for...
Opinion The Nintendo Console Nobody Wanted To Review Returns Soon, And I'm Here For It, Again
The crimson comeback
As someone who witnessed its initial release, I’m delightfully baffled that Nintendo is resurrecting the Virtual Boy. We aren't just getting a passing mention or a trophy in a Smash Bros. game; we’re getting a full-blown revival, including a dedicated NSO app, a $100 authentic replica peripheral, and a $25 cardboard cutout...
News Nintendo Launches 2026 Calendars, Including One Just For NSO Subscribers
400 platinum points each
Bloomin' heck, 2026 is getting close, isn't it? It's a good job, then, that Nintendo has launched not one, but two 2026 calendars for your perusal over on the My Nintendo Store. Both cost 400 platinum points, but one of them is limited to those with a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership. Starting with the regular 'My...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Teleroboxer (Virtual Boy)
Telerobrawl
Hello folks, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last week, we looked at the ridiculously titled Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy - Deluxe Edition for the Nintendo Switch, and it was the Japanese box art design that
Poll So, Will You Be Checking Out Switch Online's Virtual Boy Service?
Go on, tell us
The recent Direct broadcast revealed the Virtual Boy library would be joining the Switch Online 'Nintendo Classics' library. As you've likely already seen, there are a few paywalls. Firstly, you'll need to have an active Expansion Pack subscription (on top of the regular Switch Online subscription), and according to Nintendo, a paid...
Related Hardware
List of hardware items (add-ons?)
Where To Buy
List of places to buy this system
About
Released in 1995 the Virtual Boy is possibly Nintendo's most significant failure in the hardware arena. The brainchild of Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi, this unusual machine promised cutting-edge 3D visuals thanks to the innovative display technology contained within its red and grey frame, but sadly it was a gimmick that failed to impress the general public and ultimately only 800,000 units were ever sold. Despite this dire performance, the machine has many fans and owning one is seen as the ultimate badge of honour amongst hardcore Nintendo fanboys.
Read our Making of the Virtual Boy.