So because i’m a major league doofus, i actually preorder not the 20 bucks cardboard VR thingie to play the Virtual Boy on Switch/Switch 2, but the entire fuckin replica that costed me 80 bucks, because ultimately i’m a kindred soul to the protagonist of Shangri-La Frontier, we go hunting high and low for the kusoge, for the odd, for the grime undesired depths of the videogame scene.
Of course i’ve heard of the Virtual Boy, i’ve seen the AVGN episode, i’ve seen Nintendo itself take potshots at its failure too eventually in stuff like Tomodachi Life, but i was still curious, and there were some games i wanted to play on it proper, especially since this oddity never came out in Europe, so
I’ve played modern VR games occasionally at some arcades, so i was super curious to see for myself how the Virtual Boy measured up today via a big ass replica of the console itself, even if can’t load any games by itself and it’s an accessory needed to play via Switch or Switch 2, but sure as hell that beats me bothering to collect the original console and its library, i have to draw the line somewhere.
Gotta say, i was kinda impressed.
Kinda.
As in, it’s not as bad as i thought it would in terms of how taxing it is for the eyes, and i did have to play it with my glasses on, but after fiddling a bit with the settings, i manage to get the 3D effect to work and remain stable, and overall make it actually operable as a videogame console/accessory thing.
Definitely helps that you are not using the original controller, i assume, that thing didn’t look great to handle.
Set us was easy enough, once i realized how to snap open the “case” where to house your Switch or Switch 2 consoles (as without those this thing is useless), and there is a screw to regulate the weird lil legs the VB stands on.
Guess what, the AVGN was indeed right, this conceptually looks like a pair of eyes on legs.
I mean, it’s obvious they realize half-way through this thing was never gonna be played for long sessions, nor it should, so pretty much every game has an automatic pause option you can opt in to or ignore, it’s still a 3D “VR” visual just in red and black, and yes, they could have included an head strap for it in this accessory replica, but didn’t.
Too much committal to the bit, i’d say, because that would have been mandatory for using it, and it’s a design oversight as it was in 1995.
I was kinda miffed the initial batch of games for it was pretty much devoid of its Mario titles (Mario Clash and Mario Tennis have been announced yesterday and will be dropping in March 10, as in “Mario Day”), but i did mostly want to play the Virtual Boy Wario Land game (which is literally called “Virtual Boy Wario Land”, too), as so did most people, not surprising since it’s the best game on the console and it’s good, quite good, it’s old school Wario Land, so old school it’s basically in the vein of the original WL and not Wario Land 2 or 3.
Kinda surprised this expecially never got released on the 3DS Virtual Console alongside the rest of the VB library, but that train is long gone, but at least we got Mutant Mudds out of it, so whatever.
Plus, to be honest 3D Tetris is better than i expected, given its reputation, though it still odd for the game to feature random animefied Tetraminos like it’s a gag manga bit, just feels weird in a Tetris game, but i suppose it’s to give it some flavour, some style, because otherwise it’s a pretty drab looking affair, especially since Tetris is already a frill-less experience by default, and while i get the choice, the wireframe graphics didn’t age too well or were exactly eye candy even for the era.
Still, it feels a bit too slow even at medium speed, that is true.
But i was surprised to learn that well before getting the two previously unreleased prototypes, they decided to include a Japanese exclusive Lovecraft themed 3D horror maze adventure game, The Mansion Of Innsmouth (which had english text in-game – besides the title screen – weirdly enough), and besides the loose ispiration to the story its named upon (and the Lovecraft mythos for that matter), it’s definitely a title that understand it’s being made for a 3D capable console, so it’s a first person horror dealio.
Well, to be more correct, a first person horror maze thing, harkening back to the early pre-Wolfenstein 3D days of computer games being mazes of stuff, but with a gun and multiple endings.
I’d love to review this one as it’s kinda impressive and nifty for a 1995 “handheld” game, plus you know me, i love everything Lovecraft, why not? Not now, though.
Here i would have talked about Teleroboxer, as i love me some Punch Out, but i didn’t feel like pushing my luck (and my eyes for that matter), so here my first impressions of the thing conclude.
Wise Cafe (International) 