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Games That Defined The Virtual Boy 62

Posted by Zonk from the ow-my-eyes dept.
The always-refreshing RetroGaming with Racketboy has an article up looking at some of the defining games for the much-maligned Virtual Boy game console. The all-red screenshots are meant to remind you of all the 'good times' that could be had with Nintendo's most resounding failure. From the article: "If there is one game that I think utilizes the 3D element the best, it would have to be Teleroboxer. This Mech/Punch-Ount hybrid game should be a welcome addition to any Virtual Boy game library. Much like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, you have different attacks, blocking ability, and the need to discover your opponent's weaknesses and openings in their fighting patterns."
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Games That Defined The Virtual Boy More

Games That Defined The Virtual Boy

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  • Short Article alert (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Duds ( 100634 ) <dudley @ e n t e r space.org> on Thursday August 03, 2006 @11:09AM (#15839842) Homepage Journal
    Given there WERE about 10 games, picking a top 10 is not going to be exceptionally tricky.
    • Hey, according to this site [vgrebirth.org] there were at least 25, not including regional dupes. So yes, it could be tricky because you can't just flip a coin!
    • My favorite 2 games were "Ouch: my eyes hurt from looking at blurry red lines" and its sequel "Ouch 2: my neck hurts from uncomfortably sitting in front of this infernal machine". Those were the days... they just don't make classic games like those anymore.
    • Well, I've got 12 games for my Virtual Boy, and know there are a few notable games like Panic Bomber and Waterworld that I'm missing in my collection. Most of the 12 aren't very good games, but I enjoyed my time with the system while it was new and still pull it out from time to time. I guess my opinion of the device is shaped by having bought it on clearance after it got the production axe, though. I didn't pay anything close to what the units were selling for during release.
    • There weren't too many games but they were all pretty fun. I did get motion sickness playing it though. What I'd like to know is, where can you get replacement parts? I lost the eyeshade holder (not the eyeshade itself but the plastic part that connects it to the Virtual Boy) and haven't been able to play mine much since. And I haven't found a source for replacements and as time goes on it becomes less and less likely that I will. I keep an eye out at tag sales etc but if anyone knows a place to get this pl
  • 1. In Bed for 3 Days with Migraine 2. GTA: Blind Carjacker 3. Captain EO (this last game being a tie-in to the Michael Jackson Disney attraction, created after Jackson's initial huge excitement over the console's name)

  • One or 24 ? Games That Defined The Virtual Boy (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 03, 2006 @11:19AM (#15839916)
    mmm games that defined the virtual boy, shouldn't be that hard to find since
    only 24 or such were release worldwide... but stop kidding i know the answer:

    NONE.

    at least if you are like me and get away from the red thing 30 seconds after trying Mario Tennis (and getting a headache)
    • "at least if you are like me and get away from the red thing 30 seconds after trying Mario Tennis (and getting a headache)"

      Fair enough. I was one of the few people on this planet that had a VB and enjoyed it. Even though it was red and the games weren't all that great, it was the first time I used a stereo display that worked. Before the VB, I visted a short-lived "VR" arcade at a mall near where I lived. They had a color stereo LCD setup. It was awful trying to percieve depth in that game. Part of me
  • Thats because the red shapes were embeded in the back of our skulls.

    I see red people......

  • There were Virtual Boy games? (Score:3, Funny)

    by ToxikFetus ( 925966 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @11:38AM (#15840051)
    Does the null set count as an answer?

  • Slow news day? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by KIFulgore ( 972701 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @11:40AM (#15840065)
    I'm one of the biggest Nintendo fans going, but this ranks right up there with a "best of Sega CD FMV games" list.

  • Poor Virtual Boy (Score:3, Informative)

    by edward.virtually@pob ( 6854 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @11:40AM (#15840068)
    The Virtual Boy wasn't a bad platform aside from the all red display and the insane price. Many of the games were excellent. Virtual Boy Wario Land is one of the best games in the Wario series. Two very enjoyable titles that were not mentioned in the article are Golf [wikipedia.org] and 3D Tetris [wikipedia.org]. Fwiw, the all red display and the insanely high price were limitations of the available technology at the time.
  • Mario and Luigi: Headache Adventures
    Advil vs. SNK
    Spare Retinas

    Man, the list goes on.
  • "Much like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, you have different attacks, blocking ability, and the need to discover your opponent's weaknesses and openings in their fighting patterns."

    yeah, but Mike Tyson's Punch-Out had that rad extra level where you got to beat up Robin Givens.

  • defined the VB? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by AcidLacedPenguiN ( 835552 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @12:03PM (#15840251)
    all of you are complaining that it is easy to pick a Top 10 out of a 2 dozen list, but the article said "Games that defined the system."
    I think all the games contributed to defining the virtual boy: Nintendo's first laughable failure.
  • I mean seriously, everyone that owned a virtual boy probably owned half the title library. I know I did.

    Still have my virtual boy somewhere too. Man I gotta go looking for that thing.

    Why isn't there an emulator for it that's shutter-glasses compatible by now?

    For that matter, why doesn't at least one of the consoles support a 3d mode? I know, 3D at TV resolutions isn't that great (especially since it depends on the interlacing to work) but come on it'd be practically free to implement... and you don't eve

  • When I got one of these... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by kravlor ( 597242 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @12:15PM (#15840362) Homepage
    I distinctly remember the first thing in the box. No, it wasn't packaging, or anything like that -- it was the *warning manual.* This manual was about 25 pages or so with wonderful things like "Do not allow a child under the age of seven to use the Virtual Boy Gaming System or else permanent eye damage could occur."

