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Games That Defined The Virtual Boy
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."
Given there WERE about 10 games, picking a top 10 is not going to be exceptionally tricky.
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)
Where were you when the voynix came?
Crap, I'm out already.
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)
Thats because the red shapes were embeded in the back of our skulls.
I see red people......
I know, it looks like the effect that some first-person games show when your character has died. I don't remember pinball being so bloody, though.
Dark Reflection
That's because the virtual boy was only able to display red. Those are pretty much accurate.
Keep in mind, though, the originals are 3d, as opposed to 2d jpgs.
I guess you never played a virtual boy, the games were all red just like that and it really did make you want to vomit and your eyes shoot blood after playing for more than 10 minutes
The only thing that defined the Virtual Boy were the migraines.
Blerg.
that was the fun part. Play a game for about an hour straight, then after that you see how long it takes to be able to see the color red again.
Does the null set count as an answer?
I'm one of the biggest Nintendo fans going, but this ranks right up there with a "best of Sega CD FMV games" list.
- For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
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 and 3D Tetris. 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.
Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
"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.
---
Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
Tennis and I don't even remember the other two/three. :cool:
Bought the system at EB after it failed miserably. $40 got me the system and those 3 or 4 games.
What?
Hey zonk, do they give you a post/week quota or something? Its a 1/50 chance that your posts are worth reading. Quality over quantity...
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.
disclaimer: I've been known to store numbers in my ass for which to dig out when quantities are required.
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 even have to rearchitect the shutterglasses, they've already got that part working for VHS and DVD...
Remember the old Sega shutterglasses? That you could play zaxxon on?
Those were the days lol.
Funny part is, there's enough surplus hardware out there from various game manufacturers (anyone remember that sensor thing nintendo used to make? And the powerglove and blah blah blah) to make a much better VR system than is in consumer reach these days...
Did anyone see the guy that made himself a gargoyle Neal Stephenson style for Second Life?
If you're a Stephenson fan and you've never played Second Life you should - its obvious the company that makes it is staffed by Stephenson fans who basically wanted to create the Metaverse...
Back on topic - seriously, what's the target audience here? Those that loved the virtual boy and thus played every game, or those that didn't and therefore don't know what the were "missing out" on...
I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
Who wouldn't want to try out the system after that?
Maybe it's time to consider bringing the Virtual Boy back - with updated technology, a better display and a pair of GPUs. The cult following that still exists, despite the original's obvious faults, indicates there's a significant market here.
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 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 system that you have to fiddle with. If you're getting headaches, then you don't have the focus right. If you calibrate it properly, you'll never have any problems.
If Nintendo ever made a full-color Virtual Boy, I'd be the first in line to buy it.
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
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, it had funky music. That's about all i can really say about it. It was kinda addicting, but not very well documented or designed. I couldn't figure out how to do some of the special moves the computer kept winning with... Teleroboxer: teh AWESOME. No, seriously, that game was ridiculously fun. Mostly because it was ridiculously hard. It was an arcade game, plain and simple. The two shoulder buttons would move you in a left or right direction, and then a combination of the D-pad/stick and a certain button determined what kind of attack you delivered- a jab, a hook, an uppercut, or what. The computer got much harder each time, and it felt to me like it was learning to anticipate my moves. Learning the patterns of the AI's boxing wasn't easy, because after the second level or so, they'd just beat the crap out of you repeatedly. You can't really learn the pattern when you're losing four times in a row within fifteen seconds. After much dedication and wastes of my life, I managed to beat the entire Title, got the belt of Boxing Awesomeness or whatever it's called, and defended my title about fifty six times. The battles were just fun, and the funny robot boxers that tried to kill you were really cute and cool, honestly. I liked how they started falling apart when they were losing- they'd start steaming and smoking, bits and pieces came off, wires came out... A lot of attention to detail in a video game system where many games seriously lacked. It was quite challenging. Not many games these days challenge me like that, and I miss that. Playing Call of Duty on Veteran mode is a challenge, I suppose, as is playing Deus Ex on "Realistic" mode (which means they shoot you in the head with a pistol from 100 yards away while running towards you), which is just plain unfair. But Teleroboxer gave you a very direct Skill Reward ratio. If you had the skills, you could win- but you had to work real hard to develop them. With a game like that on the system, I couldn't honestly say I didn't like the Virtual Boy. But yeah... after a while, the red, and the vision layers... whew. Pain in the eyes.
Keeper of the Wang
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.
For the same reason screenshots of early Game Boy games were yellowish-green.
1) TimeGal - The death animations were so cute!
2) Road Avenger - It almost feels like you're really driving!
3) Dragon's Lair - Retro gaming on the Sega CD!
4) Night Trap - Dana Plato FTW (RIP)
5) Sewer Shark - It's very very bad
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.)
{ - Generic Guy - }
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 liquidate it (My local EBGames had a bunch of Japanese ones that proved to be interesting). Although what wasn't nice was the VB selling for like $20 at Walmart less then a year after it was released.... I think I will play that today.... (oh, the stand for it sucks, mine broke).
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
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.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
Anyone get the same impression, or is it just me? I wonder if the carts contain colour sprites.