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I’ve owned a lot of Nintendo systems over the years as a tech reviewer, gamer, and VR-obsessed individual, but I never had a virtual boy. It always made me feel sad. Finally, here I am, playing the latest version. My face is stuck in a big red plastic mask, and I’m standing on a tripod on a table at a Nintendo preview event. My takeaway? Nintendo’s latest weird retro move looks like a freak success.
I’m old enough to own a Nintendo Game and watch Hand-held games, and I remember the original Virtual Boy game when it showed up at the electronics store at my local mall. The red and black 3D gaming console was not fully wearable, nor was it connected to the TV. It’s a tabletop gaming machine, something closer in spirit to the old Vectrex. Calling the Virtual Boy “VR” isn’t really accurate. It’s more like a 3D viewer for old games.
Watch this: Nintendo Virtual Boy first impressions
Nintendo is bringing this niche system back as a plastic recreation that turns your Nintendo Switch into a Virtual Boy, along with games you can play on Nintendo’s Virtual Console via a Switch Online subscription. It only works on a small subset of legacy titles designed specifically for 3D — Nintendo promises 14 releases by the end of the year, with about half of them available at launch. You need a full Switch Online and Expansion Pack subscription ($50 per year, or $80 for a family subscription) to use it. That’s a lot of money for a little slice of weird old gaming history.
I lean on the Virtual Boy for a game or two.
Leaning into a strange tabletop goggle thing
The $100 scenes and case for the Switch is ridiculous. It’s like an optical device at an ophthalmologist’s Tron. It’s larger than I thought it would be and not really portable. Instead of strapping it to your head like a VR headset, you can set it up on a table using the included tripod, lie back and play.
After a few moments inside the Virtual Boy, I found it surprisingly comfortable. The large lens is large enough to easily fit chunky glasses inside, but it has light-blocking sides that keep the viewing experience relatively glare-free. It’s like you’re looking at those old stereoscopic machines that show 3D images or upside down movies.
You can see the switch located directly inside the Virtual Boy if you look closely.
The Switch’s display (or Switch OLED or Switch 2, but sorry, no Switch Lite compatibility) acts as the Virtual Boy’s display, and is split into a 3D display in the headset. It’s like how Nintendo turned the Switch into a pair of virtual reality glasses With Labo VR A long time ago, but Virtual Boy looks better than that. I was looking through the Switch 2’s screen, which is higher resolution than Nintendo’s original Switch systems, but Virtual Boy games are low-res by default, so the 3D effects don’t look as degraded. Imagine a red and black 3D Game Boy, because that’s basically what it feels like.
It’s also helpful to keep the whole thing in one consistent place. There’s no lag motion sickness, because you’re not moving (and neither are the games). Playing while leaning on the glasses for half an hour or so didn’t tire me out.
There are even some comfort settings. You can adjust the IPD (interpupillary distance) in the app to adjust the clarity, and you will be able to change the color scheme to other colors. All I have to do is play in the red and black OG mode, which feels very relaxing to me, as if I’m immersed in a gaming cave.
Games are age-old bundles of fun
I played using a Switch Pro controller, although you can also use Joy-Cons. I’ve played a bunch, and they’re all pretty fun. Teleroboxer is a 3D Punch-Out game with robots. WarioLand is a lost gem, a Wario game with deep 3D effects and layers. Galactic Pinball feels like every NES and Game Boy pinball game with a 3D tilt. Golf is a bit of a letdown, as the course views are fixed, but nice. Red Alert is a Star Fox wireframe shooter that feels like a perfect fit for this retro indie gaming moment we’re living in.
I wasn’t allowed to take photos directly into it, but that’s what the lens looks like.
The Japanese port of The Mansion of Innsmouth – a game I’d never heard of – is a simple 3D dungeon crawler with Lovecraftian monsters. There is a 3D Tetris game, which allows you to flip the pieces in all directions to drop them into a deep 3D well. Nintendo promises to release 14 Virtual Boy games over time this year, including two that were never released. Will there be more after that? Well, it was just the system 22 games have been released ever In the first place, so we’ll see.
The cardboard Virtual Boy looks like the old Labo VR glasses. I couldn’t try it.
You can also choose a cheaper Virtual Boy accessory to play these games, a A pair of cardboard glasses, $25 He wouldn’t let me show. I’m sure it’s not comfortable, but it lets you just raise the Switch to your face, and grab the side controllers to play.
During my time with the Virtual Boy, it really surprised me. It ended up feeling more fun, and even more of a “weird moment,” than I expected. I was obsessed with old indie games that looked like they came from a parallel timeline UFO 50 To the stranger Play date panic Console. The Virtual Boy feels like Nintendo has mined a weird, magical item from 1995. And I’m ready to play more, because I feel a desperate need to get back to playtime.