    Who wouldn't want to try out the system after that?

    • Probably one of my biggest memories too. My younger cousin started playing it..... I think she wears glasses now..... And mine are rather thick... I blame Nintendo.... (which is probably accurate when taking into account the years of sitting in front of the TV playing Nintendo *)

  • Well, I actually liked the thing (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Zarxrax ( 652423 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @12:21PM (#15840405)
    Most of the comments on this story seem to be either jokes or trolls, but I was one of the few people who actually really enjoyed the Virtual Boy. Headaches were never a big problem for me, either. If I remember correctly, all games would have a "break period" after playing for about 15-20 minutes, where it would warn you that you should stop playing for a while. Sometimes I would even ignore this and keep playing anyways. If I got any headaches at all, they were pretty minor. And to a kid, if you have a choice between playing a video game, and getting a minor headache, is the choice really that difficult? While the system didn't have a large number of games, most of them were pretty high quality. When the system started dying, I was able to buy probably half of the Virtual Boy library at Blockbuster video very cheaply. Mario Tennis, Teleroboxer, and Wario Land were all pretty awesome games, and provided me with hours of entertainment. Galactic Pinball and Mario Clash were pretty fun as well. I never really got into Red Alarm... the wireframe graphics just made it too confusing to tell what was going on, in my opinion. Another game I really enjoyed which they don't mention on this list was Panic Bomber. That was an awesome puzzle game, and it was probably just a straight port from another system... but it was still great fun. The one thing that always perplexed me about the Virtual Boy though, was its odd controller. Why would it need two directional pads? Hardly any games even used the 2nd pad. I think maybe teleroboxer used it, but I cant remember. Jack Bros used the 2nd pad, but it wasn't all that necessary. I think any of the games could have worked fine without the 2nd pad. It makes you wonder if Nintendo had something else planned for that... or if it was just not a well thought out controller design.
    • I can't remember if it was a needed item, but it certainly made Mario Clash a lot more playable. You threw with one directional and moved with the other. It made it possible to throw in a direction you weren't already moving in instead of facing you character and then pressing the button.
    • I still have a virtual boy, and two games, red alarm and wario world or whatever that was. I had mario tennis, but I sold it when I sold my other virtual boy. To me, red alarm was the most compelling 3d game, although if it had been a first person flightsim it would have been even more effective.
  • I bet 95% of the people in here who bashed the console have never played it even once. The monochrome display and high price were what killed it, but if you've ever played it, the 3D effect is really interesting, and something you can't get on any other console (The Master System and Vectrex had add-ons that could do similar stuff, but these were very expensive and not well utilized). Even these days, where can you get REAL 3D out of a video game?

    As for the headaches, there's a couple of focus knobs on the
  • I borrowed my cousin's V-Boy for a while. It was actually kinda fun, though I am glad I didn't buy one myself. He had five games for it. In all honesty, I really liked most of the games. Wario Land was just really really good. The puzzles were interesting, I liked the use of foreground and background layers, and it gave a real thrill to get past some of the neat challenges. The sounds were typical, but the graphics, I thought, were very good for Wario. Right where it should be. Mario Tennis... well,

  • Sad... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Tadrith ( 557354 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @01:09PM (#15840815) Homepage

    I still own a Virtual Boy. As a matter of fact, I still -play- my Virtual Boy. I always hear people complain about headaches, and yet I can play it for hours without a problem. If you've never played one, it really is unlike anything else.

    As some others mentioned... if Nintendo made a full color version of this, I would be the first in line to buy it.

    • Re:Sad... (Score:2, Funny)

      by Red_Chaos1 ( 95148 )
      I totally agree on the complaints from others yet being able to play extensively w/o problems. As to a good way to play the unit? Lay on your back. The VB actually sits on your face decently without being too heavy, and the legs act as props/counter-balances to keep it from tipping. Many hours of Wario Land have been played, let me tell ya....

      Only problem I generally had after extended play was similar to waking up to brighht light. The screen(s) on the VB aren't that bright, so your eyes get accustomed to
  • I picked up a virtual boy when they were about $9 in the bargain bin. I loved Mario Clash, it is by far the best game for the system, and the only one worthy of an extended play session. I didnt suffer many headaches when playing a lot, but I do recommend lying on a couch with the unit resting against your head if you are going to give it a try, you can use the feet on your chest to steady the system.

  • I would say that headaches defined the Virtual Boy. It didn't really matter which game you were playing.

    (I actually had quite a number of the VB games at one time, when retail stores were dumping their stock.)

  • Nintendo has a decently long track history of innovation. Some have flopped, some appear to be doing well (Nintendo DS), and others just may come out on top (Wii). The Virtual Boy was a flop. I got one when it first came out, however, and I thought it was a good idea. Colors sucked, but the 3d Effect was very unique and an interesting precursor to the dominance of 3D graphics (and VB was actually a 3D screen so to speak). What I found to be nice was the abundance of $5 games around in stores trying to

  • My brother owned a virtual boy and had three games for it: Wario Land, Red Alarm (similar to Zaxxon), and Mario Tennis. All three games were great fun, and the 3D effect was incredible. Playing this thing made you feel like you were looking through a hole into a small holographic world.

    If they could make this thing color and small/light enought to wear on your head instead of having to play it at a table, a new Virtual Boy system would be great.

  • I was looking at the screenshots, and I get the feeling that the games were designed and created in colour, and then displayed in red. Especially with the Wario game shown. It would have been better to design them from the gound up in red, as awful as that would have been for the developers.

    Anyone get the same impression, or is it just me? I wonder if the carts contain colour sprites.

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